49ers notebook: Difficult assignment slowing McCaffrey; Staley taking it day by day
The top objective for the 49ers’ and their second-ranked defense on Sunday should be simple: stop No. 22.
That’s Carolina Panthers do-everything running back Christian McCaffrey, who will be playing his second career game at Levi’s Stadium. The Stanford alum’s first appearance there was his NFL debut in the 2017 season opener, when he logged 18 touches for 85 yards during a Panthers win after being drafted eighth overall.
McCaffrey showed promise during his rookie campaign with 1,086 yards from scrimmage. In his second season, that number ballooned to 1,965 while setting a new running backs record with 107 receptions.
He’s averaging 153.8 yards per game, the ninth-most in league history through the first six games of a season, putting him on pace 2,461 yards for the year.
McCaffrey might be the league’s best running back – and he’s the central component to Carolina’s offense throughout its 4-2 start with quarterback Cam Newton sidelined for the last four games, all victories with Kyle Allen under center.
“He’s not your typical scat back that you can blow on and he’ll fall,” 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said Thursday. “He runs through arm tackles, he’ll make you miss, he’ll run right through you, he’ll outrun you. He’s tremendous with the ball in his hands, he can catch it, he’s got tremendous vision as a runner. If you’re out of your gap just an inch, he’ll find it.”
Slowing McCaffrey will be one of the toughest challenges for San Francisco’s defense this season. But Saleh’s unit is built to withstand such a versatile player.
The team made free agent Kwon Alexander the seventh-highest paid NFL linebacker by giving him a four-year, $54 million contract in the offseason. So far Alexander has lived up to the contract with his closing speed and pugnacious presence in the middle.
Second-year pro Fred Warner, the middle linebacker, is also known for being fleet of foot. So is rookie Dre Greenlaw, who’s been clocked above 20 miles per hour multiple times this season, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
McCaffrey leads the Panthers with 35 catches and he’s accounted for 41 percent of Carolina’s yards this season.
The 49ers play mostly zone defense, which means less open space for McCaffrey to exploit, like he might against man-to-man coverage in the passing game, where he can use his speed and agility to break free.
“You got more guys looking at the quarterback, more guys who see and react to the ball faster so you get guys rallying to the football,” cornerback Richard Sherman said. “When you’re pressuring, playing man (coverage), you got a lot of guys with your back to the quarterback and backs to the football, and a lot of guys isolated.”
The 49ers blitz just 16.1 percent of the time, the second-lowest rate in the NFL, which is one of the best ways to avoid getting beaten by screen passes, a McCaffrey specialty. Screens are often designed to beat blitzes.
Like everything else, a focus this week for Saleh and his staff is finding the right balance to keep Carolina’s offense off-kilter.
“We’ve got to always be cognizant of the fact that we still have to be able to bring pressure, which we have,” Saleh said when asked about not having to rely on the blitz.
“We still have to be able to, and from all different directions, just so teams can’t sit there and chip our (defensive) ends and pay all the attention they can to the two ends and the two interior guys. They still have to account for the two backers, the safety and the nickel (corner). When they have to account for those guys, it still creates space for the defensive line. It does make it easier, but at the same time, on us to make sure that there’s enough balance always to make sure they’re accounting for everybody and not just those four.”
Joe Staley taking things day by day
Joe Staley had an extensive workout on the field before last week’s road win over the Washington Redskins, and he felt the side effects from not doing much work on his fractured left fibula.
“I did a workout a Sunday and the thing blew up,” the 49ers tackle said. “So I didn’t do anything on it for three days. Yesterday, I was on it, it felt good, today it feels good. Hopefully I can do more and we’ll see from there.”
Despite the discomfort, Staley was a limited participant in practice Wednesday and Thursday. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Staley has an “outside chance” at playing against Carolina, but it might be smart to give Staley more time to make sure his leg is right after suffering the injury Week 2.
Staley on Thursday said he doesn’t know if he’ll be able to suit up this weekend against Carolina’s formidable defensive front.
“Honestly, I have no idea what the plan is,” he said. “Taking it day by day, honestly.”
Complicating things is the quick turnaround to Thursday’s game against the Arizona Cardinals. The 49ers are unlikely to have a regular practice before that game, which makes this week an important one for Staley on the practice field, whether he plays Sunday or not.
“When the bone heals, it calcifies,” Staley explained. “There’s a calcification around the bone and the muscles are kind of messed up because of that. You haven’t used your legs in six weeks or anything, conditioning level (is down). So it would not be smart to just go out there and not get any work and play on Sunday. I think that would be a detriment to be team, be out of shape and all that stuff. We have a good plan and we’re going to work from there.”
▪ Wide receiver Marquise Goodwin missed Thursday’s practice for personal reasons, though he was at the team’s headquarters beforehand. Fellow wideout Dante Pettis (knee) is on the injury report and was listed as limited.
Otherwise, the participation report was the same as Wednesday with fullback Kyle Juszczyk (knee), right tackle Mike McGlinchey (knee) and cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon (foot) not participating.
