The San Francisco 49ers addressed the media on Wednesday ahead of the NFC Championship Game. Linebacker Fred Warner talked glowingly of Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles’ offense, calling out key playmakers like Miles Sanders, Dallas Goedert, and A.J. Brown.
Philadelphia enters the game as 2.5-point favorites on most betting websites. They also have home-field advantage by virtue of their No. 1 seed. Despite a ton of unwarranted hate from the national media in recent weeks, the Eagles are supposed to win.
I’d like to thank the Associated Press for putting Kyle Shanahan as a Coach of the Year finalist and not Nick Sirianni. Good bulletin board material for the players this week.
Meanwhile, the 49ers understand they are the underdogs in what should be a tight affair. Head coach Kyle Shanahan holds something he calls “Whatever It Takes” meetings every Wednesday during the regular season. Those get ratcheted up a notch in the postseason. And everyone in that locker room is looking forward to “playing under the pressure” on Sunday.
“A lot of people don’t like the pressure of it, players, people in general because you put yourself out there and it’s really tough if you don’t come up victorious,” Shanahan told reporters, via 49ers Webzone. “But like I’ve always said and heard growing up, there’s only one team that’s happy at the end of the year and the other 31 teams aren’t and you always keep going and try to be that team and you do that until you’re done playing or until you’re done coaching.”
Deebo Samuel Says 49ers Fans Louder Than Eagles Fans
Pro Bowl receiver Deebo Samuel is the most dynamic player on the 49ers roster, with all apologies to Christian McCaffrey. They can line him up in the backfield, split him outside, and once in a blue moon they’ll utilize him on trick plays and let him throw it. Samuel is electric with the ball in his hands. He’s not worried about Eagles fans disrupting his flow or rhythm.
“We know it’s going to be loud, but no stadium is as loud as ours,” Samuel said. “But, at the end of the day, you know, they’re at home, NFC Championship, they gonna be all riled up, but we don’t really too much feed into all that. We put the pads on and just go to work.”
Deebo Samuel: “We know it’s going to be loud. But no stadium is as loud as ours…”
49ers have the loudest stadium? He has no idea what he’s in for Sunday.
Nick Bosa, Fred Warner, Brock Purdy On the Record
The 49ers are preparing to stop an Eagles offense that put up 416 yards and 38 points last week against New York. They were rolling. Philadelphia ended the regular season ranked No. 3 in total offense: 389.1 yards per game, 477 points.
✅ MVP finalist
✅ Offensive Player of the Year finalist
Here is how some of San Francisco’s top players addressed the issue of shutting everything down, including Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts:
QB Brock Purdy on Cowboys vs. Eagles defense: “I do think it was one of the best defenses that I’ve seen, that our team has seen this year. And, obviously, this week is going to be a great challenge with the front that Philadelphia has.”
WR Deebo Samuel on Eagles defense: “They’re pretty fast, their D-line tries to time the snap cadence pretty good, they kind of hone themselves on getting off the ball quick and getting after the quarterback.”
LB Fred Warner on how Jalen Hurts has improved: “I think just the command of the offense, knowing where to go with the ball, being more decisive, obviously he’s a dynamic playmaker, always has been. He’s using his legs to create plays and just launching the ball down the field to guys who can go up and make plays. I think that’s what kind of elevated him into an All-Pro quarterback.”
DE Nick Bosa on Eagles offense: “Really well-coached on the 0-Line and smart, savvy, and then obviously the running quarterback component is an extra piece.”
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Jalen Hurts: “I know towards the end of that year [2021] he started getting on a roll and that’s when why they ended up making the playoffs last year because of how good he got after that, but we could see signs of it in that game and now just watching him this year hearing about it, he is borderline NFL MVP and then turning the film on these last two days, he’s just like how he was with potential and now he’s doing it down in and down out.”
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49ers Star Deebo Samuel Issues Challenge to Eagles Fans