SANTA CLARA – Keion White lined up on the New England Patriots’ defensive position two months in the past and gleaned a robust first impression of the rookie quarterback in his sights, Tennessee’s Cam Ward.
Earlier that week, the Titans had fired coach Brian Callahan after a 1-5 begin, and regardless that the Patriots would cruise to a 31-13 win in that Oct. 19 go to to Tennessee, Ward appeared “poised” in White’s eyes.
“It’s your rookie year, you’re the No. 1 pick overall, and you have a head coach who they fire. That’s not an easy situation,” White mentioned. “So I’m impressed how he’s handling it and is still confident.”
Ward and the Titans (2-11) are coming to Levi’s Stadium on Sunday to tackle the 49ers (9-4), who’re refreshed from their bye and driving a three-game win streak.
The 49ers additionally personal the NFL’s fewest sacks (16) so a pleasant treatment to that may very well be Ward, who’s been sacked 49 occasions, tied for the NFL’s most with the Raiders’ Geno Smith.
“He’s still a rookie and everything, so he holds onto the ball a little longer than the league average, but I’m still impressed how poised he is,” White mentioned.
Ward certainly ranks close to the underside of the NFL with a median time-to-throw of two.93 seconds, in keeping with NextGen Stats.
He’s the second straight rookie quarterback to face the 49ers, and one other is on deck Dec. 21 if the Indianapolis Colts keep on with Riley Leonard after Daniel Jones’ Achilles tear Sunday.
Final day trip, the 49ers finally confirmed spunk pursuing the Cleveland Browns’ Shedeur Sanders, producing three sacks in a 26-8 win Nov. 30. Sanders, nevertheless, averaged 3.37 seconds to throw, the longest time by a Browns quarterback during the last three seasons.
Nonetheless, on the subject of going through rookie quarterbacks, White says disguises within the secondary may cause havoc.
“You disguise, make them see different pictures, and actually process the game,” White mentioned. “A lot of times when you have veteran quarterbacks, they see through all that. For a rookie, sometimes it’s an adjustment to the league, because in college, people in the back-end (of a defense) aren’t disguising.”
The 49ers’ go rush may get a jolt this week if it will get again defensive ends Sam Okuayinonu (high-ankle sprain) and Yetur Gross-Matos (hamstring; Injured Reserve). Okuayinonu, who solely missed final sport, mentioned he’s been finding out Ward in anticipation of returning this sport, although he didn’t take part in Monday’s bonus apply.
The 49ers have simply 16 sacks all season, a puny quantity that’s considerably anticipated after knee accidents took out defensive ends Nick Bosa (Week 3) and Mykel Williams (Week 9). Main the workforce with 4 sacks apiece are Clelin Ferrell and Bryce Huff, the latter of whom has no sacks the previous 4 video games however does have 14 quarterback hits; nobody else has greater than 4 quarterback hits, together with Ferrell.
When the 49ers pulled away from the Browns, they sacked Sanders 3 times, twice by Ferrell and as soon as by White.
Just like the 49ers, Ward can be coming off a victory in Cleveland, because the Titans gained 31-29 win Sunday whereas he obtained sacked simply as soon as, by Myles Garrett for his NFL-leading twentieth sack.
Ward threw two touchdowns for the primary time in his profession, however he nonetheless accomplished simply 50% of his passes (12-of-24) for 117 yards (his fewest since his season-opening debut in Denver). On the season, the previous Miami star has accomplished 59% of his 440 passes, with 9 touchdowns and 7 interceptions for a 74.9 passer ranking that ranks twenty seventh.
A Texas native, he started his collegiate profession at Incarnate Ward in San Antonio in 2020, transferred to Washington State in 2022, then moved to Miami in 2024. He led the Hurricanes to a 10-2 mark that included a stirring comeback at Cal, and finally a voluntary halftime exit within the Pop-Tarts Bowl towards Iowa State.
EVALUATING QB ROURKE
Quarterback Kurtis Rourke is happy to affix practices after having his three-week analysis window open Monday, having spent his rookie 12 months on the reserve/non-football-injury checklist whereas recovering from January’s ACL restore. He was chosen within the seventh spherical at No. 227 total out of Indiana.
Rourke remains to be anticipated to basically redshirt this season however now he can apply the upcoming month. “Everything has been mental at this point, trying to remember and learn as much as I can, learn what Kyle (Shanahan) and the staff wants,” Rourke mentioned.
Other than Brock Purdy and Mac Jones, the 49ers have Adrian Martinez on the apply squad as a No. 3 possibility this season. Jones is signed via 2026 however his 5-3 report as a fill-in starter may immediate a workforce to commerce for him in March, thus elevating Rourke right into a backup position, if wholesome. “It’s been great to be in that room to learn from Mac and Brock, and everyone who’s provided information and help for when this moment comes,” mentioned Rourke, who helped rework Indiana’s program final season after transferring from Ohio.
PLAYOFF-SEED UPGRADE
The 49ers, whereas idle, moved from the Nos. 7 to six seed within the NFC playoff image with Sunday’s Bears’ loss to the Packers, and an increase to No. 1 stays attainable.
“It is motivating, there is an opportunity to be the No. 1 seed,” proper deal with Colton McKivitz mentioned. “Obviously we’ll need some help to get there, but if we take care of our business, it just gives us an opportunity to get there, and if it is, another bye week in four weeks sounds pretty awesome. We’ve been there before and enjoyed that.”
McKivitz was duck searching in Benicia whereas streaming Sunday’s NFL motion on his cellphone. “I had my phone on there, ducks were circling and it was great,” mentioned McKivitz, who earlier within the week reached the seven-duck restrict with teammates Connor Colby and Drake Nugent.
JENNINGS’ RESPONSE
Large receiver Jauan Jennings downplayed obscure accusations by the Browns’ Shelby Harris about getting too private with trash discuss in that sport. “I’m going to keep that to myself of what I said, but I know it wasn’t that bad and he knows that,” Jennings mentioned.
