The 49ers are getting encouraging signs on one front and a hefty fine bill on another.
CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz reports there is strong optimism that DE Nick Bosa will be back in game action on November 8th, coming out of the team’s bye week as he works back from a calf injury. On the other side of the ledger, LB Fred Warner was fined $47,762 and $17,911 for unnecessary roughness.
San Francisco’s defensive conversation this week also centered on cornerback Renardo Green, who has earned praise from both DC Raheem Morris and Warner for the way he has handled his second season.
“When you got those guys that don’t get rattled by situations like he is, that’s a corner mentality. It’s really the mental toughness and the mental stability you gotta have to play corner.
It’s at a different level.” Morris said of Green, via The Athletic.
Warner pointed to how Green has responded after last season and the growth he has shown inside the system.
“Everybody knows the story with how Renardo’s year ended last year. But all along, I’ve seen him just progress in our system, progress as a young player in this league and just how talented of a corner he was.
But also just his mindset to really want to be the best.” Warner added.
Green, for his part, described the position in terms of survival and resilience.
“When you play corner, the odds really be against (you). I got a tattoo that say I do it against all odds. Meaning no matter what it is that I face in real life … it’s against all odds.”
The Cardinals also had players hit with fines, as LB Eku Leota was fined $6,361 for unnecessary roughness and TE Teagan Quitoriano was fined $6,750 for unnecessary roughness.
Out in Seattle, the focus is on Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who will be front and center when the Seahawks meet the Chiefs on Sunday night. Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo knows exactly how difficult that assignment is.
Smith-Njigba currently leads the league in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns, and Spagnuolo made it clear he understands why the challenge is such a big one.
“He’s elite, really elite,” Spagnuolo said in his Thursday press conference, via Pro Football Talk. “There’s a lot of big-name wide receivers out there in the NFL, and just in talking with people and you ask questions - and Mike Macdonald’s a good friend and [Seahawks assistant head coach] Leslie Frazier in Seattle - but everything that comes back about him as a person [is] high character.
And you have that kind of talent and that kind of high character, that’s a pretty good thing to have. And then you’re on the other side of it, it’s a pretty tough thing to defend against.
“So, we’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
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