After going 12-5 in the regular season and clinching the top seed in the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers will have some extra time to prepare for the playoffs, as they have earned a bye into the divisional round.
That not only means plenty of opportunities to practice, scrimmage and watch film, but to also get healthy.
While the Niners are mostly healthy right now, other than safety Talanoa Hufanga, who recently suffered a season-ending ACL injury, defensive lineman Arik Armstead has been sidelined since Week 14. He has been dealing with a foot and knee ailment at the same time.
But on Tuesday, head coach Kyle Shanahan said that Armstead seems to be progressing and that he will return to practice on Thursday.
“He’s doing better. He looked good today and that was the test and that’s why we’re going to get him into practice Thursday and hopefully it goes well and we’ll get him in a little bit Friday,” said Shanahan.
“We’ve been trying to give him as much rest as possible. He would’ve gone last week if we needed that. That’s why we were really pumped that we were able to get that, so he didn’t have to go last week. So just giving him this extra week, he’s better right now than he was a week ago at this time. So hopefully that extra week we’ll give him enough to ease back into this and make him even better a week from now.”
NFL News & Updates: Arik Armstead, Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers Updates
Armstead may not be a prolific Pro Bowl-caliber player, but he has been an integral member of San Francisco’s front four for nine seasons. His ability to pressure opposing quarterbacks, as well as his ability to play on both the edge and interior of the defensive line, has given Shanahan options.
In 12 games this season, Armstead registered 5.0 sacks, 13 quarterback hits and four tackles for loss.
The 49ers have reached the NFC Championship Game three times and the Super Bowl once over the previous four seasons. Despite being endowed with one of the NFL’s most talented teams in recent years, they have been stuck on five Super Bowl titles ever since the mid-1990s.
However, this could possibly be the year they finally get over the hump. They’re currently the favorite to win it all, and in quarterback Brock Purdy, they have a man who threw for 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns this year and can do things that Jimmy Garoppolo, his predecessor, simply cannot.
By clinching the top seed in the conference, the Niners have ensured that the road to the Super Bowl in the NFC will likely run through the San Francisco Bay Area.
