49ers News: Need Sunday to hurry up already

Silver: 49ers’ special teams play has been awful. Who’s to blame and is it time for an intervention? (paywall)

“Seifert’s college roommate, Lynn Stiles, was the 49ers’ special teams coach, and he seemed to have inalienable job security. Stiles needed it, too, because the Niners’ special teams units were among the NFL’s worst. The thing was, not too many people at team headquarters seemed to care.

As they closed in on a fourth championship in nine seasons, the 49ers’ collective mindset was something akin to this: We’re so good on offense and defense that special teams don’t even really matter.

When you’ve got Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott and one of the greatest overall rosters of all time, this may be a viable approach. It wasn’t a one-year thing, however. When Greenbrae native Pete Carroll arrived as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator in 1995, just after the franchise had captured its fifth and most recent Lombardi Trophy, he picked up on the same vibe.

“It was kind of an afterthought,” Carroll recalled Tuesday. “They basically told the guys, ‘Be really fundamental, be really basic, and just don’t screw it up.’ ”

….

Brian Schneider, who has filled that role for the Niners since 2022, was previously the special teams coordinator from 2010-20 for Carroll’s Seahawks. This would suggest that Schneider is much better at his job when working for a head coach who values special teams, rather than one who simply hopes they shouldn’t get in the way of his offense and defense…..The bottom line is that there are a lot of things to clean up, but I believe a more comprehensive scrubbing is warranted. This is on the head coach, who sets the tone for everything. And Shanahan’s 49ers have to stop behaving like they’re good enough to overcome unacceptable play on the margins; they need to start valuing special teams and performing accordingly.

There’s an old football adage that special teams are a third of the game, espoused by Belichick and so many others. Realistically, that’s an overstatement. However, they’re not nothing, either.”

Barrows: Is 49ers’ Brandon Aiyuk getting separation? Yes, but it’s complicated (paywall)

“For one, opponents have used a lot of zone defense against the 49ers so far, which gives receivers room to roam — hence the separation statistic — but not a lot of clear throwing lanes.

“Usually when it’s zone there’s not many people around the guys, there’s just people underneath,” Shanahan said. “It’s about throwing over people.”

Aiyuk, meanwhile, said that defenses are playing him differently than they did last season when he led the 49ers with 1,342 receiving yards.

“A little bit different,” he said. “They just know what we want to do, what we like to do, me and (Brock) Purdy especially.”

He indicated that the 49ers would try different tactics this week.”

49ers practice report: Deebo returns, Robinson carted off

“Meanwhile, wide receiver Deebo Samuel, left tackle Trent Williams and linebacker Dee Winters returned for at least limited practice on Thursday after sitting out the team’s on-field work one day earlier.

Tight end George Kittle, who was inactive for the 49ers’ Week 3 game against the Los Angeles Rams due to a hamstring injury, was back on the practice field for a second day in a row. He was limited at practice on Wednesday.

Samuel sat out the 49ers’ game against the Rams with a calf injury. He did not practice on Wednesday but was seen running routes near full speed on Thursday.”

49ers vs. Patriots Injury Report: Deebo Samuel returns to practice; LB carted off the field

“Below are Thursday’s practice participation reports for both the 49ers and Patriots, which were provided by the 49ers Communications staff.”