49ers News: Two days never felt so far away

Hutchinson: What to watch for in 49ers’ opener versus Jets

“If the 49ers stick to their wide-nine philosophy of driving upfield (and despite some 3-4 wrinkles, they probably believe the upside of being an aggressive front outweighs the downside), they could be susceptible to gap scheme runs and screens.

So much of that answer will rely on the shoulders of Maliek Collins. The 29-year-old had a poor start to last season in the run game, then played excellent all-around football for the second half. He faced the Jets last year to great success, but it’s a wildly different team.

Even if the 49ers can limit Hall on the inside, he’s a home run hitter. If he gets on the edge, he can be gone in a flash. Ji’Ayir Brown saw what that was like against Jahmyr Gibbs in the NFC Championship. He took bad angles twice. Gibbs has a habit of making that happen. But you’d hope that in year two, Brown will have just the half step quicker to avoid that. He saved at least two touchdowns in the NFC Championship, and may have to do the same if Hall gets loose.

Brown is also the key to the defense running Cover-3. He has to be that reliable center fielder, and showed he could be. But it’s that half step. He nearly had an interception in that NFC Championship on a ball thrown to Amon-Ra St. Brown. But Brown took a step a half second too late and too wide, and couldn’t come up with that. He made a pure recognition, downhill tackle in the preseason that bodes well for him gaining that split-second improvement that defines good from great safeties.

Then it’s a question of what Aaron Rodgers is. Him and his right-hand man… Nathaniel Hackett. Given the 49ers’ strength at corner, with Ward, Deommodore Lenoir and either Isaac Yiadom or Renardo Green, the 49ers should feel pretty good there for the first time in a long time. Wilson will be a major challenge for all of them, but not an impossible one.”

Kawakami: My 2024 49ers season prediction — 11-6 and wrestling their way to a division title (paywall)

“The 49ers have some depth, but if any of their top guys suffers a major injury or has a bad season, they’ll be in some trouble. The 49ers have refilled the coffers with a good 2024 draft, but it’ll be the veteran stars who determine whether they can finally cash in with a Super Bowl victory. I’m not the first one to say this, but it feels a little bit like the later stages of the Jim Harbaugh 49ers era, when Patrick Willis, Frank Gore and Michael Crabtree were leading the team through deep playoff runs almost every year. But then it all broke apart during the 2014 season and the 49ers took a long time — starting with the eventual hiring of Shanahan and John Lynch in 2017 — to put it back together.”

49ers’ Josh Dobbs thought he had earned backup QB job: ‘I’ve gone out and executed’ (paywall)

“I feel like I did,” Dobbs said to the Chronicle. “I feel like I played well in practice and in games when I had the opportunities. I think my film shows that. It’s up to the coaches. And that’s the decision they made.”

49ers practice report: Gross-Matos’ Week 1 availability in jeopardy

“Gross-Matos was seen going through physical therapy, including side-to-side shuffles, on a side field at the start of practice on Friday.”

Lynch ready to ‘forgive and forget’ Aiyuk, Williams contract drama

“Forgive and forget,” Lynch told Brian Murphy and Markus Boucher. “I think that goes both ways. These things get intense… But one thing I’ve learned is you go from being in intense negotiations to hugging them.

“A big part of their life’s dream just came true. That’s a big thing. And our team is set up now too.”

Niners’ Christian McCaffrey expects usual workload in opener

“Although McCaffrey has been officially listed as limited the past couple of days, he has been moving around on the practice field with no visible restrictions. He said he was feeling “much better” Friday.

“He looks like Christian to me,” run game coordinator Chris Foerster said. “You need to practice, so the guys who haven’t practiced, I don’t want to say there’s rust, but there’s always a little something that goes on just because they haven’t been doing it every day. There’s just that grind of every day, day after day. But he’s looked good.”