Drew Savage

Sure, the 49ers had a ton of injuries in 2025. But things were even worse for the Cardinals, who combined the hardest schedule in the NFL with a near-record total of Adjusted Games Lost to injury trailing only the 2021 Ravens. ftnfantasy.com/nfl/adjusted-g…

A few other takeaways from chatting with the #49ers assistant coaches today: - Leonard Hankerson offered some praise for WR Brandon Aiyuk and how engaged he's been in practice and meeting rooms. Aiyuk has been so eager to help the young wideouts that Hankerson says he's even asked to run WR meetings. Aiyuk occasionally will take one play in a meeting and teach it to the other receivers. - Hankerson said WR Ricky Pearsall is coming along and feels the urgency to produce quickly. He says Pearsall is the fastest WR on the roster right now and the key, as you'd expect is just stringing good days together and staying healthy. Pearsall, after all, hasn't had a ton of practice time in his young career. - QB coach Mick Lombardi says QB Brock Purdy hasn't changed at all this year despite his epic offseason. The only exception? "A few more dad jokes," Lombardi said laughing. Lombardi said Purdy doesn't feel pressure to elevate his game to another level but he's working toward that in knowing that he's still pretty young in his career. - On Mac Jones, Lombardi said he hasn't done anything to help rebuild Jones' confidence. Rather, he's trying to put Jones in the best positions to see things and let it rip. He credits Jones for working so hard to get to the point where he is fully invested in every throw he makes. "That's all him and his mindset and I think feeling comfortable in the scheme and feeling comfortable with the guys around him and just feeling comfortable with the staff," Lombardi said. "Kyle and Klay (Kubiak) and I think it's just all kind of been a good combination for him." - LB coach Johnny Holland confirmed what's been obvious: there really isn't much of a competition for the No. 2 LB job alongside Fred Warner. It's Dee Winters' job to lose. "We are excited that he's in there and we hope he can take that position and run with it," Holland said. "And I wouldn't be surprised at the end of the season if Dee played 90% of the snaps. He's going to be a really, really good player." - I'll have more in some upcoming stories but there's a few things to get you through this practice-less Sunday. Enjoy the rest of your weekend and thanks for reading.