49ers’ final injury report will raise excitement for divisional round clash
49ers’ final injury report will raise excitement for divisional round clash

The San Francisco 49ers head into their divisional round clash with the Green Bay Packers rested and extremely healthy.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed the 49ers’ final injury report for the Niners’ primetime playoff clash, and it makes for very encouraging reading for San Francisco.
Defensive end Clelin Ferrell is the only player ruled out for the 49ers, his absence long since confirmed after he suffered a knee injury in Week 18. Defensive tackle Arik Armstead will make a long-awaited return after missing the last five games with foot and knee issues. He does not have an injury designation.
Linebacker Dre Greenlaw is the only player beyond Ferrell with an injury designation. He is listed as questionable with an Achilles problem, but there is little suggestion he will not line up next to fellow starter Fred Warner.
Injury report
Injury report observations
Armstead’s return will be critical to the 49ers, particularly in run defense, an area in which they have struggled in his absence. San Francisco gave up 115.4 yards per game on the ground in his absence and this week faces a running back in Aaron Jones who gashed the Dallas Cowboys for 118 yards and three touchdowns in Green Bay’s shock win over the two seed last week.
With Ferrell out, the 49ers will be down one of their more unsung heroes of the season. The former fourth overall pick of the Raiders has not been a dominant pass rusher, but Nick Bosa said last week that Ferrell brought “probably the best effort of anybody on the team”.
Chase Young and Randy Gregory will need to replace that effort and ensure they excel at setting the edge against the run game to force Green Bay to be a one-dimensional attack.
Shanahan confirmed backup safety George Odum will be activated before the deadline on Saturday, the core special teamer set to return having not played since being placed on injured reserve with a torn bicep in the Thanksgiving win over the Seattle Seahawks.
This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.
The Dallas Cowboys are coming off a disappointing playoff loss against the Green Bay Packers. Their loss made NFL playoff history in more ways than one. Now, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn is looking toward his future, as he locks down his biggest head-coaching interview yet. Dan Quinn interviewing for Seattle Seahawks HC According to Albert Breer, who is an NFL reporter for multiple platforms, Quinn is interviewing for the Seattle Seahawks head coach position on Thursday. This is his fifth scheduled interview this week for a head coach position. The other four are with the Washington Commanders, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans and Los Angeles Chargers, respectively. However, we should put more weight on the Seahawks’ interview for multiple reasons. Let’s dive into those. Leaving Dallas Cowboys for Seattle Seahawks For one thing, the Seahawks’ head-coaching position is one of the more desirable jobs available. Seattle finished 9-8 this season and has several talented young players. Plus, there are no big names linked to this position such as Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers. However, the biggest reason Seattle is the interview to pay attention to is because of the history attached to this team. Quinn was the defensive coordinator when the Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII. On top of this, previous reports revealed that Quinn is a strong candidate to take the position. Now, those reports may come to fruition sooner rather than later.
Caleb Downs was a revelation for the Alabama Crimson Tide as a freshman. That wasn’t surprising because he had an incredible pedigree as a five-star recruit. His father, Gary Downs, played seven years in the NFL. His brother, Josh Downs, was a third-round selection of the Indianapolis Colts in the 2023 NFL Draft. His uncle is Dre Bly, the two-time Pro Bowl corner and Super Bowl champion. Downs was ranked as the No. 1 safety recruit in the 2023 class and he followed those massive expectations up with a freshman campaign that saw him win SEC Freshman of the Year after notching 107 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two interceptions. He was a star for Alabama, but with Nick Saban retiring, Downs officially decided to take his star power elsewhere via the transfer portal. Where to now? It’s worth noting that while any coach and university can now reach out to Downs, the young superstar’s father recently told 247Sports that a decision will be made soon and prior relationships are really going to count. “Our time is so short and we don’t have time to look at a lot of unknowns,” Gary Downs told Steve Wiltfong. “It has to be previous relationships with people. We want to try and find a place with stability, the same coach and same coordinators, knowing you have to be prepared for change. He just turned 19. This is a lot for him to process right now. You don’t go into this situation thinking about transferring.” Two programs should immediately come to mind for a Downs landing spot: Georgia and Ohio State. Georgia, in particular, should be a massive factor because Downs hails from Hoschton, Georgia, and UGA’s new defensive coordinator, Travaris Robinson, was one of his primary recruiters at Alabama. Kirby Smart recently plucked Robinson from Alabama and gave him a promotion. Smart also appears to have a good relationship with Downs. UGA is certainly the front-runner, here, and likely will wind up the winner of this transfer portal battle. But don’t count Ohio State out. Ohio State defensive back coach Tim Wilton apparently has already flown to Georgia to meet with Downs and the Buckeyes are expected to be aggressive in their approach with the safety. Notably, both Georgia and Ohio State were among Downs’ finalists as a recruit before he committed to Saban and Alabama. His other finalist was Notre Dame.
Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick will soon have a second interview with the Atlanta Falcons, but certain whispers continue to hint that he could potentially join a different NFC South franchise this offseason. During an interview with Michael Grant of Awful Announcing, Patriots insider Seth Wickersham suggested that Belichick could follow in the footsteps of former New England quarterback Tom Brady and head to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers if the Buccaneers become willing to part ways with current head coach Todd Bowles. “I think an ideal spot for Bill would be similar to what Brady found in Tampa Bay,” Wickersham explained, “where you have a team that’s talented and needs that presence of authority, greatness and work ethic to help get them over the hump.” Interestingly, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio mentioned last week that the Buccaneers “likely” would have been at least interested in Belichick had Tampa Bay lost this past Monday’s home wild-card playoff game to the Philadelphia Eagles. While the Buccaneers earned a 32-9 victory over Philadelphia, Bowles holds a lackluster overall record of 18-18 as Tampa Bay’s head coach heading into this coming Sunday’s divisional postseason matchup at the Detroit Lions. “He has the greatest résumé of any free-agent coach in modern NFL history,” Wickersham said about Belichick. Quarterback Baker Mayfield signed a one-year contract with the Buccaneers last offseason but seemingly has earned the right to run it back with Tampa Bay for at least another campaign. For what it’s worth, Belichick praised Mayfield on multiple occasions while serving as New England’s coach, and the JoeBucsFan website noted on Thursday that Atlanta “has a lot to offer when it comes to weapons and a running game” and “could use” an upgrade at quarterback such as Mayfield. Perhaps Belichick wouldn’t need to recruit Mayfield to the Falcons to work with the first pick of the 2018 NFL Draft later this year.
The Dallas Cowboys’ backfield situation is uncertain, with No. 1 running back Tony Pollard headed for free agency after playing the year on the franchise tag. While keeping Pollard isn’t out of the question for 2024, one analyst believes the franchise will go in a different direction. In ESPN’s breakdown of each team’s offseason priorities throughout the league, Aaron Schatz predicted that the Cowboys would let Pollard walk and select a future bellcow in April’s NFL Draft. Schatz throws out Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson and Michigan’s Blake Corum as potential targets, adding that the Cowboys would need to move up from the No. 56 pick in the second round to “get the guy they want.” This past season, Corum was the only player in the FBS to score a touchdown in every game. Meanwhile, he rushed for more than 3,000 yards (3,660) in three seasons at Michigan and ended his collegiate career as the program’s all-time leader in single-season (27) and career rushing scores (58). On the flip side, consensus says the Cowboys will target Texas RB Jonathon Brooks in the second round, according to NFL Mock Draft Database. Dane Brugler of The Athletic is one mock drafter who believes Brooks would be a good fit in Arlington. Despite coming off a torn ACL, Brooks is still in line to be one of, if not the first, back selected in this year’s draft. Meanwhile, Brugler added an extra nugget, pointing out that the Cowboys’ head physician, Dr. Dan Cooper, performed Brooks’ surgery in November 2023 and would have intimate knowledge about his status and recovery. Before going down with a season-ending injury, Brooks was arguably one of the most explosive backs in the country, rushing for 1,139 yards and 10 touchdowns over 11 games. Running back may not be the top need for the Cowboys, but it’s likely to be one of the team’s main holes to fill. Pollard didn’t equal the output from his Pro Bowl season in 2022, but he was more than serviceable, rushing for over 1,000 yards for the second consecutive season while scoring six touchdowns on the ground. However, barring a long-term deal, he’ll hit the open market soon. The only other option to keep him would be using the franchise tag again, but that would cost the Cowboys $12 million in 2024, up from $10 in 2023. Whether the Cowboys believe Pollard is worth a long-term commitment or a large chunk of next year’s salary is the question. The answer is likely no on both counts, which should lead to a new face taking handoffs from quarterback Dak Prescott next season
Sports media’s LeBron James expert (of sorts) is making some interesting comments about The King this week. On the latest episode of “The Hoop Collective” podcast, Brian Windhorst of ESPN expressed skepticism about James’ future with the Los Angeles Lakers beyond this season. “I don’t know what’s gonna happen with LeBron in 2025,” said Windhorst, per Sports Illustrated. “I feel like LeBron is gonna play next year, but I don’t know if it’s gonna be for the Lakers.” Senior NBA insider Windhorst has famously covered James for over two decades now, dating all the way back to the forward’s time at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. Thus, Windhorst’s word has more weight than most when it comes to James. James, now 39, did flirt with retirement (though largely unconvincingly) following the Lakers’ playoff exit last season. He will have greater control over his future this summer, as he holds a $51.4 million player option for 2024-25. Should James decline that option, that would pave the way for him to potentially leave the Lakers and maybe even join whatever team drafts his son Bronny James, who is draft-eligible this year. The Lakers will obviously make a very strong push to keep James around for what would be a seventh campaign in L.A.. But the team is struggling again this season, sitting at just .500 halfway into the season despite James and Anthony Davis both offering elite production and wide-scale availability. James has also had some concerning remarks in recent weeks that may signal an increasing loss of confidence in the Lakers.
Detroit Lions defensive back Kerby Joseph has developed quite a reputation for himself for a couple of hits that have knocked out opposing players for the season. The latest was Los Angeles Rams tight end Tyler Higbee, who tore his ACL on a low hit during the team’s wild-card win this past weekend. Joseph said on Thursday that he is “cool” with his reputation and is “used to being the villain.” Higbee was injured catching a pass across the middle of the field after Joseph went in low and took his leg for the tackle. The Rams’ tight end was immediately in visible pain. Earlier in the season, Joseph injured Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson with a similar hit. Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford confronted Joseph on the field and called him a dirty player. Joseph was seen flexing in celebration after the play. Said Joseph on Thursday, via the Detroit Free Press: “To be honest, I don’t really know [why Stafford was mad]. It was the quickest thing, so I don’t even know what his intentions was, for real. On the celebration part, I wasn’t celebrating that I hurt him,” Kerby explained. “I kind of didn’t really peep that he was hurt, for real. But like I said, prayers out to that boy and his family. Like the game we play, just stuff happens.” The harsh reality is that Joseph did what the NFL would prefer he do in that situation. The league has made it very clear that going high on a wide receiver and risking head and neck contact is going to carry the possibility of game-changing penalties and perhaps even fines or suspensions for the defensive player. The offshoot of that is that some defenders are going to go low. It might be risky. It might result in a different sort of injury. We are still going to continue to see it.