San Francisco improved to 5-2 with an impressive 20-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons on “Sunday Night Football.” With the victory, the 49ers kept pace atop the NFC West with the Los Angeles Rams.
The 49ers did sustain a pair of costly injuries early on during its win over the Falcons. Starting cornerback Renardo Green exited with a toe injury and starting center Jake Brendel exited with a hamstring injury.
Shanahan didn’t have an immediate update or know how much time Green might miss after the win.
“I mean, it’s a toe, so we’ll see. Not sure. Possibly,” Shanahan said when asked if Green suffered a turf toe injury.
Shanahan sounded more optimistic about Brendel’s potential timeline for a return. Though, that might also be because of the way that backup center Matt Hennessy filled in and how the 49ers ran the football on Sunday night.
“Sucks losing Jake, he’s been a stud for us. I’ve got a lot of respect for Jake and how much he’s helped us and it’s just a hamstring, so I know he’ll be back soon, but it always does take some time. It’s nice to have Hennessy step up and play well, too,” Shanahan said.
In the win, the 49ers totaled their most rushing yards in a game since their Week 8 win over the Dallas Cowboys last year. Afterwards, Shanahan praised the job that Hennessy did filling in for Brendel at center to keep the 49ers’ run game and offense rolling.
“Again, I’ll know better when I watch the tape, but I thought (Matt) Hennessy had a real good offseason with us. Really enjoyed him throughout OTAs and training camp and I didn’t notice anything go bad when Brendel went out, so Hennessy must’ve been ready for the opportunity.
“Went in there and allowed the offense to keep going. Made the right calls. I’m sure he blocked well because of the results that we had,” Shanahan said.
Given the amount of injuries that the 49ers have sustained across the board, it’s been pretty amazing that San Francisco has been able to traverse that adversity en route to a 5-2 start and to sit alongside the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West division lead.
Shanahan touched on the 49ers’ ability to manage all of its injuries and to respond in a positive way.
“I mean, I’ve been proud of all the guys, just overcoming a lot of stuff. Offense, where we went through that stretch without (George) Kittle, it was nice to get him back today. The wideouts being banged up all year. I mean, this was the first week this year that JJ’s been able to practice and I know those guys are all just battling to get out there and how Mac’s stepped it up with Brock being out.
“The amount of defensive guys today who stepped it up. We all know all the eyes were on Tatum (Bethune) and how well he played and he went out for a series early in the game and was able to come back in and play unbelievable. (Darrell) Luter stepping it up today with Renardo going out. We talked about Chase (Lucas) was awesome, getting Kevin (Givens) back too on the d-line, that helped today. But, just real proud of our whole roster and all the guys that have stepped up throughout this year so far,” Shanahan said.
San Francisco returns to action with a Week 8 date at the Houston Texans (2-3) next Sunday, Oct. 26 at 10 a.m. PT from NRG Stadium in Houston.
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This article originally appeared on Niners Wire: Kyle Shanahan provides postgame injury updates on starting CB, OL
