SANTA CLARA — Over the bye week, the 49ers held a few full-speed, fully-padded practices which are rare at the tail end of the season, let alone the playoffs.
On Thursday, coach Kyle Shanahan explained how important the high-intensity sessions were heading into the NFC divisional playoff round matchup with the Green Bay Packers on Saturday at Levi's Stadium.
“Oh, it's huge,” Shanahan said. “We need to do it when you have so many guys who didn't get enough reps our last game on the Sunday versus the Rams. Just having those times, I think it helps a ton. Pads are very important to people, to a team and how they play.”
The priority is to make sure the team is as healthy as possible as they begin their playoff journey, while still practicing fundamentals like sound tackling. The 49ers' defense will face a solid running back tandem in Packers backs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillion who are known as explosive runners.
Without a bye week and an inconsequential game in Week 18, Shanahan likely would have kept his players out of the pads, but with the intensity still ratcheted up.
“We practice almost the same way without them, so that's why we can get away with it,” Shanahan said. “But guys want to feel it, they complain a little bit about it, not all of them, but also I have some guys undercover who want me to put the pads on.
“They just don't want their peers to get mad at them. So they try to send me hints. Then I usually call them out so they blame it on them and not me.”
Wide receiver Jauan Jennings might have been one of the players who hinted to Shanahan that he wanted to get back into pads. The physical wideout is geared up to play after being sidelined with a concussion since the club’s Week 15 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
“I just needed it,” Jennings told NBC Sports Bay Area. “So excited to get out there on Saturday and play. I needed it big time. Being this late in the season it is unusual but it felt like home, that’s what it felt like. We are so competitive, we like going against each other.”
This might not be the last of the 49ers' padded practices. If they can stay alive long enough to make it to Super Bowl LVIII, the extra time might warrant the same practice style.
“One of our best practices I can remember was a full padded one in Miami before the Super Bowl, just a couple days,” Shanahan recalled. “You take those extra weeks off and stuff. Most of the guys want the pads on by then. Usually by the second period it's like, ‘All right, that's enough. We can take them off.’”
Wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk has enjoyed the spirited practices that include first-team 11-on-11s. Those matchups usually only take place during training camp with work during the season consisting of the starters facing off against the scout team.
“It’s been fun,” Aiyuk said “We are having a lot of fun. I think I was saying yesterday, throughout the course of the season, it’s a little different to wake up for games. Now it’s playoff football with everything on the line. It’s a lot more fun that way. Easy to wake up for and a lot of excitement.”
The excitement kicks off at 5:15 p.m. PT on Saturday at Levi’s Stadium to see which team will head to the NFC Championship Game on January 21.
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