Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Friday, January 16th, 2026
Kyle Shanahan shares final updates ahead of 49ers-Seahawks Divisional Round matchup
“How close is WR Jacob Cowing to being on the field?
“He’s close. He’s healthy. You know, he’s had two good weeks and I think we’ve got one more week with him where we’ve got to make a decision, but he’s looked really good out there.”
49ers shrug off Seahawks’ QB Sam Darnold being listed as questionable(paywall)
“Backup quarterback Drew Lock reportedly took first-team snaps in his place.
Offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak was asked how Darnold looked during the session, but deferred all injury questions to head coach Mike Macdonald, who was not scheduled to speak until Friday. Amid an apparent episode of gamesmanship, Darnold did not play along.
“In routes on air, just kind of felt a little something in my oblique,” Darnold said Thursday. “Just didn’t want to push it. Wasn’t the day to push it. So that was it. … I feel like I’ll be ready to go for Saturday.”
How ‘50 knives’ game prepared 49ers’ Brock Purdy for excruciating test in Seattle (paywall)
“On Dec. 15, 2022, the San Francisco 49ers’ then-rookie quarterback received a pre-kickoff injection for a strained oblique and broken rib he suffered four days earlier and felt some relief. Then, on his second throw, an innocuous 4-yard completion, his body seized in agony.
“That throw I was like, ‘Oh, man,’” Purdy recalled in 2023. “It felt like 50 knives in the same area. It was almost hard to breathe.”
49ers’ Fred Warner out vs. Seahawks; Shanahan ‘confident’ about him for NFC title game(paywall)
“Shanahan answered optimistically when asked whether Warner showed enough Wednesday in his lone practice this week to have confidence he could be ready for the NFC Championship Game.
“Yes, I do feel confident in that,” Shanahan said Thursday. “We’ll see if it works out.”
The 49ers will have to make do with a half-healthy Ricky Pearsall. The second-year wide receiver said repeatedly that he expects to play Saturday. The catch? Pearsall acknowledged he’ll have to play differently to accommodate for a posterior cruciate ligament knee injury that he said won’t fully heal until the offseason.
“That’s probably the toughest part, is it just lingering around,” said Pearsall, who is officially considered questionable to suit up versus the Seahawks. “It’s one of those injuries that is not going to heal up until I’m fully rested and done. And I can’t do that right now.”
Kawakami: Shanahan’s longevity, Purdy’s true value, and more 49ers legacies in the making (paywall)
“Here’s the lasting legacy of this 49ers season: They’ve opened a legitimate Super Bowl window, which will become enormously obvious if they pull off a few more thrilling upsets.
And even if they lose Saturday in Seattle, the 49ers have survived too many devastating things this season to let the momentum and good vibes expire going into next season and beyond.
They’ve got something meaningful here. They know it. Everybody around the league can see it. And it’s not evaporating anytime soon — just like it only felt stronger after they lost George Kittle to an Achilles tear in the second quarter of their Sunday victory over Philadelphia.
“Everything we’ve done to that point goes down in vain if we don’t take advantage of this opportunity,” Trent Williams said Wednesday of the team’s mindset against the Eagles. “George’s spirit and energy lives through this team.”
They’ve got another opportunity Saturday — without Kittle, Nick Bosa, Mykel Williams, and many others, though possibly with Fred Warner back after his devastating injury in October.
The 49ers are underdogs, but they have some chance to continue this and win Super Bowl 60. If they don’t win this Super Bowl, they should and will be considered one of the favorites to win it next year or the year after that. Given what they accomplished under duress this season, they likely will win a Super Bowl soon enough in some lesser-cursed season.
The window is back open after they lost Super Bowl 58, tumbled the following year after a flood of injuries, then reset the roster and payroll last offseason.
Which makes this a good time for a legacy check on the top figures in the organization. Nobody’s legacy should be defined by one win or loss, but things get altered or underlined as seasons come and go — especially a season as meaningful as this one.
Category: General Sports
