SANTA CLARA — The 49ers’ top defensive players fully expect to play in Sunday's 2023 NFL regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Rams.
Or . . . they at least are approaching the week of practices as if they are going to be on the field for much of the game.
“My expectation right now is to play and play the entire game, until told otherwise,” 49ers Pro Bowl linebacker Fred Warner said.
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Coach Kyle Shanahan certainly does not plan to go all-out in order to beat the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers (12-4) cannot improve their playoff seeding, as they are locked into the No. 1 seed, which earned them a first-round playoff bye and home-field advantage throughout the NFC side of the bracket.
Quarterback Brock Purdy will share snaps with backup Sam Darnold during the week of practices, but Darnold will start Sunday’s game against the Rams.
Running back Christian McCaffrey said he definitely would play if the 49ers had to win this game, but because he exited last week’s game due to a mild calf strain, he will not see any action, Shanahan said.
San Francisco 49ers
But Shanahan wants his other seven Pro Bowl players to approach this week with the mindset of getting ready to play in a game.
“I’m going to prepare like I’m playing no matter what and whatever the head coach says, goes,” Warner said.
The 49ers are not likely to give their front-line players the typical game-day workload. But Shanahan does not want his players coasting through the week, either.
“I think keeping your mind in a normal week is the right thing to do at this point,” 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa said. “Maybe (it will) not be quite as physically demanding. And who knows how much playing time you’ll actually get Sunday, but having that mindset is the most important thing.”
The 49ers and the AFC top seed Baltimore Ravens earned a first-round playoff bye. Under this same playoff format over the past two seasons, the No. 1 seeds both opened the playoffs on a Saturday during the divisional round. If that pattern holds, the 49ers’ first playoff game would be Saturday, Jan. 20.
Warner said the reward of a first-round playoff bye is good enough for him. He said he does not need the additional rest that could come along with clinching a week early.
“I really don’t feel like we need two bye weeks,” Warner said. “I feel like the fact we earned one bye week is everything. That’s great.
“When next week comes, we’ll take full advantage of that. But for now the plan all along was to play 17 games, so we still have one more game left to play, so we’re going to play it.”