SANTA CLARA — Javon Hargrave witnessed the birth of the so-called "Brotherly Shove" during his three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Now a key member of the 49ers' defensive line, Hargrave said he never saw the Eagles' offense practice the short-yardage play.
And when asked if he has an idea on what he will do to defend it on Sunday, he answered, with a laugh, "Nah. I wish."
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Coach Kyle Shanahan offers, perhaps, the best suggestion to defend Jalen Hurts’ quarterback sneak behind center Jason Kelce, where if Hurts does not move the chains on the first surge, he has two teammates in a bunch formation behind him to give him a push.
"I know it's possible to stop, but it's proven that it's extremely hard," Shanahan said. "So you try to keep them out of those situations."
The Eagles have been successful on 24 of 30 of those short-yardage sneak plays this season, according to NBC Sports Philadelphia.
They failed once on third down but converted on the next play. Two of their failures came late, with the game's outcome already in hand.
San Francisco 49ers
Hargrave and defensive tackle Arik Armstead will likely be the 49ers defenders closest to the ball if the Eagles have a short-yardage situation.
The 49ers are counting on them to control the line of scrimmage and provide significant impacts in this game to avoid those easily attainable short-yardage plays.
Hargrave is familiar with Kelce, left guard Landon Dickerson, and right guard Cam Jurgens from his time with the Eagles before signing with the 49ers as a free agent this offseason.
"They know me like I know them," Hargrave said. "We went at it for three years. I know what to do against them, and they know what to do against me."
Hargrave said he feels he is completely up to speed with how he fits into the 49ers' defense and communicates with Armstead and others on the line.
The 49ers will have to be on point Sunday when they face Hurts, one of the top dual threats in the game.