Thursday night media recap: Let’s get to the game already

Thursday’s media for the San Francisco 49ers gave off the impression that the team is ready for the game to be here. The practice report remained unchanged. Kyle Shanahan had his last media availability of the season. It seems like yesterday we had minicamp and were discussing guys like Dante Pettis and how they’d have an effect on the offense this season. Speaking of Pettis, Shanahan said, “he helped us this year, and I believe he’ll help us more next year” I’d agree with that. I don’t think it’s out of the question for Pettis to pass up Kendrick Bourne as the No. 3 receiver next year. If Emmanuel Sanders signs elsewhere, it’ll be up to the likes of Pettis and Jalen Hurd to replace him if San Francisco elects to not sign anyone in free agency or draft another wideout.

Shanahan praised safety Jaquiski Tartt by saying he was “huge” for the communication process in the secondary. “When you have a lot of silent assassins back there, it’s tough to lose the communicator. That’s why it’s so good to have Tartt back.” Speaking of Tartt, I asked him how fun it is to watch the Chiefs offense, knowing all the things they are going to throw at the Niners defense:

It’s fun, man. You look at their offense and they’re explosive. They have a great quarterback, and he’s so young. Then you got Tyreek Hill, [Mecole] Hardman, and Sammy Watkins. They have a ton of talent on the offensive side. Watching film is like, “whoa.” At the end of the day, they’re a great offense, but we just have to do what we do.

I then asked Tartt if he gets tired of talking about how good Kansas City is: “I love it. Y’all keep talking about them. I love it. They deserve everything that’s going their way, so keep talking about them. It’s lovely.”

That sounds like a guy who knows a certain offense may not perform as well as the masses think.

Tweet recap

Peter King was at a brewery with Gardner Minshew for an event, and he told a story from 25 years ago when Young chugged Gatorade back-to-back-to-back and puked on his shoes.

It’s not 49ers related, but he also told a story about how Brett Favre used to take 16 Vicodin pills before games so that he could play.

This will be a separate article today, but the most enjoyable part of Thursday was being able to sit down at a table with linemen Ben Garland and Laken Tomlinson and shoot the site decorum. I asked ten non-football questions, and it was enjoyable. Tomlinson is very into his heritage. He’s also much, much smarter than the rest of us.

Jimmy Garoppolo, noted Jordan’s fan, on the quarterbacks he modeled himself after growing up:

Consistency was consistent there.

George Kittle calling out Robbie Gould was hilarious.

If I was in marketing, I’d be all over Kittle for ads and sponsors. He’s great.

This was pretty cool. Raheem Mostert on why he gives the Niners offense the ball after celebrating:

I asked Kwon Alexander four questions and he gave detailed answers to each.

The vibe from Thursday’s media session didn’t have the same energy as the first two days. Players were over the same questions, and the media didn’t stop asking them, so I can see why they felt that way. Most of the players had an iPad out and were playing a game or talking to their teammates. It’s been a long week for them. There’s no way the players are used to this type of exposure. It doesn’t feel like any of them truly likely it.

Frank Gore didn’t give a score prediction, but he used the words “we” when talking about the 49ers. It’s impossible not to root for him.