Golden Nuggets: Sunday shaping up to be a battle of the middle

49ers practice and media schedule leading to NFC Championship Game matchup vs. Eagles

“The San Francisco 49ers will hold three full practices this week as the team prepares for its NFC Championship Game matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.”

Mike Florio discusses what is likely to happen with Charles Omenihu following domestic violence allegations

“I don’t think that precedent matters, I think these are things that are resolved and determined on case-by-case basis,” Florio said. “Remember they were very patient with Aldon Smith throughout some of his off-the-field issues, until they essentially drew a line in the sand then he crossed over it, then they moved on from him....It’s always a function of talent vs. complication. Excuses are made for the stars, examples are made of the scrubs. That’s the way it is at every level of every sport. The bottom line is, this guy had two sacks against the Seahawks in the wild-card game, they are trying to get to the Super Bowl and win it. There is enough vague quality to the reports, and it doesn’t sound shocking or troubling or something that would require immediate action by the team. Again, because it’s misdemeanor charges, the league would not put him on paid leave.”

Barrows: 49ers mailbag: Is Nick Bosa in a slump? Explaining the offense’s first-half blahs (paywall)

“The thing I learned about Kyle’s offense is you’ve got to be patient,” Williams said. “Because some play calls aren’t meant to score. They’re meant to test what (defenses) do versus certain plays — to see how hard they run on the back side, to see if they sit back when people are coming across the formation. Do they go with them? Do they let the down safety take them? You can’t go off the film because they haven’t played you yet. You don’t know what they’re going to do. So it’s one of those things where we just had to get a feel for how they see everything. And once we did that, we could get to the stuff that works.”

Wulf: Early look at Eagles-49ers NFC Championship: Where does each team have an advantage? (paywall)

“Given that penchant, there figures to be a lot of stress placed on the middle of the Eagles’ defense. This note courtesy of The Athletic’s Aaron Reiss might surprise you: No defense in the league has allowed fewer yards after the catch per reception on in-breaking routes this season than Philadelphia (2.0). Jonathan Gannon’s unit has allowed in-breaking routes to turn into explosive gains (defined as 16 yards or more) just 13.5 percent of the time, the third-lowest rate in the league, and ranks 10th in defensive success rate on those plays. San Francisco, for the fifth year running, led the league in in-breaking routes.”

Branch: 49ers game review: How Fred Warner blasted, blanketed Cowboys’ CeeDee Lamb (paywall)

“Warner had a team-high nine tackles and an interception, but the first-team All-Pro’s most impressive plays weren’t reflected on the stat sheet: On two snaps, the 230-pound linebacker had close-enough-to-kiss coverage on Lamb more than 20 yards downfield. Those plays, both on third down, led to drive-ending incompletions.”

Kawakami: The Levi’s Leap — after almost a decade, the 49ers’ home finally feels like home (paywall)

“The Levi’s fans haven’t booed the home team very much (that I can remember), but they can be funny, they certainly can jeer the opponent, they can yell for Shanahan to move quicker, and when it gets tense, it doesn’t get super quiet, the place just hums with nervous energy.”

49ers overreactions: Is healthy Jimmy G valuable in playoffs?

“Dallas’ active defensive front got penetration and disrupted the 49ers’ running attack. Then, Micah Parsons and others generated pressure against Purdy and threw off the timing of the 49ers’ passing game.

It is not as simple as being able to blanket Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey.

The opposition has to guess correctly with their coverages and win one-on-one battles.”

Mike Florio breaks down who he expects to hire DeMeco Ryans

“The Texans are the sentimental favorite because he played there, and also he’s a damn good coach. In Denver he made a great impression I’m told, but they’ve had three straight first time head coaches, coordinator elevations, and they’ve been burned by that. I guess one argument would be, we’re due to finally hire a coordinator that becomes a great head coach, but I think they’re leaning toward somebody who’s been a head coach before, especially as poor as it went for Nathanial Hackett.”

One team’s NFL Draft scouting report on Brock Purdy shows how he became ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ (paywall)

“The NFL coach who wrote the scouting report said Monday, “The biggest thing that stood out differently than from his college film, and (49ers GM) John Lynch actually said it a few weeks ago, is his athleticism. I don’t remember him moving like that at Iowa State, and he didn’t test well. He jumped 27 inches, which is terrible. He ran a 4.85 (4.84). He’s got short arms, like really short, and he’s got small hands. He’s 6-1, and his arm is OK. The twitchiness just wasn’t really there. His short shuttle was OK —4.45 — that’s not outstanding.”

Donte Whitner says Brock Purdy could be second coming of Tom Brady

“Hear me out, hear me out,” Whitner said on the latest edition of “Hitner’s Hot Take.”