Golden Nuggets: Game day!

J.T. O’Sullivan on Brock Purdy’s ability to ‘elevate an already really good offense’ (paywall)

“It’s the consistency, the power. When you play with a consistent and powerful base, you allow yourself to be consistent, you allow yourself to be precise more often than if you have a lot of wasted movement, a lot of unnecessary footwork or you’re not generating the maximum amount of force and torque. To me, he looks like a guy who’s been very well coached, who’s extremely polished and has played a lot of football. Because he’s combining the base thing with the decisiveness. Every time he drops back, it looks like he has a plan, it looks like he knows exactly what he should do with the ball. And that’s a combination of coaching, system and his own development..........and I would also say the dropback game has, for whatever reason, taken a backseat in the evolution (of the 49ers offense). They’ve become so good in the run game, so good with the multiple personnel, so good with the shifts and the formations, the bootlegs, the play actions, that the dropback game feels like it hasn’t been that much of an emphasis. And it’s not an issue until it’s an issue. And that’s the hard part to wrap your mind around. Because when you’re down 14 in the fourth quarter and you’ve got to go make some hay with the dropback game, that’s when you need it. And if you don’t need it for 20 games, that’s a great luxury. That’s not taking anything away from that stretch. But at some point, you’re probably going to need it. And so that’s where you’re kind of like, “We’ll see.” There’s no reason to think he won’t be able to do it. But we just haven’t seen it yet.”

Branch: Given 49ers’ recent rivalry edge, Cowboys sound more fired up for Sunday (paywall)

“We probably were just exchanging late New Year’s cards,” Williams said while smiling Friday when asked about the pregame incident. “Something like that.”

49ers elevate Bryant, Sheffield from practice squad to face Cowboys

“Bryant, who played his four previous NFL seasons with the Detroit Lions, suited up for the 49ers’ season opener at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bryant will take Kerry Hyder’s spot in the 49ers’ defensive line rotation when the 49ers meet the Cowboys on “Sunday Night Football” at Levi’s Stadium.”

Bosa appreciates Shanahan’s involvement with 49ers’ defense

“He’s involved and he’s not completely offense (or) doesn’t have a clue what’s going on on the other side which is sometimes how it is,” Bosa told Mathai. “But he’s in tune and knows building a winning team takes a good defense and a good defensive line and he kind of lets coach [Kris] Kocurek and whoever the defensive coordinator has been throughout the years just do their thing.

“Obviously he’s the head coach, he puts his two cents in and knows a ton about football so he helps out. But he trusts what they do and the scheme we run.”

Steve Young points out key QB trait shared by Purdy, Mahomes

“They don’t know the position like they say they do, because the position is really about guile and an innate gift from heaven, in some ways, to be able to have your heart rate go down when everyone else is in anxiety and pressure,” Young said in an exclusive interview with NBC Bay Area’s Raj Mathai. “You just react differently — you respond. And then there’s 22 people on the field, including yourself, and it’s not overwhelming.

“It’s like, ‘Oh, I get that. That’s fine. I’m not overwhelmed by that.’ And that’s a very rare quality we’re searching for in quarterbacks everywhere. ... But in the NFL, very few are naturally at peace. And that’s why when I compare him to Patrick Mahomes, I’m comparing him to how Patrick feels at peace. We all grew into it. Some guys just show up. Patrick showed up at peace, and so did Brock. The draft doesn’t understand that thing.”