49ers’ defense has penchant for red zone takeaways; McCaffrey resumes practicing

SANTA CLARA The ers like to invoke the football axiom of defending every blade of grass Their defense is doing much more however when backed up to its own goal line Imagine an old man yammering GET OFF MY LAWN Ji Ayir Brown s interception in the end zone Sunday on first-and-goal from the -yard line was the ers latest score-saving takeaway He would later come away with another interception at the ers -yard line to springboard him to NFC Athlete of the Week honors on Wednesday Such clutch plays could be required again on Sunday when the ers - try to win in Cleveland for the first time since which would snap just a four-game skid More than likely the ers will have to pry the ball from two Browns rookies quarterback Shedeur Sanders and running back Quinshon Judkins Whereas Sanders got intercepted once in last Sunday s victorious starting debut in Las Vegas the Browns - have lost only three fumbles all season with Judkins yet to fumble in touches In the ers previous road challenge Upton Stout forced a fumble at the -yard line in Arizona on Nov That football peacefully resided last week in Keion White s locker as a memento from his first career takeaway That s a bend but don t break mentality All the defense has to have it White explained It doesn t matter how they got down there you can t let them number Go back to Week and you ll recall Alfred Collins forcing and then recovering a fumble at the -yard line in Los Angeles preserving the ers path to an overtime win over the Rams Even the season-opening win had a red zone hero Nick Bosa producing a last-minute strip sack and fumble recovery once the Seahawks reached the -yard line Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh s explanation for those clutch takeaways It s elite strain all the way through the whistle Those are the individuals who will strain all the way through no matter what the situation is no matter what the down and distance is no matter what the figure is or where it s at in the tournament We ve got a locker room full of individuals that are going to do everything they can to win every down McCAFFREY BACK IN ACTION Christian McCaffrey returned to practice Friday after resting the previous two days This was the first week all season he s been held out of consecutive practices which coach Kyle Shanahan cited to Monday s workload of carries and seven receptions Although McCaffrey leads the NFL in carries and scrimmage yards he fell out of the top spot with receptions once the Bengals Ja Marr Chase raised his total Thursday to I really want to win That s all I care about McCaffrey reported Wednensday There s not a statistic that matters after Week It s a long year we have a lot of ball left I don t think it s relevant right now ERS RULE OUT THREE Defensive end Sam Okuayinonu won t play because of last competition s high-ankle sprain and out for a second straight meeting are linebacker Tatum Bethune ankle and kicker Eddy Pi eiro hamstring While Curtis Robinson is poised to make his second straight start the linebacker corps did add Eric Kendricks to the practice squad on Wednesday Matt Gay figures to get elevated from the practice squad a second straight meeting to fill in for Pi eiro Gay has never kicked in Cleveland in his -game seven-year career Related Articles ers Kyle Juszczyk returns to Ohio roots on cusp of another milestone ers Brock Purdy don t downplay Browns sack artist Myles Garrett ers need best of Brock Purdy as NFL playoffs loom Can he still give it ers Jennings retaliates for Moehrig s below-the-belt shot Inman things that caught my eye in ers - win over Panthers BROWNS INJURY ACCOUNT The Browns ruled out starting defensive end Alex Wright quadriceps along with defensive tackle Aiden Huntington quadriceps and tight end Brenden Bates wrist Backup running back Jerome Ford hamstring is questionable after not practicing on Thursday