The San Francisco 49ers are taking on the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday. While the Niners are clear favorites, they are not taking the opponent lightly, and they have even seemingly tried to get some intel on Atlanta ahead of the game.
San Francisco brought linebacker Bralen Trice, who was recently released by the Falcons, in for a visit, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area. He was not officially signed by the Niners, but perhaps all they wanted was to pick his brain a little bit and see if he could give them any sort of information on Atlanta’s defense.
The 25-year-old played his college football at the University of Washington, where he acumulatefd a launrdy list of accolades, including All-American, Sugar Bowl Defensive MVP, and team defensive MVP.
Unfortunately, though, his college prowess hasn't amounted to much at the professional level. Trice was drafted by the Falcons back in the third round of the 2024 NFL Draft, but he didn’t appear in an NFL game until this season, recording just two combined tackles.
Small 49ers preparation efforts could make all the difference
There’s probably a limit to what the 49ers can learn from Trice, but if he can at least let them know some of the verbiage or signals they use, then maybe the Niners can steal signs or anticipate what Atlanta is trying to do on offense on Sunday.
The Falcons are not going to roll over and give up against the Niners. They’re going up against defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who was the head coach in Atlanta the last two seasons, and Kyle Shanahan was the offensive coordinator when Atlanta blew the infamous 28-3 lead in the Super Bowl against the New England Patriots.
The Falcons handed Shanahan and the Niners a costly upset loss back in 2019 towards the end of the regular season, which forced the Niners to win in Week 17 against the Seattle Seahawks in order to secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
San Francisco will be down Mike Evans and Deebo Samuel on offense, so it is going to be a tough task against Atlanta, even if their defense isn’t seen as especially scary. One hopes Trice offered at least a little useful information to the 49ers on his visit so San Francisco can head into the bye week at 7-0.
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