During his postgame locker-room speech following the San Francisco 49ers' thrilling 42-38 Sunday Night Football victory over the Chicago Bears, head coach Kyle Shanahan made it a point to call up swing tackle Austen Pleasants.
For good reason, too.
The seldom-discussed backup was forced into action after the Niners' very first snap, filling in for All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, who exited with a hamstring injury and didn't return.
Thankfully, for the most part, Pleasants' name wasn't brought up for the duration of the back-and-forth affair; a Niners victory that kept their chances at the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoff picture alive and well.
"He did amazing," quarterback Brock Purdy said of Pleasants after the game. "Obviously to have Trent go down the first play it's like, 'dang.' Then Austen jumped right in. He's a guy that we all love and over the year he's just been great in our locker room and just one of the boys on the bus, like everyone loves him. He's done a great job just being ready all year. So, for him to go in and play well, like he did, and allow our offense to keep rolling and not lose a step, it was huge."
But Sunday night was just one test. There's a bigger, more important one now looming.
Austen Pleasants might hold the key to 49ers clinching No. 1 playoff seed
Williams' hamstring injury looms large, and as NFL Network's Ian Rapoport said the Monday after the game, it seems likely the future Hall of Famer misses San Francisco's regular-season showdown against the Seattle Seahawks, a bout that'll determine the No. 1 seed in the playoffs and grant all the benefits associated with it.
It makes sense, too. With a playoff berth already clinched, it might be more important for the 49ers to get a fully recovered Williams back into the fray rather than rushing him back, particularly on a short week with the Niners and Hawks poised to battle it out on Saturday night.
Seattle boasts a more prolific defense than that of Chicago, ranking second in the league in fewest points allowed through 17 weeks, whereas the Bears wrapped up the week at No. 22.
That translates into a substantially more important job for Pleasants to do, both in terms of protecting Purdy's blind side and opening up lanes for San Francisco's rushing attack to be successful.
If the fringe lineman performs well, no one will discuss his name.
And that might be precisely how he and the 49ers would like to have it.