The 49ers are 5-0 and not showing any signs of weakness in the early going of the season. No team in the NFL has been as dominant as they have been, not even the Eagles who share the NFL's best record. Fred Warner believes this team could be getting even better as the season progresses.
“I honestly don’t think that we’ve hit our peak. I think that we just continue keep our head down and grind and staying humble," Warner told reporters at Wednesday's practice.
"If you saw they way that we graded this tape this morning, you would see that we’re this really serious. We just scrapped last game because we beat them by 32-points. We’re trying to see, find ways to get better in the little things that you do see out there.”
The Browns (2-2) provide a unique challenge for the 49ers on Sunday. They are coming off their bye week, while the 49ers are coming off the emotional high of steamrolling the rival Cowboys. Kyle Shanahan explained why he thinks the Browns are formidable.
“This game to me is the biggest challenge we've had so far. I thought that was going to be Dallas too going into it. But then you look at this and you look at this, the defensive numbers just jump out. You don't see very much that they're not number one or two in everything. Red Zone's the only thing they're not, but that's the only because I think they've had eight plays there all year. Baltimore ran it in, so that didn't help their rankings there. But everything else is top notch. They’re doing that too, offensively right now, so it should be a hell of a battle. When you look at a defense like that, a team who's committed to running the ball like they are, that's like the prime best way to get into the playoffs and that's why I expect this team to be there throughout this year.”
How much will the newly acquired Randy Gregory play on Sunday? Kyle Shanahan addressed that topic as well on Wednesday.
"We'll see how he is today. Today will be the first day we see him on the field and we'll decide that over the next three practices.”
Nick Bosa told reporters after Sunday night's game that he believes Gregory's impact can be significant.
Starting left guard Aaron Banks returned to practice in a limited fashion on Wednesday. Banks is dealing with a shoulder injury. George Kittle, Dre Greenlaw and Trent Williams all were held out of practice to rest. Elijah Mitchell didn't practice with a knee injury.