‘It’s a meathead thing’: 49ers players won’t give up smelling salts, even after NFL rule (paywall)
”Undrafted San Francisco 49ers defensive tackle Sebastian Valdez, in street clothes, received his introduction in the form of an ammonia capsule the size of a small stick of gum.
All-Pro pass rusher Nick Bosa approached Valdez with an important job ahead of the team’s season opener in Seattle: “You’re the guy this week,” Bosa told Valdez, before handing him a bottle of smelling salts, which players believe can provide a jolt of energy and improve their focus.
A month prior to the start of the 2025 regular season, the NFL prohibited team employees from supplying ammonia inhalants, citing their potential to also mask concussion symptoms, short of outright restricting their use. Players would still be allowed to bring their own….So they did, and organized a system of distribution on game day. Valdez is kept busy on Sundays, following around his fellow Niners defensive linemen with pockets full of ammonia….Many 49ers players spoke to smelling salts’ potency while noting they use them to gain focus or aggression — in short, as performance-enhancing. Long snapper Jon Weeks is not among those who have used inhalants, but he learned about their power when he was studying to become an EMT before his NFL career. Their purpose for a first responder: to revive an unconscious person.
Defensive tackle Jordan Elliott said inhalants, whose effects are short-lived, are akin to sniffing wasabi and can bring tears to his eyes. Puni, in his second season, became a convert when left tackle Trent Williams, a 15-year veteran, offered him smelling salts during a loss to the Jaguars on Sept. 28.
“He let me have one and I was like, ‘That’s pretty cool,’” Puni said. “It just kind of woke me up, like ‘Whoa.’”
But Puni might be an exception. Several players said they tried smelling salts for the first time in college, and earlier in some cases.
“F—, I mean, I probably used them in high school back then,” guard Nick Zakelj said. “It’s probably always been around. It’s always been prevalent.”
Center Jake Brendel said he’s used smelling salts to get into “lizard brain” mode before big lifts in the weight room. And fellow linemen such as Zakelj and pass rusher Bryce Huff said inhalants can get them in the right mindset for their violent work in the trenches.
“It’s a meathead thing: Like, let me get juiced up before I go out there,” Zakelj said.
Said Brendel: “Back in the day, when you were going down on kickoffs and you knew you were going to get hit by the wedge? I would be doing smelling salts all day if I was that guy.”
Kawakami: Did you forget about Brock Purdy? This is why he’s worth all that money (paywall)
“Overall in the cursed 2024, Purdy had a 96.1 passer rating, which is not great, but definitely not terrible. (Jones’ passer rating in the greatest run of his career this season? 97.4) Purdy’s rating was 13th among qualified QBs — and in QBR, which measure factors like sacks taken and scrambles, Purdy was seventh.
This mostly all only seemed disappointing because Purdy’s rating was a ridiculous 107.3 as a rookie in 2022 and a league-best 113.0 in 2023.
Update for this season: After going 19-for-26 for 200 yards, 3 TDs, and a 133.5 rating on Sunday, Purdy’s season rating is now 98.3.
Oh, by the way, Purdy’s at a 104.3 career rating, and the all-time NFL leader in the category is Lamar Jackson, whose 47.6 rating in a sludgy Baltimore victory over the Browns dropped him to 102.8 (from 103.3).
Purdy isn’t currently ranked No. 1 all-time because you need 1,500 attempts to qualify for career passing marks. Purdy is now at 1,168 attempts — he should get to the qualifying number and, unless there’s a performance dip, will be ranked in the top five all-time by early next season.
When I cite these kinds of stats, I’m not arguing that Purdy is an all-time great, is headed toward being an all-time great, or is one of the elite QBs right now. I’m saying he’s been extremely good from the moment he stepped in as the 49ers’ QB and he’s never stopped being very good.
He got on the field Sunday for the first time since September, and he was — surprise, shock, amazement — very good.
“He was vintage Brock and that’s a huge compliment,” McCaffrey said.
He’s never awful. And four or five times a season, he’s incandescent. That’s what you pay $53 million a year to get. That’s worth every dollar. Nobody on the 49ers needed any reminder of this, but if you did, there it was. And as always with Purdy, more is coming.“
Hutchinson: This is the 49ers’ late-season blueprint
“Purdy threw the ball away a few times, generally avoided some of the “oh god, no!” freelancing that he has a penchant for, and delivered easy and efficiently to some well-designed targets dialed up by Kyle Shanahan.
Both George Kittle and Christian McCaffrey were stellar, of course. And there was a welcome lack of Kendrick Bourne, who wasn’t targeted a single time.
And the offensive line? There’s no All-22 yet, but how often did you notice them in a negative way? That’s typically a good sign.
Pearsall didn’t show up much, but that’s to be expected returning from a long layoff. His presence alone, as a true X receiver that can take the top off the defense, is a problem defenses have to account for. The production will return.
But the other side of the ball was good enough, despite the hilarious stat sheet.
Jacoby Brissett did set an NFL record with 47 completions in this game — 15 to Michael Wilson and 10 to Trey McBride — but the three turnovers forced by the defense made those number feel empty.
What good are 452 passing yards if they mostly come while your team is down by three scores?
If the 49ers defense is going to be bad in terms of allowing easy yardage, their ability to generate turnovers and hold teams to field goals may be their avenue to keep them in games.“