SANTA CLARA – Tashaun Gipson Sr. said Thursday he puts the 49ers’ first loss of the season “on my shoulder. It’s just a terrible feeling.”
About that shoulder …
Gipson is still awaiting word on whether he’ll be fined – or if officials were incorrect – regarding his shoulder-to-shoulder hit on Browns receiver Elijah Moore. That unnecessary roughness penalty on a third-down incompletion bailed out the Cleveland Browns’ go-ahead drive in their 19-17 upset.
Moore was airborne at the Browns’ 34-yard line when his and Gipson’s right shoulders collided, while P.J. Walker’s errant pass sailed incomplete.
“It was a bang-bang play. But once you watch the replays, in slow motion, it makes it worse,” Gipson said. “As a competitor, you look and say, ‘What else would I do differently?’ I don’t know.”
Gipson made what he called “a conscious effort” to avoid helmet-to-helmet contact, not just for Moore’s sake but his own.
“The league is about protecting players. I don’t think I did anything viciously or dirty to draw the flag,” Gipson added. “It’s just football. Shoulder, head out of the way, shoulder pads. I can’t sit and harp on it. They deserved to win.”
Gipson and the 49ers (5-1) are preparing for Monday night’s game at the Minnesota Vikings (2-4). Thursday’s interviews inside the 49ers’ locker room, however, bounced between that upcoming game and, understandably, the team’s first regular-season loss since last Oct. 23.
Gipson was steamed after that game and did not speak with reporters until Thursday about the “unfortunate” flashpoint of the Browns’ comeback. “Things like this change the momentum of games. You don’t get an apology letter, you don’t get a win back, you don’t get anything,” Gipson said. “It’s just, ‘Hey, bad call. Move on from it.’ Now we’re a team sitting at 5-1 instead of 6-0.”
When a reporter chimed in about 49ers legend Ronnie Lott making the Pro Football Hall of Fame with such hits in the 1980s and ’90s, Gipson replied: “That was many, many moons ago.”
Unlike back then, Gipson said he couldn’t avoid seeing replays on Twitter and Instagram of the hit, of the Browns’ victory celebration, and, of how “that one play could easily be a deciding factor.”
MOODY ON MISSES
Gipson isn’t the only one grateful for teammates’ support after a tough loss. Jake Moody said he is “all right” after missing a potential 41-yard winning field goal with six seconds remaining.
Before moving on to his next kicks in Minnesota, he’s received words of encouragement from the NFL kicking fraternity.
“I’ve had plenty of kickers texting me, calling me, saying, ‘I’ve been there. It happens,’ ” Moody said. “That support is what’s helping a little bit. Great kickers that I’ve looked up to growing up, they’ve been in the situation, (saying) ‘You’ll get through it and have a great career.’ ”
Moody was 9-for-9 on field-goal attempts until he missed 2-of-3 Sunday in Cleveland. “I’ve come up with the phrase: ‘Make your misses,’ ” Moody added. “What I mean by that is even if you do hit a miss-hit, you don’t hit it perfectly, you’ve still got to make those kicks. That’s something I’ve been working on, to make those misses. Unfortunately that one didn’t go in.”
McCAFFREY UPDATE
Running back Christian McCaffrey was among seven starters who did not practice. An MRI on Monday confirmed an oblique injury, coach Kyle Shanahan said without detailing how McCaffrey’s ribs emerged from Sunday’s third-quarter exit. McCaffrey was not seen on the field during the media’s 30-minute window.
McCaffrey’s “day-to-day” status gives him “a chance” to play Sunday, Shanahan added. McCaffrey has been the NFL’s leading rusher through each of the season’s first six weeks, and he has not missed a game since getting traded to the 49ers last Oct. 20. He has scored in 15 consecutive games, three shy of Lenny Moore’s NFL record (1963-65, Colts).
INJURY UPDATES
Left guard Aaron Banks was added to the injury report with an ankle injury and he did not practice. Banks suffered a shoulder injury in the previous game.
Others not practicing were wide receiver Deebo Samuel (shoulder), left tackle Trent Williams (ankle) and linebacker Dre Greenlaw (hamstring).
If Williams and Banks do not play Monday, their replacements would likely be Jaylon Moore and Jon Feliciano, respectively.
Cornerback Isaiah Oliver (knee) was limited. Cleared for full practice are safety George Odum (quadriceps) and running back Elijah Mitchell (knee).
BOSA’S FILM REVIEW
Nick Bosa said the 49ers “were kind of dreading” Thursday’s meetings and that “I actually forgot what the routine was” because they had not reviewed film of a regular-season loss since last Oct. 23 to the Chiefs. That is not the only film they studied. Week 7 pits the 49ers’ against Kirk Cousins, who was drafted to Washington in 2012 (fourth round) at the urging of Shanahan, the offensive coordinator then under his father, Mike.
The Vikings have the NFL’s third-most prolific passing attack, and Cousins leads the league with completions, attempts and touchdowns, though his 14 scoring strikes are tied with Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa.
“Kyle showed us in the meeting today. He plays the position to a T,” Bosa said. “He goes through his reads, he’s on time with the ball, he’s accurate, smart, so obviously a good combination. We’ve got to pressure him for sure. We’ve got to get people in his face quick and we’ve got to be good coverage-wise because he will get rid of it if you’re not.”