49ers rookie Talanoa Hufanga impresses in 1st start

Judging from the reviews Talanoa Hufanga got after his first NFL start, it appears the rookie safety may stick around awhile.

Hufanga, a fifth-round draft pick out of USC, played all 70 snaps in the 49ers’ 33-22 win over the Chicago Bears Sunday with Jacquiski Tartt on injured reserve with turf toe. He was in on five tackles, including one for a loss, but more than that impressed coach Kyle Shanahan with the energy he brought to the field.

Shanahan even invoked the name of general manager John Lynch, a Hall of Fame inductee this year, for displaying those same traits.

The Press Democrat’s Inside the 49ers blog

“I was excited about Huf,” Shanahan said Monday at his weekly conference call with local media. “The guy only knows one way ... I didn’t know (Lynch) much until we got together here, but I always felt I knew who he was just by watching him on tape. And when you watch Huf, the way plays, the energy he plays with, I feel similar.

“Not comparing him to Lynch or anything, but you can see the passion he plays with. I’ll bet you guys noticed. I’ll bet the fans noticed it.”

Fellow 49ers defenders Josh Norman and Fred Warner said they felt Hufanga’s presence.

“He was great. He was everything we asked for and some,” Norman said. “He wasn’t scared of the moment. He actually grabbed that moment by the horns, and he ran with it. He’s just going to continue to keep improving, and a guy like that, he only can get better.

“I mean, he’s a rookie, for crying out loud. He played like a vet today.”

Said Warner: “I thought he did great. He’s playing behind me, so half the time I don’t really know what he’s doing, but it seemed like he was around the ball, being disruptive and doing the right things, being in the right spots.”

Hufanga will face a tall order this week against Arizona and quarterback Kyler Murray, who presents a dilemma to safeties as to whether to come up and defend a potential run on a play that could end up being a deep pass.

Complicating matters is that safety Jimmie Ward has a quadriceps injury that Shanahan estimated would keep him out from one to two weeks.

“There’s an outside chance for this week, but I’m not real optimistic about it,” Shanahan said.

If Ward can’t play, Hufanga will be paired with Tavon Wilson, a 10-year veteran of 132 games and 45 starts. He’s played only 33 snaps on defense for the 49ers this season, 19 of them in the opener.

Lynch talks, 49ers listen

Shanahan asked Lynch to talk to the team Saturday night and thought the session helped his team going into the Bears game with four straight losses.

“I asked him to do it hoping it would be good, and it was even better than expected,” Shanahan said.

Lynch, Shanahan said, brings clout not only as the current GM but as a Hall of Famer who played with legendary passion and abandon as one of the NFL’s hardest hitters.

“(He) addressed every player, every position, what he thought about guys and kept it real with a bunch of people — the good and the bad,” Shanahan said. “I think he fired us up and gave guys a lot of perspective.”

The WIT film review

The 49ers’ game film review Monday included a dozen clips Shanahan called “WIT,” which stands for “What it takes.”

Included was Elijah Mitchell’s 5-yard touchdown run when he kept his legs driving and was pushed and pulled into the end zone by teammates, Deebo Samuel’s 83-yard with a pop screen to set up a touchdown and a second, less conspicuous run by Mitchell on the 49ers’ opening possession.

“I think the fourth play of the game, it was a first-and-10 and we ran power and he got stopped at the line of scrimmage, but (Elijah) and (Kyle Juszczyk) kept driving their feet and he got seven yards and made it a second-and-3,” Shanahan said. “It’s a little play in the game, but that play to me shows everything.”