Good morning and welcome to 49ers in 5, your daily update on everything happening with the team that you need to know.

I am Rob Stats Guerrera. Today is Thursday, October 23rd, 2025. Here's what's happening with your San Francisco 49ers.

Five players did not participate in practice yesterday. Diomador Lenore, Quad, Bryce

Hoff hamstring, Jake Brendel, hamstring, Yitar Gross Matos, hamstring, Ricky Pearson,

Piersol, knee. Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey did not practice as well, but they were just resting.

Four players were limited.

Brock Purdy toe, Spencer Burford, knee, Bernardo Green, toe, and upton stout ankle.

Without question, the dominant topic this week brought up by 49ers beat reporters has been the idea of the 49ers establishing an identity last week because of the improvement in the running game against Atlanta.

Well, Kyle was asked about that yesterday.

I didn't totally know this team when we first started. Like a lot of times I remember the week one, Saturday night meeting.

I usually show some stuff from the year before and things like that and trying to establish how I wanted to look and it was the first time I didn't show anything from years past. I'm like guys I don't want to show things from years past. I don't want to base this off anything. I want you guys to show me who we are and our identity is what we put on tape. And I show that a lot on Mondays. I showed a lot on Wednesdays and Fridays. And I remind them on Saturdays. And I've been very happy with the tape I've been able to show these guys on Saturdays to remind them who they are and to show them what it looks like. And I expect it to look better each week. I've said it before and I'll say it again. This year is unique and you have to treat it that way.

Don't try and be any team in the past.

The Niners have been able to win five of the seven games they've played.

That is the objective.

It is not winning games the same way you did in 2023 or any other season.

Just find a way to survive and advance. If the Niners are going to survive

this week, they are going to have to overcome D'Amico Ryan's Houston Texans. So Kyle, what's

the biggest challenge that his defense poses to you? There isn't one in particular. It's you're

going against a very sound defense schematically, a defense that plays the right way with their intent and just

how physical they play and a very talented group of 11 guys too with good backup. So everything's

a challenge about it and but it starts with their physicality and soundness. Sounds exactly like

the challenge Ryan's and the Niners used to present to other teams when he

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