By NFLTradeRumors.co,Wyatt Grindley

Copyright yardbarker

The 49ers are off to a hot start at 3-0, and a big reason for that is the number of first, second and third-year players who have stepped up into big roles, especially on defense. San Francisco is getting a lot out of guys like first-round DL Mykel Williams, third-round CB Upton Stout, LB Dee Winters and fifth-round S Marques Sigle, to name a few.

“It speaks to the maturity of those young guys that have come in,” 49ers LB Fred Warner said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “It’s all about the preparation they’ve put in to be ready for their moment, because they knew from OTAs that they were gonna have a chance to come in and be guys for us right away. My hats to them for being prepared for that moment. They’re only going to continue to get better.”

The 49ers have been without some key players like QB Brock Purdy, TE George Kittle and WR Brandon Aiyuk due to injuries, and while they’ll get all three of those guys back at some point, they just lost DE Nick Bosa for the year to a torn ACL. Warner thinks the team can push past that and continue to improve, though.

49ers DT CJ West broke his thumb and will have surgery tomorrow. HC Kyle Shanahan said West might be able to play with a cast. (Matt Barrows)
Shanahan says he expects QB Brock Purdy to continue back at practice this week. He’ll be ready to go on Wednesday, and they’ll evaluate him from there. (Nick Wagoner)
Shanahan said the 49ers will take a wait-and-see approach with WR Demarcus Robinson, whose suspension ended this week. (Matt Barrows)

Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr. hasn’t quite lived up to his standards coming out of the draft, and he had some tough moments in their Week 3 loss against the 49ers. Harrison admitted he needs to play at a higher level because his performance is hurting the team.

“Everybody’s got a job to do and I’m not doing it at a high enough level at the moment,” Harrison said, via Tyler Drake of ArizonaSports.com. “I think I know what I’m capable of and to go out there and not play to nowhere near my abilities is frustrating. It hurts the team and I need to get better.”