Nowhere has it been more noticeable than with Marquise Brown, who is dealing with a heel injury that has ended his game prematurely in each of the last two outings. When Brown has played, he has been targeted just three times – all in the Pittsburgh game – without a reception.
Brown has been battling his injury for a few weeks, derailing what he had hoped would be a big year with his free agency scheduled in March. Gannon said the Cardinals need Brown healthy “to help us win” but he was unable to practice Wednesday.
So too was Greg Dortch, who was the most productive wideout against the Niners with two catches for 15 yards ( Rondale Moore had two catches for five yards.)
Rookie Michael Wilson, who returned from a neck injury last game, was targeted three times in 65 offensive snaps but did not have a reception.
“It’s a difficult question to answer,” Wilson said. “Sometimes, that’s just how games go regardless. I think it was more of a one-off game or a couple games in a row, maybe the receivers haven’t had a good chunk of production with the offense, but I think that’s a good challenge for us to continue to create more separation and make more plays when the ball is thrown our way. Ultimately, we have to take accountability for that low production and perform better.”
Murray did nearly have a 60-yard bomb to Moore in Pittsburgh but Moore couldn’t hold on to the catch. He did hit Moore for a beautiful 33-yard touchdown in that game, but it was wiped out on a holding penalty.
“Practice has to translate to the game,” Brown said after the 49ers loss. “We have the guys to do it.”
McBride is playing so well he should remain Murray’s top pass catcher, but as defenses key on him more often, there will be opportunity.
Murray knows this, and he understands that as the QB, he is in the middle of everything.
“Every quarterback coach, every offensive coordinator they are going to tell you that’s his job,” Murray said. “Don’t worry about if the receivers are mad or frustrated about getting the rock, which they have every right to. Everyone wants to make plays. It’s their career. I would expect nothing different, so I get it.
“I think that’s part of the quarterback position — listen to what they are saying with a grain of salt and ‘Yeah, I’m trying to get you the ball’ but at the end of the day we’re all just trying to win. You look at stats, (Brown) was leading the league…
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