Richard Sherman Hints at "Changes" for the 49ers With Steve Wilks

Former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman did not mince words when speaking on the job that defensive coordinator Steve Wilks is doing.

For the second consecutive week, the defense of the 49ers played a significant factor in losing the game.

They finally were able to get to the quarterback against the Bengals by tallying three sacks, but it was a case of too little too late for the 49ers. Their pass rush still isn't making a hefty enough impact. Otherwise, Joe Burrow would not have only had four incompletions for the game. 

Aside from the ineffective pass rush, the 49ers are struggling to cover and consistently stop the run. It's been an overall abysmal performance by them with defensive coordinator Steve Wilks in the crosshairs for the blame. Former 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman didn't mince words on his podcast with The Volume when speaking on the job that Wilks is doing and what he would do to get them back on track.. In fact, he believes that the 49ers will undergo changes during their Bye week regarding Wilks' status. 

“There’s gonna be changes next week”

— @RSherman_25 goes OFF on the 49ers’ defense pic.twitter.com/ZPZrXlYnC3

— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) October 30, 2023

"We're going back to the fundamentals," said Sherman. "We're going back to the things we do well. We're not running man (coverage) on first and second down like they've been doing. I'm not a big fan of it. I don't think they're sound. We're gonna mix it up, play fast, our d-line is gonna have to get hot like they've been doing. 

"And for you (Wilks) to take them out of that, for you to sit there and run games and stunts and do all these other things instead of just 'ears back go get to the quarterback ' like these guys have specialized in for the last, I don't know, three/four years it's weird. It's weird and I think Kyle Shanahan has had enough. I think this is the straw  that's gonna break the camel's back. There's gonna be changes next week." 

Well, it's clear what Sherman would do if he were the defensive coordinator of the 49ers. And perhaps if Wilks had been doing what Sherman had said, then changes likely are not needed during the 49ers Bye week. I'm not too sure how much weight carries true in the words of Sherman to suggest that Wilks could take to step back or even be fired. 

But it would be naïve to think that the 49ers are not going to look internally to see what improvements they can make. The current scheme, structure, and flow with the defense isn't working. San Francisco has to figure out how to flip the script coming out of the Bye week when they face the Jaguars. 

Otherwise, the situation will only snowball from there.