A scary moment in Sunday night’s win for the 49ers over the Chargers came when 49ers linebacker Dre Greenlaw delivered a helmet-to-helmet hit on Chargers QB Justin Herbert. The blow got Greenlaw ejected, but it wasn’t without controversy.
While Greenlaw delivered the hit that sidelined Herbert for a couple plays, it was Ward’s hit to Herbert’s back that launched him forward into the 49ers’ linebacker.
Ward didn’t mince words when talking about the hit after the game.
“Nowadays you can’t touch a quarterback, but, I was trying to kill him,” Ward said in the locker room Sunday night via KNBR’s Sam Hustis. “I wish he would’ve stood up. There were two times I wish he wouldn’t have slid so I could let him feel me.”
The veteran safety’s disdain for quarterbacks is not exclusive to Herbert. He’s hopeful mobile QBs will think twice before taking off against the 49ers.
“Don’t run it,” Ward said. “I don’t like quarterbacks running the ball. Don’t run it. We play another running quarterback, Kyle Murray, I hope I can catch him. Don’t run it. … I don’t have sympathy for another quarterback on the opposing team. Don’t run it.”
Herbert ran the ball five times for 22 yards, but just once for two yards after the Ward/Greenlaw hit. If San Francisco can discourage mobile quarterbacks from getting loose against them, their defense will have a much easier time against some of the game’s best signal callers.
