The San Francisco 49ers made a big roster move defensively this past weekend as a result of activating safety Talanoa Hufanga from Injured Reserve and immediately returning him to the starting lineup.
The team was left with a decision: keep the more experienced Ji’Ayir Brown in the starting lineup or bench Brown and continue to start the emerging rookie Malik Mustapha opposite of Hufanga.
San Francisco went with the latter option, benching Brown, who has struggled this season, and going with the tandem of Hufanga and Mustapha. What led to that decision?
“Just how Malik’s been playing,” head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Monday.