SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Azeez Al-Shaair underwent two surgeries this offseason. One repaired painful elbow damage the 49ers linebacker had fought through during January’s postseason run. The other was a minor operation on his knee.
Al-Shaair is back at full health. So one of the last things 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans wanted to see at the first practice of training camp was Al-Shaair struggling to get up. But that’s what happened after the linebacker collided with fullback Kyle Juszczyk while covering a short crossing pattern.
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Al-Shaair’s left elbow brace struck his stomach, triggering momentary pain and Ryans’ consternation.
“Get up!” Ryans’ voice crackled over the radio receiver in Al-Shaair’s helmet.
Seconds later, the linebacker obliged his coach. He rose, slowly at first, but returned to practice at full speed shortly after that.
The 49ers sighed a collective breath of relief. They’re counting on Al-Shaair, who signed a restricted free-agent tender worth nearly $4 million for the 2022 season, to continue rounding out what has developed into one of the NFL’s best linebacker units.
Middle linebacker Fred Warner is the group’s leader, of course. He signed his massive contract extension a year ago. And though Dre Greenlaw has established a penchant for clutch tackles at the weakside linebacker spot over the past three seasons, injuries limited him to only three regular-season games in 2021.
That thrust Al-Shaair into the spotlight. He broke out with 102 combined tackles on the season.
The 49ers hope they can feature all three linebackers in 2022. That would allow for base defensive packages that are particularly robust at the second level, something that certainly excites Ryans — a former All-Pro linebacker with a soft spot for his former position group.
That would also be a treat for 49ers linebackers coach Johnny Holland, who is back full time with the team after missing much of 2021 dealing with multiple myeloma.
There’s clearly a strong bond between Holland, Ryans and the 49ers’ top trio of linebackers — all of whom have been with the team since at least 2019 (Warner was drafted in 2018, and Greenlaw and Al-Shaair came aboard the next year). Holland, who played linebacker for Green Bay from 1987 to 1993, was Ryans’ position coach with Houston from 2006 to 2010. He co-coached the 49ers’ linebackers with Ryans for three seasons, starting with Warner’s arrival in 2018.
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Even though Ryans moved up to defensive coordinator in 2021, he’s kept a close connection with the linebackers who blossomed under his watch. The quintet even held a brief on-field summit early in Wednesday’s practice.
Linebacker summit with DeMeco Ryans pic.twitter.com/wfUkbHUDov
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) July 27, 2022
“It’s just us talking, laid-back conversation,” Al-Shaair said after Wednesday’s practice. “We talk about wife and kids. We’re just getting our minds right, ready to practice. DeMeco, even though he’s the D-coordinator, he’s still our linebacker coach at heart. Johnny was his coach. It’s just a really tight bond between all of us.”
For Al-Shaair, that bond was born out of quality time with Holland in 2019. He signed with the 49ers as an undrafted free agent out of Florida Atlantic that year. Because of an ACL tear that he’d suffered in his final season of college, Al-Shaair was one of the few players who remained in Santa Clara that summer to rehab.
Holland, who is 57 now, became a mentor who helped Al-Shaair feel at home after what could’ve been a lonely cross-country move.
“I didn’t even have a car,” Al-Shaair said. “I would ride my bike from the Santa Clara Marriott to his house. We would hang out on the weekends. Me and Johnny were really close since I was young as a rookie, so not having him last year really hurt.”
Even though Holland didn’t travel with the 49ers as he underwent cancer treatment in 2021, he stayed in touch with Al-Shaair and the other linebackers — especially after games.
“He might be in there getting treatment and he’d send me a whole paragraph,” Al-Shaair said.
Holland rejoined the 49ers full time for the offseason program and has seemed especially enthusiastic to start training camp.
“He’s like a granddad,” Al-Shaair said with a laugh. “He was out there yesterday for our conditioning test and he was already out there taking pictures. This is like a grandpa who’s just taking in the moment. It’s awesome having him back.”
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Though Holland’s position group may now be the strongest in the NFL, it will be a challenge for the 49ers to keep it that way. An inflection point is coming, as Al-Shaair and Greenlaw are only under contract through 2022. If both deliver quality 2022 seasons, there’s a chance the 49ers will only be able to afford one of them heading into 2023.
That, of course, is a problem the 49ers would welcome. It certainly illustrates how far both Al-Shaair and Greenlaw have come since they were rookie roommates upon arriving in Santa Clara over three years ago.
“I couldn’t stand him in the room,” Al-Shaair said with a laugh, noting that Greenlaw was a messy living partner, “but he is my brother, my teammate.”
Since then, the two linebackers have made their share of plays to complement Warner’s stardom. Greenlaw famously stonewalled Seattle’s Jacob Hollister a hair ahead of the goal line in 2019. Al-Shaair notched a huge interception off Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins last season.
Both ‘backers have earned their coaching staff’s trust, and Al-Shaair relishes the progress he’s made on the way. He remembers a scout doubting him during the pre-draft process, saying the NFL featured safeties at Al-Shaair’s weight of 225 pounds.
“If I listened to what everyone told me about where I was supposed to be, I probably wouldn’t be standing up here right now,” Al-Shaair said.
It turns out that a focus on more agility, even at the expense of some weight, has turned out to be a core tenet of the 49ers’ surge at linebacker. That’s been a general leaguewide trend, but the 49ers have pressed the evolution even more aggressively than most teams — and that’s played right into Al-Shaair’s wheelhouse.
“On this team, if you’re a linebacker, you’re basically a bigger DB,” Al-Shaair said. “Because you cover wide receivers in the slot. You obviously have to cover tight ends. A lot of what we do is running sideline to sideline in the pass game.”
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That speed is a major point of pride for the 49ers’ linebackers, who often tease Ryans about how quickly the game has changed.
“His style of linebacker back then, he was 250 pounds when he was playing,” Al-Shaair said. “All-Pro, great player. But we mess with him all the time, he ain’t taking no over routes from no receivers in man coverage if he was playing today. It’s a different style now, more pass happy.”
And that’s why the 49ers yearn to see their established trio of linebackers on the field simultaneously in 2022. Warner, Greenlaw and Al-Shaair have versatile skills that can help guide the 49ers defense through an era of big-time offensive advantages.
“All of us every day are competing from the top to the bottom,” Al-Shaair said. “Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles, Dre, Fred — we’ve grown up together the last couple years. Always competing with each other, always critiquing each other, trying to learn off of each other’s games. There are certain things that one of us does better than the other.
“At the end of the day, I think that we’re the best group (in the NFL), but we’ve got to put it on tape. When we put it on tape and we practice with guys that are the best, you’re going to get better.”
(Photo: Stan Szeto / USA Today)
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