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49ers’ Richard Sherman sounds off on knee injury, sideline beef with Ravens’ coach John Harbaugh

San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman says his knee injury won’t keep him from playing against the New Orleans Saints next week. (Julio Cortez / AP)
By Cam Inman San Jose Mercury News

BALTIMORE – Richard Sherman struggled stepping up to the postgame media podium but insisted that a knee injury won’t keep him out of the 49ers’ next game, Sunday’s prize fight at New Orleans.

“I’ll be ready,” Sherman said. “I’m an old man. Sometimes it takes a second. I may not practice every day this week, but I’ll be ready to go Sunday.”

Sherman hopped off the field in pain with 4 1/2 minutes remaining after a Lamar Jackson run. After his right knee was inspected on the 49ers sideline by the medical staff, Sherman tried to immediately re-enter but had to sit out one play before returning.

“My knee kind of gave out on me, lot of pain and I tried to get off the field and not have us waste a timeout,” Sherman said.

The 49ers’ other injuries included safety Jaquiski Tartt (ribs) and nose tackle D.J. Jones (ankle). Among those who did not suit up were defensive end Dee Ford (hamstring), left tackle Joe Staley (finger), running back Matt Breida (ankle) and wide receiver Dante Pettis (knee).

Here are Sherman’s other sound bites:

On a potential rematch in the Super Bowl: “I don’t think about February while we’re in December. We have a lot of time and a lot of thing to happen before then. We’ll get ready for New Orleans and let the chips fall where they may in February.”

On trading barbs with Ravens coach John Harbaugh (after Jimmie Ward tackled Lamar Jackson on the sideline): “He was saying like it was a dirty play on Lamar,” Sherman said. “The quarterback is running just like a running back, and if you don’t touch him, he runs up the sideline for 80 yards, and if you touch him, then everybody is throwing a hubbub like he wasn’t going to run it.

“That’s a thing where the league has got to clarify it. As a defensive player, you don’t want to hit the quarterback, you want to stay off him. But when a quarterback’s about to run, there’s a fine line to thinking he’s getting out and getting an extra 6 or 7 yards.”

On the two losses: “They all came down to the last play. Teams are going to have a hard time with us. There’s never an easy game. It’s always going to come down to the last play, last possession. And we gave ourselves a chance.”

On whether this game was fun: “Every football game you get to play is fun, honestly. It’s a kid’s game. You win some, you lose some. You fight. As long as you gave everything you got, you can hold your head up high. It was a fun, physical game and a good ballclub we played.”

On Ravens QB Lamar Jackson: “He’s a good decision maker. He knows his angles, he knows his leverage, he knows when to get down, he knows when to stay up, knows when to cut back, to cut outside. He doesn’t waste time taking shots and looking down field. He checks down and takes what the defense gives him. It’s cool. We played a good game.”