SANTA CLARA – Desperate times often call for desperate measures. However, that wasn’t quite the case for the 49ers this week.

Yes, times are indeed desperate. No, no drastic measures were taken in the week leading up to Sunday’s 38-13 victory over the Chicago Bears at Levi’s Stadium.

The only difference between this week and any other week before a game for San Francisco was the team meeting that took place on Saturday evening. Not the meeting itself, but who spoke.

Coach Kyle Shanahan, as usual, addressed the team the night before the game, but his “rah-rah” speech, or lack thereof as he often points out, wasn’t the only message he delivered. The 49ers coach, whose season was in jeopardy after three straight losses – two of them by ugly blowouts – called on numerous experienced players to turn to their teammates and talk openly about the direction in which the team is heading and wherever it wants to go go.

“Every time you go into a meeting as a coach, you want to come up with something that will impact the players,” Shanahan said after the game. “And when I say ‘influence’ them, make them train better or play better, there are very rarely a few specific words that change the boys’ game. But we talked about how important it was where we were. Regardless of the outcome, I wanted to make sure we came out today and showed courage. We wanted to fight.

Players who spoke out included quarterback Brock Purdy, linebacker Fred Warner, tight end George Kittle, wide receiver Deebo Samuel and, perhaps to some people’s surprise, cornerback Deommodore Lenoir.

Most of these players have one thing in common: a large, white “C” on their jerseys. Lenoir is the only one who doesn’t. His message resonated just as much, if not louder.

“Demo stood up and talked, and Demo isn’t really a – even though he looks loud on the football field – he’s more of a role model player with the way he plays,” Kittle said after the game. “But when you give people like that the opportunity to speak in front of the team, it means a lot.”

“To everyone watching, to everyone listening, to everyone in this room. And we all respect and love Demo. Not only because of the way he plays, but because of his great teammates, he shows up every day, he works hard and he plays the game the right way.”

The message was simple: keep fighting, one game at a time.

“I think the overall message from all the guys, whether it was Brock, me or all of us, was honestly just fight,” Warner said. “For a win. That was all today. We treated it like a playoff game and that’s what they want going forward. Every game means everything. We’re just treating it one week at a time. It’s a 1-0 mentality.”

“I just tried to keep it realistic and remind people that this isn’t easy,” Purdy added. “This job isn’t for everyone, but whoever we have in this building, we have what it takes. And that’s what we’ve shown over the last few years, and we just have to dig deep and find ourselves. And I think we.’ I think the guys responded to that. And I was also just talking to myself, but remembering how hard this thing is and how much of a competitor you have to be for four quarters. Go and take it. Nothing is ever given to you.”

While it’s a cliché for a team in the 49ers’ situation to “hang in there every week,” that repetition carries more weight when you consider what the team has accomplished in the second half of recent seasons.

San Francisco is, simply put, desperate. There’s no room for error and probably no room for another loss if they hope to somehow sneak into the playoffs. Your back is against the wall. How will they react from now on?

“The message was that we need to play with more urgency and desperation,” Kittle added. “Because you just didn’t really feel it. And I’ve been on teams where it felt like that – two years ago we were on an eight, nine game winning streak or whatever – and it felt like every game. “People were scratching, clawing and fighting for everything.

“It was kind of a message, like, ‘Guys, just say it all.’ Because we have the players, we have the playmakers, we have the rules, we have everything to win games and we have to do it out of desperation. And when you play with desperation and when you play like, “Hey, if we don’t win this game, our season might be over.” That desperation drives the guys in different ways. And it’s all about how you take that and how you channel that energy, and I think our guys did a great job of that today.”

Did Saturday night’s team give the kick in the pants the 49ers needed? If the Bears’ win on Sunday was the only indicator, the answer would be a resounding yes. Unfortunately for them, that isn’t the case.

There’s still plenty of work to be done, starting with a prime-time matchup on Thursday against one of the division opponents that may block their only path back to the playoffs.

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