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Trade acquisition Keion White is locker neighbors with a fellow defensive end, 49ers’ edge rusher Mykel Williams. But less than an hour before practice started Wednesday, Williams hadn’t had a chance to meet his new teammate.

The rookie was excited to watch White’s film, though.

That’s how hasty the day’s operation was: White, whom the 49ers acquired from the New England Patriots, had to hop on an early-morning cross-country flight from Boston, report to his new team’s facility, and pass a physical before the trade was fully ratified.

White finally jogged into the D-line’s corner of the field, where a staffer scrambled to fit him with a helmet well into the third period of practice. There was precious little time for pleasantries. White dapped up his new position coach, Kris Kocurek, and met several teammates — his locker neighbor, Williams, included — with several rapid hellos seconds before crouching into a three-point stance and firing off his first drill as a 49er.

The 49ers have reached the first true pivot point of this season. They’re slight favorites entering Sunday’s tilt against the New York Giants, where a victory would push them to 6-3 ahead of a divisional showdown against the Los Angeles Rams.

The game will happen two days before the Nov. 4 trade deadline, so this is a particularly intriguing time for a bruised-but-hopeful team that’s in need of reinforcements. White and veteran defensive end Clelin Ferrell, whom the 49ers signed to the practice squad, were two key newcomers Wednesday.

“We need D-Linemen with all our guys injured,” coach Kyle Shanahan said. “Regardless, [White] would have helped any team. I thought he was a problem when we played against him last year; really liked what he does on film, too. He can play D-End and he can rush inside. So, versatile guy.”

Before playing the Patriots in Week 4 of last season, Shanahan was even more complimentary of White — who was in the midst of a 5.0-sack, 45-pressure season.

“He’s a hell of a player,” Shanahan said then. “This is the first time I’ve really been able to watch him this year. He’s great on the outside, sets the edge as well. And him as a rusher on the inside, too, is just as scary.”

Though the 49ers beat New England, White indeed impressed. He notched five pressures and hit 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy twice.

New England’s new coaching staff, which took over in 2025, ceased using White as an interior pass rusher. He lined up strictly on the edge and went 123 snaps without notching a sack before becoming a healthy scratch this season. The 49ers believe Kocurek, who’s adamant about shuffling ends to rush on the inside, can revive the strengths of White’s game — and they didn’t mind sending a sixth-round pick the Patriots’ way to find out.

The fact that Ferrell, a former first-round pick who was previously with the 49ers in 2023, arrived on the same day as White was fitting. Ferrell credits Kocurek with breathing new life into his career, and the 49ers hope the coach can help White, former second-round pick, in a similar way.

“He’s really big on speaking life into people, instilling confidence in his players,” Ferrell said in the locker room of Kocurek. “When I first came here, I was trying to reinvent myself, and he was somebody who reassured me on being who I was every single day.”

Speaking of Purdy, he was back out at practice in a limited fashion Wednesday. It actually seems that Purdy is moving better than fellow QB Mac Jones, who landed on the injury report with a knee contusion following the 49ers’ recent loss to the Houston Texans.

Purdy, who hasn’t played since aggravating his toe injury in a Week 4 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars one month ago, seems to be on a much more promising track to play against the Giants than in weeks prior — but the tricky nature of his injury makes that anything but a slam dunk.

“[It depends on if] he feels confident and ready to go based off how his toe feels,” Shanahan said. “If he gets out there and is hobbling around and stuff, he won’t be out there. So he’s got to go out there and go through the practices and stuff and really let us know how good he feels. It’s hard to know what’s going on with the toe. They’re really iffy things.

“Last time we felt like he was feeling pretty good, looked pretty good in practice and then in the game, one hit set him back four weeks. So it’s kind of a sensitive situation, and hopefully getting some reps in practice and stuff will give him that confidence that it’s better than it was last time.”

Even if Purdy does play against the Giants’ 28th-ranked defense, it looks like he may be without wideout Ricky Pearsall — who again missed practice with a knee injury. Pearsall, who banged his knee in that Sept. 28 game against Jacksonville, has been out as long as Purdy.

That absence has put additional focus on Jauan Jennings, whom the 49ers have badly needed due to all the upheaval in the receiver room.

As the trade deadline approaches, Jennings — who was involved in a preseason contract spat with the 49ers that ended with him receiving additional incentives but not an extension — has been increasingly named in trade rumors.

Is there a chance the 49ers might deal Jennings before Nov. 4, perhaps as part of an agreement to bring help to their ailing defense?

“I’d be very surprised if Jauan wasn’t on our team throughout this year,” Shanahan responded.

It wasn’t a firm answer — for obvious reasons. The 49ers are in a fluid situation entering what’s expected to be a particularly fluid week. Jennings, who’s been struggling — but playing — through five broken ribs, should be a fascinating player to track as the 49ers grapple with the ongoing absences of Pearsall and Brandon Aiyuk and the looming trade deadline.

“Jauan has been really hurt all year,” Shanahan said, noting that Jennings has been “very compromised” by his injuries. “I think he’s getting better. I think last week was a step in the right direction, but hopefully he’ll be better this week.”