Steve Wilks has come under increasing pressure as the San Francisco 49ers have lost their last three games, and the Niners are now making a change with their defensive coordinator.

Wilks remains in his post, but he will no longer call plays from the booth.

Instead, he will run the defense from the sideline, head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed on Wednesday.

Speaking in a press conference as the 49ers prepare to face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10, Shanahan said: "We're going to put him on the field this week. We talked about it for a little bit. There's plusses to it and minuses to it. We'll see what we like about it this week."

Asked what swung the decision, he replied: "Just because some of the stuff you do in the box, all the advantages to it, which are great, but I kind of wanted him to be down and be near our players a little bit. They've had that more, just with the linebacker communication in the past and I want him to be down there so he can talk to guys a little more."

Having been one of the NFL's premier defenses in 2022, the 49ers are only 15th on that side of the ball by DVOA, a measure of efficiency.

The Niners have given up 852 yards over the last two games, defeats to the Minnesota Vikings and Cincinnati Bengals.

San Francisco added another star to its ranks on defense at the trade deadline with the acquisition of edge rusher Chase Young, and the Niners, despite facing one of the NFL's best young quarterbacks in Trevor Lawrence, might have more hope of a bounce-back defensive performance against an offense that ranks 21st in the NFL by Expected Points Added per play.

Picking the 49ers’ midseason MVPs on offense, defense and special teams

There are plenty of worthy candidates.