SANTA CLARA – Alfred Collins’ locker is in the corner, the last one 49ers teammates pass by en route to hitting the showers.

His 6-foot-5, 332-pound body was stationed there after Sunday night’s 20-10 win over the Falcons when pint-sized reporters dared to question how the 49ers are compensating without injured stars, such as Fred Warner, Nick Bosa and Brock Purdy.

“There ain’t no dropoff here. We all work our butts off day in day out,” Collins, a rookie defensive tackle, said. “We’re close. When you’re close to your brothers, you can be dangerous.”

Sometimes, 49ers teams develop cohesion by intentionally having an early-season layover between back-to-back road trips. Not this season. No layovers. Instead, a remarkable bond is surfacing among the fill-in-the-blank-depth-chart 49ers (5-2

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