The San Francisco 49ers used the 30th selection in the 2014 NFL Draft on Northern Illinois safety Jimmie Ward with the aim of using him at an emerging position – slot cornerback.

When the 49ers play the Dallas Cowboys in an NFC Divisional Playoffs game on Sunday, Ward will handle slot-corner duties. But despite his start, it’s a relatively new assignment for Ward.

MORE NFL:

· EAGLES COACH ON JALEN HURTS: ‘IT’S LIKE HAVING MICHAEL JORDAN OUT THERE’

· PHILADELPHIA RUNS OVER NEW YORK IN POSTSEASON

· CHIEFS OVERCOME PATRICK MAHOMES’ INJURY IN PLAYOFF WIN

After playing for three head coaches in his first three NFL seasons, the former Davidson High School star moved full-time to free safety in 2017 when current coach Kyle Shanahan took the helm in San Francisco.

When healthy, Ward had manned that spot since, including in two NFC Championship games and Super Bowl LIV.

But Ward, who has missed 40 games and broken his left forearm twice during his career, started the 2022 season on an injured reserve with a hamstring problem. Returning in the fifth game of the season, Ward stayed on the field for only two plays before being forced out by injury.

When Ward came back two weeks later, the 49ers had decided Tashaun Gipson was playing too well at free safety to take out of the lineup, so San Francisco assigned Ward to slot corner.

“I think each week he gets more and more comfortable,” Shanahan said of Ward’s readjustment. “I think coming off the injury it took him a little bit just to get back into football anyways and then to be thrown in at that position, I think those first couple weeks were tough, just feeling like a fish out of water a little bit, getting his feet under him, having to go sometimes guard the fastest receivers on the other team. But he’s really worked at it. …

“He’s put in a lot of time. He practices every single day. He does walkthrough the exact same way he does full-speed stuff, and it’s a huge credit to him and the coaching staff with just how far he’s come learning that position and how talented he’s always been and enough to play it.”

In the games in which Ward has played a regular role on defense, San Francisco has an 11-1 record, including last week’s 41-23 postseason victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

In Sunday’s playoff game, Ward’s work could go a long way toward determining if the 49ers return to the NFC Championship Game.

CeeDee Lamb, Dallas’ top receiver, lined up in the slot 62 percent of his snaps during the regular season.

Lamb had 107 receptions for 1,359 yards and nine touchdowns during the regular season and started the playoffs with four receptions for 68 yards and one TD in the Cowboys’ 31-14 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

Lamb had 64 more receptions, 804 more receiving yards and five more touchdown catches than any other Dallas wide receiver in the 2022 season.

The Cowboys and 49ers square off at 5:30 p.m. CST Sunday at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. FOX will televise the game. The winner will play the Philadelphia Eagles for the NFC championship on Jan. 29.

FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.