Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – November 12, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

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Opening comments:

“The injuries for practice today: [DL] Alfred Collins with a hip, will be limited, [LB] Dee Winters, knees, will be limited, [WR] Ricky Pearsall, knee, will be limited, [QB] Brock Purdy, toe, will be limited. That’s it.”

You said on Monday that you wanted basically three days of aggressive practices for Brock before determining?

“Yeah.”

Because he’s limited, does that mean that it can’t be an aggressive type of practice?

“No, it’ll be an aggressive practice. We’ve just got to put limited if it’s not exactly how it normally is.”

Will he be running the first-team offense? Are you trying to build him toward the point where he could start on Sunday?

“Yes.”

Or this week?

“Yes.”

We haven’t seen practice, obviously. How has he looked as far as his mobility and accuracy?

“I think each week it’s gotten better, with last week being the best. Each week has been different. So, if he takes a big step forward this week, like he did last week, he should have a good chance to play.”

Is a hard decision to make given how well QB Mac Jones has been playing recently?

“No. It’s not a hard decision. It’s just more about Brock’s health. It’s been awesome how Mac has played. He has been great. But, we’ve got a lot of confidence in Brock and we know Brock will play at a high level too as long as he’s healthy.”

What you look at as coach with him in terms of his mechanics and fundamentals? Do you watch the footwork and his release and stuff or will you get to that on film? What do you catch on the field?

“You can just feel it. A guy you’ve been around for a while like I have Brock, you can just feel how the ball comes off, how he moves, how he reacts. I can get in the film room and stare at it for a lot longer than I probably should. I could do that on the field, but I watch other things. But usually, you can feel it on the field.”

Could you feel it against Jacksonville that it wasn’t right?

“Yeah. It felt a little off. Yep.”

How does being a preparation junkie help him get back to the field and be ready faster?

“It’s the only way you can be. When you’re hurt, if you check out in football just with what happens every week from a game-plan standpoint, from how much goes on for a quarterback and still all other positions, if you check out while you’re injured you can’t come back and play right away.”

Have you had to have a discussion about not pressing, especially mentally, feeling the pressure and the outside noise once he does come back?

“No. We haven’t talked about that. Things we’ve talked about are just making sure when you come back that you feel 100-percent so you don’t have to worry about anything like that. If Brock’s feeling 100-percent and confident in that way, then I think he’s got nothing to worry about on a game.”

Is there a point in the season where you, as far as the Thursday practices, take off the pads and sort of pull back on the Thursday sessions?

“Not on Thursdays. We have to by a certain time. I think we’re allowed 15, so I think we always stop then. A lot of times on Thursdays we’ll get two periods in and take them off the second two. Most of the time, it depends on who I have on the team, but usually guys don’t like that. Like [T] Trent [Williams] never wants to take the pads off once they’re on. It’s just more annoying for them. You practice a little bit differently as the year goes, whether you have pads on or off, but that’s something we usually do like the last five weeks”

Have you had to go a little bit lighter on the Thursday sessions, just given all of the injuries that you’ve been dealing with this year?

“Yeah, we did the last two weeks because of some injuries, and they’ve affected our last three Wednesdays also and they’ll affect today.”

You did say you were hoping to get Ricky Pearsall back out there this weekend. What are you hoping to see out of him in practice, as far as reps or how he’s moving to ensure that you’re okay putting him out there on Sunday?

“They told me he is healthy, so I’ll see today from my own eyes when he practices and I’m sure he’ll look that way. As long as he does, then he is good to go.”

You’ve been asked about this earlier in the season, but you guys haven’t had a run of more than 20 yards in 10 games. Highly unusual. You’re the only NFL team without that. Do you have any more thoughts about why that is? What’s going on?

“No. I’d have to go into all the runs and stuff. I can’t give you one reason, but that involves everybody. So, it’s one of the reasons we’re struggling though. I mean, if you don’t get big runs, you’re never going to have those yards, you’re never going to have those stats. I think we’ve done a better job running the ball here this last month, but we still haven’t found a big one and that’s what we need to get.”

I hesitate to ask as because RB Christian McCaffrey might be an Offensive Player of the Year candidate, but at his age and injuries, is he any less explosive? Is that possibly any part of that?

“No, I don’t see it that way.”

What’s the challenge like this week with Arizona’s defense? What are they looking like?

“I think they’ve got a really good defense. I think they’ve got a really good team. I’ve been in their situation before. I remember, I think they tied a record or one that we had or my first year here as head coach when we lost five games by field goal or less in a row. I saw that same thing happen to them. I think they’re a team that could be sitting here very easily with the exact same record as us, if not better. They’ve had some tough ones and when you look at the film they look like a team that has a winning record with the way their defense plays. They’re very well coached. The guys that they’ve added this offseason on the D-Line helped them a ton. I think offensively, they know how to move the ball. I think [Arizona Cardinals QB Jacoby] Brissett’s been playing very well this last month. I see a well-coached team who plays really hard and seems to be in almost every game they’re in. I know last week got away from them very early, but besides that, seems like they’ve had a chance to win every game they’ve played in.”

RB Brian Robinson Jr. seems really confident right now. Would you say he’s earned more carries the last few weeks?

“Yeah, I would. I think four weeks in a row he has had his best game. So, each week it keeps getting better.”

When Brock does come back, considering the toe, as you’ve said, probably won’t be 100-percent again this season, do you have to tell him to maybe limit the mobility or stay out of situations where he could aggravate it? How does that conversation work?

“No, if that was the case, he wouldn’t come back. I think when you have to, if you’ve got to tell a guy to not be mobile and to stay out of situations, it’s kind of hard to be successful. When a guy gets out on that field, he’s got to react and play. If he doesn’t feel that way, which I’ll watch from practice and talking to him, then he won’t go.”

Considering Christian’s ability to be flexed and play in the slot, is there a reason why he and Robinson seemingly almost never are the field at the same time?

“It depends how the defense plays it. I mean, just them being on to same field, I’m thinking of the advantage of when you have two running backs and they go nickel all the time, that to me doesn’t mean you necessarily have two running backs. That means you have three receivers because now they’re going against all corners instead of linebackers and safeties. Which can give you advantage to run if one of your running backs wants to play fullback. So, we could do that, but just putting two runners out there because one’s good in the pass game, if they want to stay base and stuff and play us like we have a fullback in there, then that could be an advantage because now he’s out there having the advantage of a fullback being in the game, which means you’re going against the linebacker or safety. So, it really depends on how the defense would play it and they don’t tend to play us that way.”

WR Kendrick Bourne had said the other day that sometimes after a when he thinks that the team feels maybe they’re farther along than they are and Christian said there’s just something about locking in after a loss. Do you feel that that’s natural and do you feel that everybody’s pretty locked in this week?

“Yeah, I think our guys are pretty locked in every week. Human nature, it’s something I’ve watched my whole career. When you watch teams lose and their backs are against the wall, you see on film usually a more desperate team the next week. That’s something I’ve seen for forever and that’s something we talk about all the time. So, players repeat that, but K.B.’s been around long enough to know that happens. But, it’s something we’re very aware of and something that we don’t feel that way about at all. I think our guys, I think we get their best week-in and week-out.”

Teams seem to be having success running three tight end formations this season. What kind of schematic issues does that present to a defense? Do you feel like it’s something your offense could do?

“Yeah, definitely. It is something that we do at times. We’ve done it more in some games. I mean, as long as you consider [FB Kyle Juszczyk] Juice a tight end, which they’re used the same. I know the Rams put those numbers up a lot these last couple weeks, but I think it all looks to how a defense plays you. I mean, if you want to get them in certain personnel groupings, it can help. You’ve got three guys on the field who can handle edges better, which usually gives you more space in the run game, but then you’ve got to see how one of those matches up versus a corner.”

People like Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football analyst Richard Sherman and FOX Sports analyst Tom Brady have advocated for you to stick with the hot hand in Mac. You’re obviously not going to follow their advice. Do you think people might forget how good Brock has been? It’s like, “Hey, Mac is playing really well.” Is there an element of how good Brock has been for you guys when he’s been healthy?

“I just think that’s the world. Anytime a backup quarterback comes in and plays good, that’s all anyone talks about. I don’t think anyone talks about what people have done in the past. Whether it’s Brock or whether it’s anybody. That’s just how the world works with media or anybody. So, I don’t look too much into that stuff at all. We all know how good Brock’s played in the past. I think he played really good versus Seattle and I think he struggled versus Jacksonville, which is why we shouldn’t have brought him back then. I know when Brock comes back, he’ll play the same way he always has, like a very high-level quarterback.”

How have both Brock and Ricky been through this whole process? I know both of them thought they were going to get back on the field faster than how is has happened.

“Yeah, you can ask them that. I think they feel like a typical guy who’s made of the right stuff. Guys hate being hurt and they feel uncomfortable when they’re hurt. I remember when I was hurt and all your friends mess with you like you’re faking it or something and you feel guilty all the time. You want to be out there with all your guys. So, when you’re injured in sports, it sucks. You want to be out there doing what you do and especially when you think it’s going to be one, two weeks and ends up lasting a lot more than that. So, I know they’ve been frustrated. They’re always showing how hard they’re trying to come back and I just keep telling them, ‘guys, we’re very well aware of how bad you guys want to be out there, but we’ve got to make sure you’re right.’ And each week they haven’t been able to get there, but hopefully this will be the week.”

You were confident that Brock was ready to return Week 4, but he ultimately wasn’t. You’re confident that he is ready to return now or getting there. What makes you confident that you’re right this time?

“I think the last six weeks. That’s why we’ve handled it this way. It has to do more with kind of what he tells me and then what I see. So, it’s going both.”