Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – September 24, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

Opening Comments:

“Injuries for today. [WR] Jordan Watkins, calf, he’ll be out. [WR] Ricky Pearsall, knee, he’ll be out. [WR] Jauan Jennings, ankle/shoulder, out. [DL] C.J. West, thumb, out. [T] Trent Williams, vet day. [RB] Christian McCaffrey, vet day. [DL] Yetur [Gross-Matos], knee, out. [DL] Nick Bosa, knee, out. [QB] Brock Purdy, left shoulder and toe, limited. [QB] Mac Jones, knee, limited. [CB] Renardo Green, neck, limited. [OL] Connor Colby, groin, limited. [DB Deommodore Lenoir] DMo, illness, limited.”

With Pearsall, he came up a little gimpy after that big fourth-and-two catch. Was that where he was injured and is that a serious injury you think?

“I’m not sure which play it was on, but he can’t go today. Hopefully he’ll get better later in the week.”

If Purdy and Jones are limited in practice today, does that mean that QB Adrian Martinez takes all the first-team reps?

“No. Brock will still get some, Mac should still get some, but they’re not going to get their full amount. He’ll get a little more, Adrian.”

Is one of them farther ahead than the other in terms of health?

“No, I don’t think so. I think they’re both limited.”

How is Brock progressing with his toe?

“Good. He’s better today than he was on Sunday and hopefully that will keep continuing.”

You get WR Demarcus Robinson back this week. What’d you think of him this summer? Do you think he can provide some explosives for you guys?

“Yeah, love getting D-Rob back. He was great for us this summer. He’s been around the building the last couple weeks, so it’s been good to have him in here and excited to see him out at practice today. I know he has been working on his own while he has been away and excited to get him back involved.”

Did you have to address with the team Nick’s absence here that’s upcoming? You’ve had injuries, but this one’s a season-ender. So, do you address that with the team to kind of keep morale up?

“No. I didn’t. Everyone knows about it. I mean, you don’t make it more than it is. I think everyone knows. I’m not going to sit here and say something and make it better. Everyone knows the deal and so we’ve got to focus on what we’ve got to get done.”

What have you seen from Gross-Matos, especially since he hasn’t practiced much this year?

“I see a guy who’s battled to get out there, especially with what he went through this whole offseason. It’s been good so far, just being able to get him out there on Thursdays and being able to get him to play on Sundays. He’s been able to do that routine and hopefully it gets better, not worse, as the season goes, but it’s something we’ll keep evaluating.”

Is that probably the plan for him throughout the season given his knee situation?

“Yeah, it’s the plan until it would show us that it didn’t have to be the plan.”

When it comes to the morale of the team, it seems like even though you guys have taken a big injury each game, there’s still high morale on the team. I don’t know if Nick Bosa’s injury changes that, but from your perspective, what have you seen out of the guys with rolling with the punches and the injuries?

“It’s how we’ve tried to set the tone since we got here in OTAs. Guys haven’t been thinking about expectations, good or bad, guys haven’t been thinking about playoffs, Super Bowl, anything like that. They’ve just been taking it one day at a time and enjoying football and going as hard as they can. It’s been that way since OTAs, it’s been that way through training camp and it’s been that way through three weeks. So, injuries shouldn’t affect your mindset on that stuff.”

How far away is Jauan Jennings from being able to participate?

“Hopefully he can this week. He will be similar to last week. He was close to getting in, never was able to make it, and it’ll be the same this week.”

Did you play around in your mind a little bit with Jacksonville Jaguars WR/DB Travis Hunter and how you would use him on both sides of the ball? What kind of challenge do you think that is to do that?

“I mean, it’s a challenge, definitely. Not many people have done it, but he definitely, based off of film was the guy you want to do it with. I mean, he was that good of a corner and that good of a receiver. So, to see that, I think anybody would try that.”

What have you seen from the Jaguars’ defense on tape?

“Real good defense. They’re talented. They’ve got a real good scheme, got a lot of respect for [Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator] Anthony [Campanile]. They’re playing extremely hard. They know how to get after the quarterback. They have very sound coverages and when they’re ahead of the chains they put the pressure on the quarterback and have been very opportunistic with turnovers in that way.”

What have you seen from Jacksonville Jaguars DT Arik Armstead on film?

“I think Arik looks good. He looks fresh, looks healthy. He’s playing really good right now in all three of these games, run and pass, and he’s tough to deal with.”

So many of your young defensive lineman have credited Bosa with helping them a lot since he’s been here. What’s your expectation? I know he’s got rehab, but what’s your expectation for him to be around and how important is it to have him continue in in that room?

“It always helps, especially with a guy like Nick. He’s got a lot more wisdom than people realize. They call him like the audio book because that’s how he sounds when he talks. But he plans on being around. He’ll have to get away and do his surgery and stuff, and usually when you do that you stay down, I think in L.A. for a couple weeks. But he plans on coming back here after that and hopefully he’s around more.”

How do feel DL Mykel Williams is playing on the edge so far this season.

“He’s doing a good job. I mean, we put him mainly inside for pass-rush situations, but it doesn’t mean he can’t do it outside and I think he’s done a real good job there.”

Bosa had the surgery on his right knee when he was in high school in 2015. Does that add another layer of complexity to this one? Is there any worry that it’ll take longer for him to come back from this than maybe the previous two?

“No, I think there’s zero worry or correlation between the three. I mean, this one from what they say is as clean as anyone you can do. I mean, just pure ACL and nothing else. The other ones, they’ve all been five years apart. I had a buddy who tore one in high school, tore two in college and then played eight years in the NFL without one. I think [football personnel advisor and former 49ers RB] Frank Gore’s done it a number of times. So, it’s all about how it heals and what type of tear it is. When it’s clean and you go through the rehab and stuff it’s usually brand new after that.”

We were watching him on Sunday come out of the blue tent and he was walking around and he did some high knees and stuff like that. Was he doing that because at that point nobody thought it was an ACL? 

“No, I think it’s the process of however they check it with their hands on the sideline. There’s a test that they can do that can show whether it definitely is or not and it didn’t show that. But, Nick was adamant that it was. So, that’s why when I was told, ‘Hey, his ACL tested out clean,’ but Nick’s pretty confident he has one, so we’re pretty worried. I think that was the case, that’s all off the player and he is doing some high knees just to make sure, but he confirmed it didn’t feel right. They did say when you have had it before, sometimes it doesn’t tear as clean. So, the hand test doesn’t work and you’ve got to wait for the MRI and that’s pretty much exactly what happened in his situation.”

What stood out about Mac Jones on the rewatch when you watched it again?
“Just how competitive he was hanging in the pocket, competing throughout that game. Getting rid of the ball real fast, loved him especially on that last drive just not hesitating, letting it rip and being aggressive in everything he did.”

When it comes to Bosa, you said he was adamant that he knew that it was his ACL even though the trainers were trying to work through and they didn’t think so. Was that a conversation?

“It’s not that they didn’t think so. I keep getting miss-told on that. It’s that the hand test didn’t confirm it and that’s why there was hope.”

Did he have that conversation with you, with the trainers? What was he saying? He just knew that it didn’t feel right and he said, “this is my ACL?”

“Yeah, exactly. That’s what he said to the trainers. I was in the middle of the game, but that’s what they said in the blue tent.”

How much confidence do you have in DL Bryce Huff to become a bigger leader on the defensive line?

“I don’t expect anybody ever to be a leader and do something just different saying, ‘Hey, I have to be more of a leader today.’ I think Bryce Huff has been a leader since he’s been here. The guy works every day, doesn’t talk a lot, but when he does, people listen. I love how he’s been here, how he does practice, how he plays in games and I expect that to continue.”