Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – December 4, 2024

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“Alright, injuries for practice today: [OL Aaron] Banks, concussion, will not practice, [T] Trent Williams, ankle, no practice, [RB] Jordan Mason, ankle, no practice, [DL Nick] Bosa, hip/oblique, no practice, [LB Demetrius] Flannigan-Fowles, knee, no practice, [DB Deommodore Lenoir] Dmo, knee, limited, [LB Dre] Greenlaw, Achilles, limited, [S Talanoa Hufanga] Huf, wrist, limited. Everyone else, good.”

Has the prognosis on Jordan Mason improved since he’s not going on IR?

“No, he most likely will later.”

What is Hufanga going to practice with as far as his wrist?

“He’s got some stuff covering it up. Club, similar to like, I think it’s similar to [Houston Texans DB] Jimmie Ward’s. I haven’t seen it yet, but it’ll be similar to that.”

And as far as Greenlaw, you noted last week that you’ve got a quick turnaround after this Bears game. Does that make the Rams game the more realistic game that he could play in?

“Yeah, I think it does. More likely. We haven’t decided fully yet, but we’ll see how this week goes, but most likely Rams hopefully.”

What kind of growth have you seen from RB Isaac Guerendo this year and what’s kind of his state of readiness for an expanded role?

“I think he is ready to go. We were excited about, he got off to a late start with injuries in preseason. I thought he finished in those games well, especially that kick return he had versus the Raiders, I think. Did some decent things when he started out, didn’t get a lot of carries, had some ups and downs but got better through everything. And then when he got the bulk of the carries, I want to say some more versus Seattle, he only got better and he’s gotten better throughout the year. So I think he’s ready for this.”

Are there specific things that you’ve seen from him that, is it just maybe getting the reps or getting the snaps?

“I think just the urgency of running the ball in the NFL. I think it takes guys some time. You start to get a feel for it the more, if you’ve got the right stuff, the more you get reps, the more you can adjust to it. How hard you’ve got to hit stuff, how quick those holes close, how when there is a hole how you have to hit it full-speed and can’t hesitate at all or it closes like that. We’ve seen that stuff get better in practice and we’ve seen it carry over into games.”

His background includes, in high school, as being a wide receiver. Does he have hands, the good receiving skills that you’ve seen?

“Yeah, he can catch it. Yep.”

What have you seen out of WR Ricky Pearsall the last three games when he hasn’t had a catch and hasn’t had many targets?

“I think Ricky got a little banged up in Green Bay, battled through that a lot, still was able to play a lot through it and helped us out at punt return. And I don’t judge much from that Buffalo game. I think we had six completions that were screens and I think four other guys had like a four-yard catch except for [WR] Jauan [Jennings] on a skinny. There was nothing really with Ricky there. We had a chance to hit him downfield one time and he slipped, but that was nothing against him for that game.”

You said it on Monday you hadn’t yet had a chance to kind of talk to RB Christian McCaffrey after getting the news. How is he kind of doing? It’s clearly been a taxing year on his body and more than likely mentally? How is Christian McCaffrey knowing that he’s out for the rest of the season?

“I think he’s doing alright. I think he was extremely disappointed, right when it happened, for a couple days. Just talking to him yesterday, I think he’s accepting it. It’s just not his year, obviously, the way it started out, how hard he worked to get back and then having that random injury that he had in Buffalo. I know he is disappointed about the year, but I know he’s excited and hungry as hell to get back to work and get ready for next year.”

Is there a certainty that Bosa will be able to play again this season?

“I mean, I’m not God, but I think he’s got a chance to play this week. So I would think that would lead to getting a better chance each week. But I don’t know the answer to that.”

What do you know about your new running back RB Israel Abanikanda? What do you like about him?

“I liked him coming out of college. I haven’t studied him a ton in the NFL, but he was a guy that I had good notes on from college and liked. And I know our scouting department thought he was the best guy out there being available and stuff. So in our situation, especially glad to get him here.”

Was he one of the running backs that running backs coach Robert Turner Jr. was onto in the ‘23 draft during the phone calls and things like that?

“Bobby is on every single one. So yes, definitely.”

What do you see from Chicago Bears QB Caleb Williams?

“As talented as there is. The stuff that you saw in college, you can see in the NFL. As good of a thrower as there is, born to play the position, got the athletic ability to do whatever, he’s got the speed to do whatever. He’s gotten a lot of playing time, he’s getting better as this year goes, I think he’s getting a lot more consistent. I think he’s been playing his best ball probably here the last few weeks. He’s put them in a chance to win here in these last few games there.”

Is there an unknown with a new coach that you’re preparing for? Or is it during season, so there’s just only so much they can alter?

“Yeah, a little of both. There’s only so much new coaches can do. They’re not going to change a ton up. But they can have a different approach. You can have a different vibe from the team and stuff like that. And you’ve got to be prepared for everything, but there’s only so much.”

Could McCaffrey potentially be back in a playoff scenario?

“Yeah, I believe so. I think usually though, they say that injury is like a six-week injury, so that wouldn’t give a chance.”

You mentioned after the trade deadline, it’s a risk to make a move at the deadline, it’s a risk to kind of stand pat. Do you look back at it with any regrets? You can’t predict what was going to happen, but regrets not being more aggressive?

“No, because I don’t think, I mean how many aggressive moves do you want to make? You make one aggressive move, but I don’t think that what’s happened just one player would’ve changed anything in these last three weeks. Then when you do that it just hurts you more going forward. So, no regrets at all on that. Not to mention there wasn’t really something sitting there that was enticing even if it was considered a big move. So didn’t really see that option and you don’t ever want to do that just to do it either.”

What stands out about the Bears defense when you watch them?

“I think they’re a real good defense. I think, how good they are in the redzone, I think they’re ranked number two in the redzone. I think they’re top five at getting turnovers. I think they’re top five on third down. When they’re top five in getting turnovers and their offense, I think, is number one at not giving up turnovers, it’s usually a really good formula for winning. You look at their team as a whole, they started out 4-2, they went on a bye, they lost the next game on a Hail Mary versus a good team in Washington, so you’d like to say they should have been 5-2 and the next five games after that, they got blown out two after that, but these last three games, they played as good as any team in the league playing Minnesota, Green Bay and Detroit, losing by a total of seven points. So I see a defense that is capable of being a playoff defense. They’ve played like it all year. They’ve just come up short here in these last five games.”

Last week Christian said that he felt the vibes outside the building were a lot lower than the vibes inside the building. After Sunday, do you feel the same way about that and do you have confidence that you guys have the vibes to make a run?

“I don’t know. We don’t go off vibes as much. We were pretty disappointed after that game and stuff, that takes time. But you don’t need much more than 48 hours. We’re in here on Wednesday, guys are ready to go to work. I think when you compare outside the building to inside the building, I mean, we’re a football team who goes to work and tries to get better each day we’re here. If you spend your day outside the building just reading and stuff, I’m sure your vibes won’t be the same. But our vibes here are all about work and that’s what we enjoy doing.”

Looking at the run defense and all the rushing touchdowns that have been given up this season, why is that happening? Is it just breakdowns across every level of the run defense when you get down in there?

“Yes, when you ask why, we can go into a ton of things, but the bottom line is we haven’t played good enough run defense. You look at all of our losses, these last two weeks have been as bad as it gets. Especially when you give up the run game like we have in these last two weeks in the first half, the game’s almost over before it starts going into that second half. I still thought we had every chance to make it a game in the second half, but that’s when we had our three turnovers in both games, which leads to blowouts. If you look at all of our losses this year, I think the least amount of yards we’ve given up in a loss is close to 150. So we haven’t been stopping the run well enough. That starts with people being out of gaps. It can go to missed tackles, it can go to not getting off the field on third-down so they get a few more runs called. It can go to not getting enough turnovers and it can go to missed assignments. So it’s all above.”

We never asked you about QB Brock Purdy and the fumble that happened. Is there anything that he could have done or was it just a slip out of his hand?

“It just slipped out of his hand. I wish it didn’t. It’s not like you put different grip really on your hands and stuff. You’ve got to change your motion up a little bit. But that’s also why you try to avoid throwing a lot in those situations. And that’s what you try to do, but sometimes you can’t avoid it, especially on third downs and things like that. And that’s the

challenges of playing in those conditions.”

How difficult is it to judge his performance in Buffalo?

“You take that all with a grain of salt, but we watch each clip and we talk through it. It’s always a bad play when you lose the ball, but as far as going through a progression where the ball should have gone, that was his number two in the read. He looked at [TE] George [Kittle], they moved to zone coverage, he took a hitch and was going to rip it to the left side and was going to have an explosive to J.J. [WR Jauan Jennings] and the ball slipped out. So yeah, I don’t want to say that was one of his better plays, but he was doing everything right on that play and I think we all saw why the ball slipped. There’s plays in this game that we can coach him up to be better on and there’s some plays where it’s like that where it’s an unfortunate situation.”

Brock is full-go today? 

“Yeah.”

Same with DL Jordan Elliott?

“Yep.”

Jauan’s had great games, 10 plus catches against the Rams and Seahawks. He hasn’t talked to media, and we would like to talk to him. It seems as though he’s upset about losing even though he had a great game. Is that reflective of anything about him or his competitiveness?

“I don’t know. I didn’t even know he wasn’t talking to you guys. So that’s the first I’ve heard. Can I do that too? Maybe Jauan is smarter than I am. I didn’t know. Jauan’s an emotional dude and that’s what makes him so great. You guys see how he plays and Jauan’s one of my favorite people in the world. He’s unique in just the energy he brings to everything, and I haven’t asked him because I didn’t know that, but I’m sure he hasn’t been in the mood after games. He takes those hard.”

You’re not a bad loser, in public, in press conferences you answer the questions, not every coach does that. After Green Bay, you’re like getting more questions and most coaches are like out of there. Is that your dad or is that just you as far as how you’re supposed to handle things?

“I don’t know. That’s just how I am. I answer questions. I don’t make stuff up, so I try to answer your guys’ questions, especially if it’s not a stupid question. Sometimes I struggle with ones that I don’t understand, forgive me if I think they’re stupid. They might not be. I just don’t understand them all. But that’s how I do press conferences. I answer the questions. So, I always try to do that without hurting our own team. And that’s really about as simple as I keep it. But no, I don’t take losing well, but I’m not showing you guys how I deal with my life in these eight great minutes.”