Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – November 5, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“Injuries for practice today. [WR] Ricky Pearsall, knee, will not practice. [LB] Dee Winters, knee, limited. [OL Jake] Brendel, hamstring, limited. [LB] Tatum [Bethune], thigh, limited. [DL] Bryce Huff, hamstring, limited. [QB] Brock Purdy, toe, limited. Go ahead.”

Is there a setback with Pearsall? What is his status right now?

“Just the same as what I said last week. No setback. Just taking longer to heal than we thought.”

As far as WR Brandon Aiyuk, are you confident that he’s going to play this year or is there a possibility that he doesn’t ever get that window open and doesn’t play?

“I mean, I’m pretty confident that he is going to eventually. At least open up his practice window. We talk about it being week-to-week right now, so still waiting until he is ready.”

Is it a matter of him hitting these marks, the GPS stuff, the speed stuff, those types of things, the very technical things at his point?

“Yes.”

You didn’t mention OL Ben Bartch. Would your plan be, if he’s healthy, to just slot him right back in as a starter?

“We’ll see how the week goes. It depends how he looks. Thought [OL Spencer] Spence [Burford] did a real good job last week. But, he is not limited today, he’s full-go, so gives him a better chance, but we’ll see how the week plays out.”

What kind of setback did DL Yetur Gross-Matos have and is there a chance he’ll be back this year or is it bad enough that he can’t?

“No, he pulled his hamstring. But yeah, he’ll be back. “

What have your thoughts been on WR Jordan Watkins the last two games? What have you seen from him and then how does it help out with the injuries of the wide receivers?

“He’s gotten up and got his opportunity because of the injuries. So, that’s why he has been up the last two weeks. I thought he had a big play last week on the second-and-12 that we went to him on and just getting better each week and waiting for more opportunities.”

Do you see yourself giving Brock more first-team reps this week?

“Yeah, I’d like to. Yeah, we plan on pushing it each week.”

One rookie we haven’t seen yet is RB Jordan James. How’s he doing in practice and was the plan to sort of redshirt him this year if the veterans ahead of him stay healthy or could he work his way onto the field?

“No, I think he could work his way onto the field. I think it’s tough. The plan wasn’t to originally, but hurt his knee I think his first practice, came back two weeks later broke his pinky, then missed all that. So, he missed an entire training camp and came back I think in Week 2. Once he did, we’d already traded for [RB] Brian [Robinson Jr.]. We have [RB] Isaac [Guerendo] with our special teams role and the pass game. I think Jordan’s been getting more reps in practice and doing a good job. Hopefully we’ll be able to get him up sometime this year.”

You were fairly candid before the trade deadline about what you guys were looking for and your approach. But, I think a lot of fans, when you don’t make any other move besides DL Keion White, view that as some sort of a white flag on the season. How would you respond to the fact that you didn’t make a significant move and how it reflects on how you view this year’s team?

“I don’t think it has to do with how we viewed this year’s team. I think we worked just as hard this year to make a trade that made sense for our team this year and next year, just as hard as we do every year. There are a lot of teams with records like 6-3 or better that didn’t make any big trade. Just because you make a big trade doesn’t mean it’s always a smart move. There’s a lot of risk that goes into it, not just for this year, but throughout your whole future. I was excited we were able to make one that we felt really good about last week and getting Keion. I know we looked into a ton of them, but the asking price was too much on all of them.”

When you had Kansas City Chiefs RB Elijah Mitchell here, you finished games with him. What do you want to see from these other backs or what would you want to see from a back that you want to finish a game with because you’re finishing with RB Christian McCaffrey now?

“That they run the ball the same way. I thought Brian stepped in and did a good job. I mean, we never said Elijah was our finisher by any means. It’s just how it played out sometimes. Sometimes you go in and a guy runs two good runs and you stick with him for a little bit. We never had any role for any back where it’s like, all right, this guy goes and finishes it, this guy starts it. It’s really just the momentum of how guys are doing and I think Brian has really stepped it up these last couple weeks. He’s gotten a couple more opportunities, made some big plays on special teams and hopefully we can get him in there more.”

Between Mac’s play on the field and his leadership, has he been better than advertised?

“I guess maybe a little better than advertised, but that’s just based off how good advertisements are. He’s just done so much in college and done a lot in this League, so we had a pretty good feeling that he could be like this and he’s been like this since OTAs. So, hasn’t been much of a surprise for everyone in the building.”

Everybody notices the kicker and that you hired a new coordinator. What else do you think has gone into the overall improvement of special teams, particularly in the last month or so?

“I think making kicks and not getting a punt blocked are usually the biggest things that stick out the most or giving up a big return. You can play really good special teams and if any one of those three things happen on just one play, then it’s catastrophic special teams. I think we’ve been able to avoid some of the bigger plays that we missed last year. Obviously, the kicker being on it like he has been has really helped. Then I think a number of the guys we brought in. I think all three specialists have done a real good job and they’ve all gotten better throughout the year too. Guys like [LB Luke] Gifford and [DB Siran] Neal. Bringing those guys in have helped a bunch. I think guys are just proven.”

Getting some of your guys back healthy is giving you a situation where rookies don’t have to play as much. Can that be good at this part of the season, that they got those reps under the belt, but maybe to take a step back so that they can avoid the rookie lull?

“Yeah, I think so. I think lots of guys get opportunities because of injury, and I think opportunities always help people. Whether you did good with it or bad with it, you can learn from it. Sometimes when you don’t have to do it for an entire year or something like that, sometimes you get in there and you can manage it for a little bit, but you’re not quite ready for it, so eventually you break down. So, when you can get in and get out, I do think it helps guys.”

I’ve been wanting to ask you about TE Jake Tonges, a local guy and went to Cal. What have you seen from him this season that allowed this breakout as far as his performance?

“Really just stepping it up in game moments and showing his teammates and everyone that the game’s not too big for him. Starting back to the Seattle game. We had such a big game plan for [TE Geroge] Kittle that game and we weren’t at all anticipating losing him as early as we did. We had to change a bunch of stuff and eventually you’ve just got to say screw it and live with the results. Every time we went to him, he made a bunch of plays and he made a game-winning play. And then he has done it every week since. Not just in the pass game, but also in the run game, playing through some injuries. So, we always knew he had some ability, but I feel like he just really matured in the moment and has been getting it done on Sundays.”

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay drew plays for you early in his career. What do you remember about his time in that role?

“Sean was awesome. I remember my dad and I interviewing him and he killed it. My dad was more impressed with it. I thought he was doing a [former NFL head coach] Jon Gruden impersonation the whole time. But obviously, I’m just joking. I was impressed too, but I had the same job that Sean had for Gruden. So, what I did for Jon for two years, I think after me was [Green Bay Packers defensive assistant Nathaniel] Nate Hackett, and then after Nate I think was Sean. So, we both had the same background, so it was cool to watch and interview him, know where he was coming from, and then he was unbelievable with the stuff. The pictures always have the most access to the coordinator, the guy who you spend the most time with and stuff. But, he didn’t last long there. I remember our tight end coach, [Miami Dolphins assistant head coach and tight ends coach] Jon Embree got the head coach job at Colorado. I think it was like by Week 14 that I lost my picture drawer and we made him the tight end coach.”

What about doing that job specifically helps a young coach?

“I think it’s one, the access to the coordinator, and two, once you become a position coach, that is what your job is. Like, that’s what you have to do 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You lock into that position and making sure that position’s right. When you’re a picture drawer and you’re dealing with the coordinator a lot, you’ve got to do a little bit of everything. It kind of gives you a very good foundation on how you’re going to coach the rest of your career. And I go back to my times before I was a position coach or coordinator and that’s when I really learned defense. That’s when I really learned other positions, really learned to O-Line play, really learned the fronts on defense and stuff like that. And once you become a position coach, yeah you like to do that stuff, but that’s not really what’s important at that time. What’s important is making sure your position gets the job done and there’s a lot more room to grow when you’re not that.”

Given the injuries to key players, is it fair to say that this team has overachieved through the first half of the season?

“I wouldn’t say overachieved because we believed we could do this. I think always when you have injuries it’s much more of a challenge, definitely. But, I think some of the key positions we have had key injuries, we’ve had some good guys step up. I mean, I’m thinking all these positions, it’s just a total backup. I think we’ve had some guys come in and play like starters. I also know other teams in the League have some of these issues too. So, we’re 6-3, and we’ve got a chance here. We’re in the hunt, but we’ll see how we finish the rest of this half out.”

With how well Mac has played, does there come a point in this season where you get concerned about messing with offensive chemistry if you make a switch or go back or go to Brock?

“No, I don’t really get concerned too much with offensive chemistry. Mac’s showing he can play at a high level. Everyone knows that Brock can play at a high level. When Brock is healthy and he’s himself, we know he’ll play at a high level. So as long as you have a quarterback playing at a high level don’t worry too much about the chemistry.”

What have you seen from CB Upton Stout? I know the secondary has kind of been moving around a little bit. What have you seen from their progress?

“I love the way Upton Stout plays. I think he’s a rookie out there who plays the right way, who’s going to be a really good starter in this league for a while. As always, you’ve got to go through some ups and downs when you just throw guys in the fire like we have with him. But, he never shies away. He always plays physical, plays to me with probably the least hesitation on our defense, just with how hard he reacts, how hard he runs to the ball, and I truly believe he’s made it the right stuff. I think this year’s really good for him and he’s going to be a good player for us.”

McCaffrey and Robinson, they’re going to get most of the carries, but Guerendo did show flashes last year. Where does he need to improve to at least give him a chance to get on the field? 

“He needs to be better than the two backs in front of him. That’s how it was in the past. He got his opportunities when JP [Minnesota Vikings RB Jordan Mason] got hurt, got his opportunity to start when both of those guys got hurt and he did very well with it. He’s just the third guy right now and you don’t hand the ball off to two guys, you hand it off to one and usually there’s a two-man rotation. Sometimes you can have a third, but with Christian being elite as he is in the pass game and protections and stuff, it’s kind of hard to get a three-man rotation there.”

In the first matchup you ran the ball a lot, like 30-plus times and didn’t get a lot for it, but you stayed with it. Now since then, what have you seen from their defense on film? Why are they so tough against the run?

“I think their front five, the guys they keep on the line of scrimmage usually is probably the best in the NFL. I think they don’t have to make the secondary very vulnerable in doing a lot so they can always have usually six or seven guys swarming to the ball. Extremely hard to get a big play on. I don’t think they’ve given up a third-and-12 plus this year, which is kind of unheard of by Week 9. I think they’re number one in the NFL in second-and-11 plus. So, when you have as good of a pass rush as in the League and that same pass rush group can stop the run, it leads to a very good defense and that’s what they are.”