Defensive Coordinator Nick Sorensen Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Nick Sorensen

Press Conference – October 8, 2024

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III had a play against the Lions where he was able to kind of stay up. You probably know the one I’m talking about. Is that one that you guys showed to your players just to emphasize the type of athlete that they’ll be facing?

“Yeah, I did. I just showed that along with a bunch of other ones that are similar to just show like, it’s not like a one-time thing. He’s got a bunch of plays that you would be like, oh, it’s kind of flukish but he just doesn’t go down and he is hard to get down. He’s the type of guy that he has the ability to kind of run wherever and he’s got the strength and the contact-balance that he just doesn’t go down and he’ll fight for it. And he is really talented and has top-end speed once he gets outside of breaking a tackle he can go.”

Last season the defensive backs intercepted 16 passes I believe in the regular season. So far this season they haven’t intercepted any. Why do you feel the production on the ball among the secondary is down this season?

“We’ve got to attack it more. I mean, there’s always ops. It’s just one of those things where we need a mindset of when it’s up, it’s ours. Be the receiver, be the aggressor. Just hasn’t happened yet. We need to be more aggressive with it.”

When you’re talking to these guys after five games, what are you harping on with them that we’re right here but we need to do this a little bit better? What are those specific things that you think would just take you guys back into the identity that the Niners have always had?

“I think it depends on the play. I mean, more so right now it’s just the mindset of getting ready on a short week and we’re cramming first, second and third down today. So it’s more of just dealing with today and then when you’re evaluating the plays, I think it just depends on what the play is. I don’t think it’s one certain thing here. It’s just there’s different stuff that shows up. For a minute there it was explosive passes because those have consistently led to points for years and years and years. And when we give those up and we don’t take the ball, like you just mentioned on the interceptions, it’s tough to win games because those are stats that are continuous and they’re consistent and it’s every year. So, whatever the turnover margin is, if we make it even I think that last game’s different. So I think we always feel like we have to do our part. So that was one of them. But also any explosive plays, whether it’s run or pass.”

Does it feel like teams are trying to show you things that they haven’t put on tape yet?

“It does. I mean, that kind of happens each week because you want to show something. I mean, we try and do it too, where you give some look and try and do something off of the same look. I think that’s what most people do really. So, I think the un-scouted plays, that’s just what the NFL is. That’s what smart coordinators do. That’s what smart coaches do. You kind of challenge to do what you do, but how can I make something be different off of the similar look.”

How much do you second guess yourself after a rough game and how much do you lay into the foundation of what you do and believe in that?

“It’s a good question because you don’t ever have regrets, but there’s always things you want to improve on. And if I’m honest, there’s times I’m like, ‘God, I could have done this, but no, I believe in that.’ You know, we can coach this better or we can execute that better. You don’t want to get too far off your fundamentals of your beliefs either. And so that’s what I lean into more than anything. And then it’s just how can we get better fundamentally and that’s with coaching and with how we play and how we practice and I think there’s always going to be calls that aren’t perfect for what they do. I think it’s the whole whoever has the pencil last. And depending on the route or the run versus the pressure or the coverage. So, there’s always a little bit of that, but you also have to trust your process. And like you said, if there’s un-scouted looks, sometimes you’ve just got to be ready to adjust.”

When you watched the Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray 50-yard run film, what was the breakdown of that play?

“They got us a bit on that one. We were in single-high there and they just got us on the edge. We didn’t bump out and then we got caught up from the post and it was a couple different things.”

What was the situation where the receiver was wide open and I think it was CB Charvarius Ward and DB Deommodore Lenoir both dropped?

“Oh, on the third-and-seven? Miscommunication after a motion. We had one similar to that off a stack and a similar d-and-d earlier to the other side and it was good communication and that time it ended up just being on the wrong page.”

With Ward’s success against Seattle Seahawks WR DK Metcalf, would you expect that to be a one-on-one that you’re focusing on most of the game?

“It can happen. We’ll see. We evaluate everything and we’ll go from there. I like all our corners. I respect DK a lot. I respect [Seattle Seahawks WR] Tyler Lockett a lot. He’s done it for 10 years and even [Seattle Seahawks WR] Jaxon Smith-Njigba. I think they have a really talented group starting with [Seattle Seahawks QB] Geno [Smith] and the running back too. I think overall if you look at their skill group, it might be the most talented one we’ve played overall when you put the tight ends in it and all the receivers, really both running backs and then Geno who can still do it. I think he still moves around well enough. He has been getting rid of the ball fast. I know how he’s got a great arm and they’ve been getting a lot of explosive plays. We talked about the explosives. I mean, they’ve been explosive. I think they’re top-five in explosives.”

The last two weeks, the defense has missed 29 tackles. What does the film show? Is it fatigue? Are these guys breaking down a little bit?

“I wouldn’t say it’s fatigue. I think we miss tackles sometimes because we’re aggressive. We do coach our guys to take their shots. If you make me a cut up of those tackles, I’ll tell you if it’s a good or bad one to be honest. We play aggressive, we play violent. I think sometimes [LB] Fred [Warner] shows up with quite a few missed tackles, but if a guy stops his feet and they’re having to take time and that guy loses a yard but you kind of fall off and now we’ve got two other guys coming, then that’s not a bad missed tackle. You know? Sometimes they’re a little bit different. I’d have to quantify it by looking at tape then I could probably talk you through if they’re good or bad or not.”

After the game, DL Nick Bosa was asked about Arizona Cardinals RB James Conner having more success on the final two drives and he said they made some adjustments to the zone-read. He suggested you guys could have adjusted to that better and sometimes throughout the season you could have made better in-game adjustments. Is that a fair assessment?

“I don’t think it was something we didn’t adjust. We started changing some of the calls and we did mix up whether it was two-high or brought pressure. I thought we talked about it on the sideline, what happened on that one play and I don’t think it was really any breakdown or miscommunication on not adjusting late because we were changing things up and getting different looks with our shell and with bringing different types of pressures as well.”

Where has S Malik Mustapha made his biggest strides from the point where when S Talanoa Hufanga was out early in the season so that now you have confidence in him starting?

“I think his strides have come just because he has played a lot. I mean, we’ve had a lot of guys play and I think it’s good that guys gain knowledge through getting their snaps. And for him it’s just being comfortable being out there. I think I’ve mentioned before, like with safeties, it’s that comfort to communicate and the feel of the game and the flow of the game and how it moves and how you have to be a leader back there behind our backers that you can communicate across the board and be tied in. And I think he’s done a good job with that.”