Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Chris Foerster Press Conference

Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Chris Foerster

Press Conference – August 5, 2026

San Francisco 49ers

We saw OL Robert Jones play a little left guard with the ones. Are you trying to give him a little bit of run there?

“The plan was, before we finished the last one, was give him some left guard work, see him against different people. I wanted to give [OL] Connor [Colby] some work at right guard and I was going to split [OL] Carver [Willis] and Rob at the left guard spot. That was the plan. Carver is in concussion protocol. Then [OL Brett] Toth gets hurt, so there’s just some options. I still let Rob get that role. I was going to do a lot more interior-wise, so it wouldn’t just look like it was flipping the two guys, but it didn’t work out with the injuries. So, still getting Rob, see him against some different people, see Connor with the different matchups as well. But I had a lot more in store than that, unfortunately. I mean, big O-line news right there, but that’s about as far as it went.”

I know the decision has to be made on a lot of levels, but are you guys anywhere near, or do you have to make a decision whether you’re going to be healthy enough for these joint practices?

“It seems like we’re very healthy. I mean, we have injuries. We have dings and bumps and bruises, and guys are missing practices. It’s yet to come up in anything I’ve heard. Doesn’t mean it hasn’t been discussed, but, shoot, I think it will be plenty. If you’re two deep at every position, you can practice. You can always adjust with the threes, one, two, threes. Threes are hard to stay healthy through the course of training camp, if you’re practicing football hard. If you’re not practicing football hard, you can get through camp easily without injuries, a couple muscles here and there. But if you’re practicing hitting, contact, style of football, whatever it is. So, yeah, that’s not come up at this point.”

When the defense gives you different looks and defensive coordinator Raheem Morris mixes it up a little bit more, is that beneficial, and in what ways can it be as you go?

“It’s hugely beneficial because when you play a team that’s a jet team like we’ve been, jetting up the field, and then your first three weeks are against teams that don’t play that technique, all your footwork, everything, you have a struggle getting ready for the teams that aren’t that way. Or vice versa, a team that’s preparing against a jet team, you don’t ever see it all training camp. That’s why the crosswork became important, but more than that now, with all the different looks that Raheem’s given us, there’s different techniques up front. It’s a huge benefit. Sometimes it’s not as productive, because sometimes you’re like, ‘Well, we wouldn’t do this against that or we’re not looking to try to beat the defense, we’re just looking to install it.’ You get to go through a lot of what ifs, and they’re really, really good to do. I love getting all the different looks, and I love seeing two different teams with the crosswork. I think it’s the best thing that happens, because in the crosswork you get to see more looks than what guys are willing to put on tape for the preseason. You used to think the preseason games are where you’d get to see those different looks, but you really don’t. Tthe crosswork, the cross practice gets you a chance to do that.”

How much more does that evolve then throughout camp when it’s not just install?

“Oh, I have to in individual drills. I think every coach does it in individual drills. You say, ‘Okay, this is no longer our defensive technique. I’ve changed the technique of the D-linemen.’ They’re maybe changing the looks everywhere else on the team as well.”

Do you have any thoughts about the two undrafted defensive tackles DL Bryson Eason and DL James Thompson Jr.?

“Those guys, D-linemen, [defensive line coach] Kris [Kocurek] does such a good job coaching those guys, they all buy in. They’re such a great example with the other players that are here. They do an excellent job. There’s always a learning curve for young guys. [DL James Thompson Jr.] 75, they’ve all done stuff that’s good and bad, but they’re working through it. I think they’re definitely good guys here.”

T Trent Williams has been out there every single practice, had some good reps there in the red zone. What are you seeing out of Trent, and is there gonna be a plan for him to ease up now, going into the season, or how does that work with him?

“No, he’s on a rep count, so Trent, the last two days, I think he’s had 20 reps. So, that’s a lot less than the bulk. We held him out of two rolls of plays in the middle of practice, and we’re always monitoring, taking him out for a play here, play there, trying to keep his number count. His number count will be the exact same. Last year what happened with Trent was, in our opinion, we felt that the end of the preseason, the week off, there just wasn’t enough live work in those periods. That was what it was, so it’s not ramp up and let him rest. That was probably the downfall, not having enough practices where he could continue to stay kind of at the level he’s at. The key is just not giving him too many reps. There’s only so much tread on the tire. I think there’s a lot of tread on the tire, personally, with Trent, but you always have to be careful that reps in July don’t take away from reps in January.”

Understandably, you’re not a medical professional, and I know you can’t give detail on his condition and how much better he’s getting, but Kyle was out there earlier today in practice. Is he saying to you guys, ‘I’m feeling better,’ or ‘today’s a little bit better than yesterday,’ things like that?

“He doesn’t say to us anything, he just does what he knows he needs to do to keep progressing. I think I said last time I was up here, when he’s in our meeting, and he’s running the tape, or when I’m talking to him in my office, it’s the same guy. I think what there probably is, and I can’t speak for him, there’s a little bit more recovery. I think that anytime you’ve had, you know, my arm was in a cast for however long, and it’s injured, to come back, you’re working on it, boy, it’s sore today, I pushed a little harder, it’s a little sore today, pushed a little harder, and I think that’s all. I think that’s the process, but I might be somewhat of a medical expert, but not quite that good, so I’m not sure. I think that’s kind of what I think it is.”

OL Drake Nugent had some good reps in the one-on-ones. How has he improved since he came in the building, and do you see him at guard and center, or is he just a center?

“I think what you’ve seen with Drake is the ability to just leave him at center. He’s always been the fill-in guy. ‘Hey, we need an extra guy at guard.’ Now [OL] Nick Zakelj’s been doing more of that. I’ve been throwing Nick at all positions, and you moved [OL] Austen Pleasants inside. Before I’m gonna move Drake out to guard, let’s get the best version of Drake. His body type, skill set, he’s a center. That’s kind of what we did with [OL] Jake Brendel when [former center] Alex [Mack] was here. I knew Jake from before, but nobody here did. So, the best way for Jake to put his best foot forward for him, was for me just to put him as Alex’s backup. Then he was always able to present the best, and we could say, ‘Hey, this is what he is at his best.’ That’s my job, as well as their job. I start moving Jake to guard, start moving Drake to guard, that’s just not their spot. Especially now when you can dress eight linemen instead of seven on game day, it makes a big difference. That can be a backup center that’s just there, and then you dress the other guys. It does help.”

With so many of the top wide receivers off the field, what does that do for helping you guys get a clearer picture on who you have behind that, and who might be ready to step up?

“Oh, it’s great. That’s why I say injuries are positive and negative, right. Sometimes guys are dinged up, you keep them out just because you don’t wanna risk it in July. Guys that probably would play if it were a game this week. So, you can’t overreact to injuries. You also have to be careful. You can’t not pay attention to them, but it’s always opportunities for other guys, the next guy, next man up philosophy. Obviously, it does let us evaluate the lower end players. They get more reps. Where they’d be going up against the threes, you might think, ‘Gosh, this guy looks really good, but he’s only going against the third corner, or the whatever it might be.’ Then you move him up to the twos, and he gets some work with the ones. Next thing you know, you can really evaluate what the player is. Is it overall great? No. You want to keep everybody healthy for every single snap, but as far as an evaluation process goes, it is helpful.”

RB Christian McCaffrey changed his training regimen during the off season. What have you seen from him, does he look the same, does he look any different?

“I heard it was pretty creative. The stuff online was pretty good. I kept hearing from people he did a lot of different stuff. Christian looks great. I think he always looks great though, so whatever he does, whatever he sees he needs to do to be ready to prepare himself for the season, it’s definitely showing up. He’s done a great job. He looks really, really good this camp. Very decisive this camp. Running decisively, running downhill hard. Very no-nonsense approach to this season. Wants to come back and have a really, really strong season and, again, continue what he’s always done.”

What about the backup running backs because you’re without a couple of your top guys?

“That’s been the biggest thing. The problem is, when you have injuries, you spoke to the receivers, [WR] Ricky [Pearsall] goes down, and the other guys are dinged up, and you find out about the other guys, great developmental time for guys. Christian’s only going to get so many reps like Trent’s only going to get so many reps. That’s great opportunities for those other guys. Now what the problem is, is two of those guys are dinged up again, the two younger guys, so it goes to the other players, and they get to develop. It hurts that they can’t get that other work, but hopefully they’ll be back soon, and there’s still plenty of time for them to get work.”

Before the season started, you talked a little bit about how much you saw the growth in OL Dominick Puni. Are you able to detail in the same way what you’ve seen from Connor Colby?

“Dominick has made more strides. He’s had a great off-season. Dominick’s continued into training camp. Connor made great strides in the off-season. Same way, it looked like he’d made a big step. Now we’re getting back to some live work and even though it has improved, some of those same holes are still there. Just like a year ago with Dom, he tried to fix them in the off-season, he did, but then when the live work in pads started, it started not being as consistent. Some of the things that he struggled with a year ago are coming back, not as bad as they were, but still not the consistency that we’d like to see.”