Defensive Coordinator Nick Sorensen Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Nick Sorensen

Press Conference – November 7, 2024

San Francisco 49ers

Has Tampa changed what they do offensively since Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Mike Evans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers WR Chris Godwin went down?

“A little bit. I think their system and what they do, it’s a good system. I think he [Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield] operates well in it with how they run the ball and how he throws it. There are some little changes, because obviously those guys can do some things outside, but they’re pretty consistent in what they do.”

One of your starting safeties is 24 and the other is 22-years old. Obviously they’re making plays, but are they also making mistakes that you would expect young safeties, inexperienced safeties, to make and was that something that we were seeing at the end of the Cowboys game?

“No one is perfect, period, but when the guys are young and the one thing that’s cool about them that you guys ask about them and that I say weekly, is that they do get better and they learn every week. And even with [S Ji’Ayir Brown] Tig, he came in midway through the season, so really he’s kind of played a year now. So he is a young safety, I’m glad you say it like that, but he’s played a lot of ball too. I think those guys have accelerated their growth, they care a lot. They continue to communicate well, but it’s not perfect. And I think getting a lot of young guys playing time early, even early in the season when we were kind of rotating some guys has really, it’s starting to pay the dividends and that’s where you see them making plays. They’re feeling more confident and that’s been good.”

Have you seen that play out over your playing career, your coaching career, where a guy, a rookie, maybe plays a lot of snaps early on and then by December, January perhaps he’s playing well?

“You hope. It should. The main thing is they earn the snaps that they got and they are making plays and you want to see them just, they should continue to get better. And ideally, that’s how it should be. Otherwise, then you play someone else.”

How much do you expect S Tashaun Gipson Sr. back in the building might help, just, even with little things with those young guys?

“I think it’s huge. He started for us the last two years. He’s a great dude. He’s played a ton of ball. He’s taken it, like 33 career picks. He’s had a ton of success and he is a great guy. And just having him back, I think everyone was real excited to see him. I think he’s excited to be here and be back and feel like he didn’t leave. We’re just excited to have him back, see how he feels. He hasn’t done a whole lot, so we’ll just kind of figure it out as we go.”

How much growth have you seen from S Malik Mustapha and Ji’Ayir, just in this season so far in the first half of the season?

“A lot. The more that we can let those guys play free and fast, then you see them show up and I think that’s what you see out of Malik, too. And the more they play, they’re going to play that way and they start to expect things and it’s not the first time they’ve seen something. So, the acceleration’s been great.”

DL Sam Okuayinonu, is he, would you say you are surprised that he’s been this good?

“Saw the promise of what was in his body kind of in the offseason and how he gets off and stuff, and then you were hoping to see the physicality in training camp, then you did, then he had the injury. So it was, we had the expectations and the hopes. It’s just now he’s done it a little bit, so we want to see him keep doing it. That’s the challenge for him is, okay, you’ve done a couple things, but we need to see it consistently. And then seeing the growth of how he’s moved inside and been an interior guy as well in some of those pass-rush situations has been really cool because he hasn’t played a ton of football. He is still fairly new to it, but he cares a lot and he’s an explosive dude that plays physical and loves ball. So it’s been good so far.”

I ask you, because you know his background in being late to football. Are there things, could you say he’s still raw in some ways or is there more potential just because of his relative inexperience?

“Yeah, I think so. Of course. Especially since he’d never really worked inside and how he picks stuff up quick. But [defensive line coach Kris] Kocurek coaches him hard and he likes that, most of our guys do. They’re receptive to it and those are the guys that can accelerate when they take all the coaching and then they apply it. That’s something that he’s done a good job with and that he can handle is when he gets coached he applies it and then plays fast. He’s a smart guy, so he’s picked it up quick. That’s the good thing about it. It makes sense to him.”

You added the defensive tackle at the trade deadline. What do you like about DL Khalil Davis and kind of where do you see him fitting in, in that group?

“Yeah, where he fits in, we’ll see. We still want to see some more. I think he’s just had the one shorter practice yesterday without pads. The cool thing is, he is an explosive guy, he’s twitched-up, he’s been in our system and he’s had production. So we’ll just kind of go from there and figure out how he fits. It’s always good to add depth to a position like that of a good player.”

Anything that you’ve noticed in terms of how head coach Kyle Shanahan’s teams approach a Bye that allows for the team to be pretty successful after the Bye? Other than the fact that the teams are pretty good. But what do you think about the way you guys handle a Bye?

“I don’t know if it’s anything extraordinarily different. I think he just stays consistent in how he talks to the players and talks to the coaches. I think he’s just really consistent in, the main thing with Kyle is it’s continuing to coach and continuing to get better and it’s staying on it every day. Some people can get in a lull and I don’t think we ever allow that to happen here. And it’s you never think too far ahead, you don’t look back too far to think negatively either. It’s just what’s happening right now and how can we get better this day, this practice. And what is it going to take to win this game? And I don’t think it’s any magic potion other than you get a Bye and you rest up. I think a lot of that goes to our players and how they handle Byes too, because they usually use that the right way. If guys use it the right way, you should come back feeling pretty good.”

He said he wants the coaches to get away from each other for a couple of days. Did you do that too?

“Oh yeah, no he’s good about that. Yes, I did spend time with the family. It was nice.”

How much stress can a guy like RB Christian McCaffrey being on the field put on a defense if you’re planning against him?

“Christian, he’s, yeah, I remember going up against him a few times before he came here. He’s just, he’s a tough matchup problem. In the pass game, but he’s also just an awesome runner. He has great vision, he’s not some guy that you think is smaller that won’t hit it inside. He’s got great vision. Obviously his ability to cut and run and break tackles, but he’s also really tough. But the obvious one is how he can do so many different things in the pass game.”

They have three backs that are all pretty good. Are there any trends in how they utilize the three of them?

“I think for them, they’re all so versatile and I just love the mindset of how they play. I think a lot of it kind of matriculates off of how tough and competitive Baker is. I think that, that just permeates through the whole team. Just a competitive group. Those guys all run with energy, they can cut it anywhere. They play tough, even though they’re not huge guys, I think they will play big in the finish, whether it’s breaking tackles or dipping a shoulder when they need to. Which is kind of like how Baker plays, if it’s third down or something, he will dip a shoulder on you. And I think that’s the cool thing that we respect about this team is they’re just competitive, tough guys. Regardless of the noise of the two really good receivers they don’t have, it’s a competitive group. You saw it last week and you continue to see it.”