Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris

Press Conference – October 16, 2026

San Francisco 49ers

Your initial impressions on Washington Commanders QB Jayden Daniels and the running threat that he poses more than anybody maybe outside of Miami Dolphins QB Malik Willis so far?

“That we’ve played you mean?”

Yeah.

“I don’t want to undersell his running, but him as a quarterback, he’s a really good quarterback. He’s a great processor. He can stand back there and throw it. That’s what makes him so effective when he does run. His ability to get out the pocket and really shock you and have people drop and get down the field and be able to take advantage of that is elite at a very high level. You’ve got to keep him contained. You’ve got to keep him as close to in the pocket as you possibly can. Then when he gets out, you’ve got to be able to rally and tackle him. He’s a hard tackle. We’ve got to deal with that this week and we’ve been preparing that way.”

How did LB Jaden Dugger perform when he moved to WILL and stepped in for LB Dre Greenlaw the other day and what are your expectations for him?

“Did a nice job. Obviously, stepped in when we lost Greenlaw and he was able to go to the WILL backer and transition that way. And also [LB Luke Gifford] Giff, Giff was able to go to that other SAM backer, fever backer, outside backer for us. Those two filling in that role did a nice job for us and getting us through. Whenever you lose that kind of guy, particularly in a game, that’s tough. And for Jaden to be ready that way says a lot about the young man and his development. Also you’ve got to give his coaches a lot of credit. When you talk about [linebackers coach] K.J. Wright and [defensive run game coordinator] Johnny Holland and having him prepared to do that, that’s not easy. So to be able to do that, I’m very proud of him and the coaching job that those guys did. [Defensive quality control coach] Angel Matute too, obviously.”

How have you been able to create pressure even given all the injuries you have on the defensive line right now?

“I think it’s a little less about me creating pressure. I think it’s just about the guys executing the game plan. We’ve got some really good people up front doing different things. I know you’ve heard it before, but you’ve got to rush as a unit. When you don’t have that superstar player that we know we’re missing, like a [DL Nick] Bosa, you’ve got to be able to rush as a unit. Those guys have been able to rush as a unit, whether it’s been absolutely executing it, the plan, the game plan, executing how you’re going to attack a player, executing how you want to get home. They’ve done a nice job. Even the weeks we didn’t have sacks, we had really good pressure. Even the weeks we weren’t able to get sacks, we had really good pressure those weeks and being able to get up at the quarterback and being able to affect them. That’s been really helpful to our secondary and everything that’s happening and how we cover as well.”

You guys don’t allow a lot of explosives. How much is the communication a big part of the key to doing that?

“Usually when things go wrong, all the coaches get up here and say we’re lacking communication. That seems like a cliché thing to say, but I really think it’s about the preparation during the week and those guys being laser locked, focused and locked in, and everybody kind of knowing, right? The communication is definitely awesome. When you’ve got a bunch of people that don’t know what they’re doing and you can help those guys. We’ve got the best leader, best communicator probably in football when it comes to [LB] Fred [Warner]. But, I really believe everybody has to have an understanding of what’s happening and why it’s happening and what you’re doing those things for. And the guys across the board have done a great job of that along with the communication. I think that’s really been helpful for us to be in the right spots. You’re always going to give up explosives, they’re great players out there. They do a lot of good things out there, but the guys have done a nice job locking in.”

What impressed you about CB Renardo Green’s two interceptions?

“Again, it goes back to what we just talked about, being laser locked and focused. And he was that. He was ready for the moment on, whether it was a third-down pick or was a pick in a pass down situation or run down situation. Being able to undercut a tight end and pick it off and do some of the things that he’s capable of doing. He’s shown us really dominant corner play thus far and I expect him to continue. The way he’s locked in, the way he’s focused, the belief in himself, the confidence that he walks around with, the confidence he’s playing with right now is really at a high, elite level.”

How much has he improved since you started coaching him?

“That’s tough. We talked about this before when we were a little down on him from a community standpoint, really the media, and I just didn’t see it right from the beginning. I saw a guy that was locked in and focused when I first got here. I was really excited to meet him. I was really excited to work with him. And I’ve seen a listener, I’ve seen a studier, I’ve seen a guy that asks really articulate questions. I’ve seen a guy that can take it from the classroom to the field. He’s been exciting to work with.”

What have you seen from DL Sebastian Valdez?

“High effort, high energy, big-time run stopper. Then this week he turned it into his number one sack and got a big-time sack for us. His ability to continue to play and fight has been fun. I’m fired up about him.”

How often do you guys work on the peanut punch and when you’re looking back when did it really start to become this thing that everybody does now?

“It started a couple of years ago. I mean, we really started to focus on the ball. Got to give a lot of credit to all the coaches in the league and talking about it, but the guys that really focus, they really locked in. You see it all. You see it every single week. These guys are sacrificing their body to get in front and make those punches. You know how hard it is to still make the tackles and be elite like Fred and not miss tackles going after it. He’s done such a great job being able to do that. And a lot of the guys do it. You’ve seen it with some of the younger players. Jaden Dugger had a great opportunity at it this week and got it loose and that’s glorified in this building, so it was good.”

Is the coaching point on that, make sure that somebody else has the player wrapped up before you take a swing?

“That was when me and you were playing. That was the coaching point, right? You secure the tackle and the other guy takes the punch. It’s kind of evolved now, right? You’ve got to be willing to get run over, sacrifice your body for your teammates and punch that ball out. Fred does it all the time. If you watch him, he puts himself in some vulnerable positions at times in order to get that ball out and it is impressive.”

You just went on the road to beat the Super Bowl champions. The Commanders are not that. So it’s like, ‘Oh, were they let down?’ You obviously have been a head coach where it’s maybe more of your responsibility to make sure that the temperature of the team is right. With the leadership on this team, do you think it makes the 49ers less susceptible to letdown-type games?

“I think that’s the key, what you just said, right? The leadership on this team is different. The leaders on this team know that any given Sunday it can happen. Not to be all movie cliché, but it’s the truth, man. You’ve got to come ready to play. You’ve got to have your very best every single week or it’s going to be a long day for you. Anybody can come get you. The Commanders are a very good football team. They had some unfortunate things happen to those guys and put them in the situation that they’re in, but I know what they’re going to come like. I know what their leadership is like. I know a lot of their players and they’re going to come in ready to play.”

Yesterday I asked head coach Kyle Shanahan about giving you a contract extension based on the success you’ve had here and he said, ‘Hey, you could be here as long as he’s here if it was up to him.’ Could you be satisfied being a defensive coordinator or do you need to be a head coach? Would you be happy winning rings here?

“We have somewhere in society been screwed up, right? We have got this illusion in our head that everybody’s a head coach. Guys, there are 32 head coaches in the National Football League. There’s 32 defensive coordinators and there are 32 offensive coordinators and there’s 32 everything we do. There’s 32 media members that do what you do. We are blessed and you couldn’t have a better job than all of us.”

Kyle’s always talked about how important it was in his early years learning defense to help him become an offensive coach. Your time as a receivers coach, how did that make you a better defensive coach?

“It was a lot of fun. I’ll give you a quick story. I remember people asking me, ‘How was it coaching [former NFL WR] Julio Jones?’ I said, ‘It’s easy. Good catch, Julio’ (laughter). No, all joking aside, you were able to take your defensive analysis and bring it to those guys while you were learning how to be a good offensive coach and the detail and everything that’s required. That goes into scoring touchdowns and staying on the field and manufacturing first downs. Being around Kyle that first year on offense, it was really the philosophy of what we’re trying to do on football games and how we’re going to go out there and attack people. I had so much fun being able to be over there with the likes of Kyle Shanahan, [Green Bay Packers head coach] Matt LaFleur, [Arizona Cardinals head coach] Mike LaFleur was on that staff, [Los Angeles Chargers offensive coordinator] Mike McDaniel. It was a bunch of really great coaches that were teaching me the backend. And in the frontend, you had all the guys on the front end like [assistant head coach/offensive line coach] Chris Foerster and those guys just teaching you what it was like in the run game and what the rules were and everything that was required to go out there and accomplish what we wanted to get accomplished. You can’t help but bring that back to defense when you had to go back over there. So, when I was able to go back and really formulate how I see the game, how I feel the game, how you want to make your players feel the game, that philosophy really helped me a lot to grow. I think everything from the beginning was really helpful for me when it came to offensive football.”