Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris

Press Conference – November 5, 2026

San Francisco 49ers

Las Vegas Raiders QB Kirk Cousins was kind of catching a groove against the Jets. How are guys planning to go up against him?

“Kirk’s one of the all-time progression quarterbacks that the league has seen. You go out and you get a guy like Kirk and you get a guy that can operate your offense at a very high level, control things that you want to get controlled. He’s a computer during the week. He’s taking it all in, going through the process, going through his process. Then once he gets to the game, he’s just able to allow himself to go out there and play. He can go through his process and do all the things that’s operating. He’s operating the right way, particularly at the end of the game and the Jets, big-time game last week for those guys. They started hot and for those guys to pick it up like they did, it’s no shock. He’s playing with a genuine enthusiasm that I’m used to seeing from him.”

Given that, how great of timing is it to have a guy like DL DeForest Buckner back and then to have DL Nick Bosa looking like he’s trending in the right direction as well for Sunday?

“I don’t know when it would be a bad time to get a guy like Buck. It’s been a lot of fun to meet him the last couple of days and be around him and watch him practice and put him a part of it. Really feel like I’m further away from it than he is because of how long he spent here and the time that he spent here and how much he means to this organization and the people around him. So, it’s been a lot of fun being around that guy and to have that whole unit being able to come back relatively healthy. To see these guys probably for the first time altogether, I think altogether, for the first time this year, I think it’d be a lot of fun.”

What does DeForest Buckner offer you, not just on the field, but off the field as well?

“I don’t know that yet. I’d be lying. I’d be making up something. He seems like a great human, but I do know about his past. I do know about what the people say about him. When he gets traded, the people that have been around him. When they give you those texts and they call you, what they say about him. He’s done nothing but show that and more within the last couple of days that we’ve been together. So, I’m extremely excited to be able to coach him. I’m extremely excited to be around him. He brings nothing but goodness to us. It’s great.”

What did you see from DL Mykel Williams from his first performance to his second?

“The first one he came out and we kind of put him on like a, not a pitch count, but really just making sure we’re doing things the smart way. He came out, showed up, did a nice job of performing the right way and doing a lot of really good things. Last game it wasn’t our best game as a unit, but he still went out and performed the right way and did a bunch of really good things. So, I was really fired up where he’s going and where he’s trending. To have all those guys, like we just talked about, trending in the right direction, being healthy, playing together, I’m really fired up about that.”

Schematically, how do you envision Buckner fitting next to DL Osa Odighizuwa? Buck’s traditionally been a three-tech. How do you envision those two working off of each other?

“We’ve done so many different things, moved people around. They have the ability to play three-technique. They have the ability to play nose. They have the ability to play four-eye, the ability to play on the edge. You’ve kind of seen these guys kind of move around all over the place, so I wouldn’t really put them in a bucket. You’re talking about a guy with supreme talent. Those guys kind of can do whatever you ask them to do. Traditionally he’s been a three-technique around here, playing a huge role and doing some really good things. He’ll do a lot of the same thing. I’m a big believer in doing what people do really well and we’ll try to find out what he does really well again, implement them to what the guys have been doing and put those guys together and put them out there playing fast.”

When CB Upton Stout has been off the field, there have been some issues replacing him. Obviously, CB Jack Jones got released. He was the next man up there. Where are you as far as cornerback depth and who are you looking at?

“Really excited to get Upton back. Talking about health and him being fully healthy. To see what he did the prior two weeks before the Atlanta game, to go out there with that kind of toughness and play for us, it was well documented, well commended. To be able to go out there and play through the pain that he played and to watch him come back feeling 20 times better, really excited about getting him back. Back with his buddies, [CB] Renardo [Green] and [DB] DMo [Deommodore Lenoir], that’d be a lot of fun. But, you’ve still got plenty of depth in some of the guys that we’ve been able to go. Unfortunately, Jack-Jack didn’t have his best game coming out and we obviously, you make decisions in this league, tough business. But, we’ve got a lot of promise in [CB Ephesians] Ephy [Prysock], our young corner who got a chance to go out there and play a little bit at the end of that last game, did some really cool things. He’s been doing a nice job throughout this whole process. One of those guys that you’re more than willing to see and to be able to get out there and do some things for you, so excited about that. Our versatile tool in [DB] Siran Neal does everything for us. We watched him play corner, watched him play safety, watched him play just about anything in the backend for us, so really excited about the guys behind all those guys. Obviously, we’ve got other guys in the wing, so we’ll see where it goes. Obviously, started [CB] Nate’s [Hobbs] window this week and see where that goes, who knows, and get a chance to get those guys out there practicing.”

What strikes you most about Las Vegas Raiders TE Brock Bowers as a tight end? You guys faced some good ones already.

“Nothing. I got a chance to watch him up close and personal for a long time in college. He’s a stud. He’s one of those guys, he can run through the catch, he plays fast, he can do everything. He’s one of those guys, he plays receiver position, he plays tight end position, he creates all types of versatile piece. The ultimate joker as some of the guru offensive coordinators call those guys. Can move him anywhere, be in the backfield, run routes from the backfield. He can do it all, so he presents all kinds of matchup problems. We’ve got a bunch of guys that we’ve got to be able to match up against him. You don’t hold guys like that down without having some versatile pieces, some tools for those types of people. So, look forward to going against that kind of guy.”

You see a guy like Mykel Williams working off the field with Buckner as soon as he gets here. From your perspective, when you see younger guys working with vets like that, especially when you specify Mykel with Buckner, what do you think he can pick up from him?

“Buck’s done it at a very high level for such a long time. I don’t know if there’s anybody in this building that can’t pick something up from him. I just know how much, let’s just go with the ultimate leader in [LB] Fred [Warner] and [LB Dre] Greenlaw, how much respect those guys have for him. So when you’re talking about guys that have done a lot of really cool things at different positions that can learn from him, you can only imagine what the guys up front can get from him. Just those guys being together. Having Osa being a vet and then having Buck come in with some different perspective, different realities of what he’s been through and what he’s done. To be able to come back into the fold and really pick it back up and fit right back in with the guy that’s coached him, guys that he’s familiar with, whether it be the head coach or his position coach, I think is always a really good thing.”

Going back to Hobbs, obviously just had his window open, but what do you envision his role kind of being? It seems like he has some inside-outside versatility. He’s played both spots in his career.

“He does. For what he was doing with us before he actually had the injury, he was playing a little bit inside for us, playing a little bit outside. He’s been able to do all those things. He’s definitely a special teams contributor. He’s a physical specimen that’s able to go out there and do a bunch of different things for us and we’ve got to get him in the fold, got to get him caught up. Obviously, that’s a bunch of missed time and he had been away from the group for a little bit, but he stayed at it. I know he’s going to be in the right physical mindset and the right physical shape, so I look forward to seeing what he can do throughout the course of the week and get through tomorrow’s practice and see where we’re at.”

You said about Cousins, but given his age and he’s not dealing with an all-star supporting cast, are you at all surprised the way he’s played this year?

“No. I mean, I watched him our last four games in Atlanta, went on a 4-0 winning streak and watched him go out there and operate, and we were not at full strength. Although we had [Atlanta Falcons RB] Bijan [Robinson], we had [Atlanta Falcons WR] Drake [London], we had [Atlanta Falcons TE] Kyle Pitts and some of those different guys, we were not at full strength and he went out there and operated at a very high level. Shortly after he leaves, Kyle Pitts signs a big contract, Drake London signs a big contract, Bijan signs a big contract. Those guys are great players, but you can’t do that without the help of your quarterback.”

You ever had a moment on the practice field where you catch yourself saying, “There’s 57, there’s 54, there’s 99 and there’s 97, damn?”

“Yeah, always. I think always for me is living the moment, right? And getting a chance to watch those guys go out there. Whether it’s been Fred when I first got here or being able to acquire Greenlaw in the offseason or now being able to trade for a guy like Buck or trading for Osa. That’s the thing, as you come and be a part of these guys, I think they really impress you every single day. So, you never say damn, but you always say like think tools and pieces that you can work with. I talked about that consistent energy and effort in order to get the best out of all these guys and that’s the ultimate goal, for these guys to keep playing together and playing better and improving every single week and they’ve been doing that. It’s been great.”