Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Raheem Morris

Press Conference – July 27, 2026

San Francisco 49ers

How is everything going from your perspective out there? I know some changes have been made and guys having to adjust to a new defensive scheme. How’s that going?

“It’s a lot of fun being a part of a new organization and watching how these guys practice. We watched a little bit in OTA days, but, obviously, the speed is different, the tempo is different. There’s different ways you can’t really compete in those situations, but now we’re starting to be competitive. You start to see that competitive spirit, particularly from my linebacker position with the two guys that lead there. It just kind of spreads throughout the defense, so it’s really fun to watch a player-led team do player-led things.

Executive Vice President of Communications Corry Rush just informed us that DL Romello Height had cramps. When you first saw him go down, were you concerned about him?

“No, I had [LB] Fred [Warner] over there with the helmet, and I just reached over to him and asked him, ‘What was that? Was that just cramps?’ And he gave me the thumbs up, so I knew right away. So, there was no real concern from that standpoint from those guys telling us. I knew that would be a question when he got carted off, but obviously he had some real severe cramps. He’s going in to get ready and get that taken care of.”

Can you speak to what you saw from him throughout the offseason program. Obviously, the pads haven’t come on, but what’s been your impression of him?

“A guy with a high capacity. Obviously, a guy with great energy. He brings a lot of juice to us and brings some things to us that we needed, that we went out and got in the draft. Really pleased with what he’s done so far. Obviously, there’s always kind of putting the cart before the horse when you talk about upfront people before they actually play the game, but he’s done a nice job for everything that he’s had to test for right now. According to his tests and the markers that he’s been asked to meet, he’s met those markers.”

What do LB Larry Worth III and LB Nick Martin look like to you so far?

“Larry has done a great job. Talking about a guy that gives us some length and a guy that gives us some size in that position group and gives us some really good athleticism. Then, obviously, Nick, we know what he is with the speed. We know what he is with the element of doing some things. Getting him out there, giving those guys a chance to go out there and compete, I think has really been good. I’m very pleased with everybody. I’d be hard pressed to come up here and tell you I’m disappointed in anyone in particular. I’m really excited about the group. I’m really excited about the learning curve. I’m really excited about where we’re going.”

Evaluating the whole secondary, there’s a lot of options. You have a lot of guys back, but it seems like you’re taking a look at everybody?

“It really feels like a great problem. You never have enough great secondary players. You never have enough good secondary players. You never have enough competition. I think the scouting department, [president of football operations/general manager] John Lynch and everybody involved in that whole area has really done a nice job of bringing people in to compete. They’ve done a nice job in the draft over the past couple of years in the guys that are already here. Obviously, you’ve got some vets, some pros, some highly competitive people, highly competitive men that you enjoy watching every single day.”

How did you digest the news about what happened to head coach Kyle Shanahan? And, what’s the last few days been like here just getting everything organized?

“Really, you digest it first as a friend. Then you kind of take it in and you’re really thankful. You just kind of sit back and you hope for the best and you’re thankful that it wasn’t worse. Then you watch them bounce back and be able to do things they’re able to do and you want them to ease back into it. Then you become like this caring figure of just, take your time. You’ve got great leadership amongst the coaches. You’ve got a great player-led team. You’ve got people that have been around here for the last 10 years with him that know exactly what he wants and what he demands. And all the new guys, like myself, we caught up pretty quickly. It’s nice to be around that type of a group. It’s nice to be around that type of organization just in general. Now he’s doing whatever he needs to get done to get ready, which we know he will. He’s very capable of doing that.”

You haven’t worked with LBs Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw together before, but I’m sure you’ve watched them. What have you seen from them so far being back together?

“It’s fun being on their side. Going against those guys is always something that you were concerned with. How fast they play. How violent they play. Things they’re able to do from a communication standpoint and a physical standpoint. That’s always awesome. Watching those two communicate with each other in the huddle and the energy that they bring every single day to not only just the field, but the meeting room, the building, the presence, the ideas, the thought process, it’s really fun to go into that linebacker room and be a fly on the wall. You sit in the back every once in a while, you get a question. Those two are going to give you high-level questions, not the, ‘What are we supposed to do?’ It’s more of the, ‘What is this for?’ That is really intriguing when you’re talking about a coach and being able to communicate that way with the guys.”

Are you getting intel as far as your safety battle is concerned? I know it’s early, but are you starting to get that?

“Let’s be honest, the secondary practice, they’ve all looked the part. They’ve all done some really good things. Obviously, there’s always going to be corrections. That’s what you need coaches for. That’s what we’re out there for. That’s the really good part. It is a lot of fun to watch guys compete at a very high level. You’re talking about Tig [S Ji’Ayir Brown], you’re talking about Sig [S Marques Sigle], you’re talking about [S] Malik [Mustapha], you’re talking about some of the young guys that were brought in. [S] Ashtyn [Davis] just being brought in. There’s some young guys here that have done some really good things, like moving people in the back end. You see [DB] Siran [Neal] back there a little bit. Watching guys be able to compete at a very high level is a lot of fun.”

How excited are you to unleash DL Nick Bosa this season?

“Another guy you’re happy to be on his team. Finally to watch that guy and what he’s able to do, the amount of power he plays with, the speed, the presence, he’s one of the calmest players I’ve ever been around in my life. And he brings this certain ease and a certain ability to move just effortlessly every single day. So, the excitement to be able to call him when he goes out there. And obviously, he’s just doing a couple things. He’s limited and working his way back, but he looks excellent. That’s always a good time for us.”

What’s the difference between the weak side linebacker spot and the strong side as far as traits that you want to see in your in your players?

“Obviously, a little bit different the way you speak. It’s probably the MIKE has all the same characteristics that you think about. Just think of Fred, right? Then you talk about the weak side linebacker with the ability to move and have the ability to be moving like a Greenlaw and all the traits that he possesses in coverage and some of the different things. And then you talk about that other guy that’s going to be out there that has the ability to be able to move in space, be able to play in the four-down front, be to play in the five-down front, be able to do different things. So, the versatility of those guys, it’s absolutely phenomenal. And it’s a lot of fun. So, we just asked about a couple different guys that look different than what we had with Fred. Larry and Nick, completely two different looking guys, but to be able to move those guys around, the interchangeable pieces, to go out there and be able to get those jobs done. I think that’s what’s the most fun about it all.”

Is Nick Martin’s speed the asset for him when he’s lining up at that strong side spot?

“It’s hard to say that. A lot of these guys. We got some fast guys. Fred’s pretty fast. Greenlaw’s fast. I don’t know what the actual timed speeds were, but when they play, they play fast. Nick is one of those guys that can run fast, time fast, move fast, so his speed should be an asset for him to go out there and play. [LB Jaden] Dugger ran really well. There’s a bunch of different guys out there. [LB] Tatum [Bethune]. These guys play fast, they run fast, they do really good things. [LB Garret] Wallow, I can name all those guys. They’ve all stood out in some form or fashion. Larry, all of them. I mean everybody that gets the opportunity. Everybody gets an opportunity to go out there and play. They play at a very high level and they’re communicating at a very high level. You got some real adults in that room. I was just telling John and Kyle the other day, you guys are spoiled having these type of linebackers in the room and having the ability to be able to do that with these guys and communicate at the high level.”

What does CB Jack Jones bring to your DB room?

“Play making. Jack Jones has been known as a playmaker, and he’s also been known to give up some, right? So, you have the ability to get him out there and teach him some fundamentally sound things and be able to have him take advantage of his tools and his assets to have ball skills and catch the ball and score. He certainly brings that. He’s done that throughout his career. He’s been a marvel at that and he’s done a nice job since he’s been here. So, I really look forward to watching him continue to grow.”

How much of a priority is it for your guys to figure out when to take those shots and when to take the risk?

“That’s the biggest key, right? When you play corner in this league, there’s always going to be play ops, so to speak. Then you got to learn your play ops and you got to take advantage of them. He’s one of those guys that can take advantage of them. And if you give him more coaching, you give him more because you know when it’s time not to take those ops, he won’t. But if you’re out there guessing all the time, you take some ops that aren’t necessary. When you can take the ops and you get those opportunities, that’s how you make plays. Making plays is just technique and opportunity meeting. He’s one of the better ones at it when he’s in those meeting rooms listening to it.”

You are bringing some new things to this defense. T Trent Williams is pretty candid. He’s faced a certain kind of defense all these years in camp and now it looks a little bit different. How have the returners on defense, the early impressions of how they’ve adapted and taken some of the new stuff that you’re implementing?

“Yeah, it really sounds like a question for those guys, but I really think these guys, they love football. That’s the common theme around here. The common theme with the guys that we have on our roster is just they’re obsessed. So, like they crave more information, they crave energy, they crave the ability to go out there and learn every single day. And it’s not like, this is not my defense. This is the defense we’re building that’s built for the Niners and what we’ve already had in place, what we’ve done or what they’ve done, what I want to be a part of and move forward from there.”

What do you want to see from CB Renardo Green in this camp?

“He’s showing it. He’s shown the ability to go out there and play at an elite level from off, from bump. He’s shown the ability to be able to take it from the classroom to the field. He made a big time play today. He’s showing up in a big way. He showed up at OTA days. He’s exciting. He’s got great length. He’s got great ball skills. He’s got all the ability in the world. And now as you say, time to go out there and do it. So, let him keep continuing to do and continue to grow and continue to play and I think get the best out of players.”

What are the benefits of a five-man front as opposed to the four-man front that we’ve maybe been more accustomed to?

“It’s hard to say benefits but you’re just talking about different ways to dictate what you want on offense. It’s like you get certain runs in a four-down front, that you know you’re going to get and you got to fit up. You get certain runs in the five-down front that you know you got to run, you got to fit up. You open up more things in the passing game when you go to the five-man front. You create some versatility with some different people. So, it’s just like the benefits and what are the advantages and what you want to be able to do with those things just based on who you’re playing and what you’re playing. And you give yourself some real options and some different things of that nature. So, to be able to mix those things in like most of the league’s doing right now is a lot of fun. We did it a bunch last year and [Tennessee Titans head coach] Robert Saleh did it last year, starting to mess around with it a little bit and we’ll mess around with it some and we’ll do some different things. But we got what we got and you got to take advantage of the players that you have and do those things the right way.”