Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh

Press Conference – November 26, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

What are your thoughts on Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders and what you saw on film on Sunday?
“He’s a good, young quarterback. He’s mobile, he’s got a big arm, tremendous confidence. He made a couple of really, really good throws in the game against Vegas, extending plays, getting out of the pocket, delivering the ball where it needed to be delivered. Obviously, he showed good command of the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. You anticipate someone like him who’s got that confidence, who has that skill set, he’s just going to get better and better every week.”

You’ve talked a lot about S Ji’Ayir Brown and kind of getting him back in. Did you expect him to kind of have a breakthrough game at some point and how satisfying was it to see it kind of happen?

“I don’t know about breakthrough or anything like that. I do know, what’s been great is he does get better every week. And this goes back to training camp. He missed some time during OTAs with the injury, comes in training camp, kind of gets bad news that he was going to be, that he wasn’t going to start. But, we carved out a role for him so he could stay involved. Whether he liked it or not, you couldn’t tell. He attacked the heck out of it, did everything that we asked and really helped everybody around him. He was even helping the young kid at safety, [S Marquis] Sigle, trying to get him squared away and when he was given another opportunity to go back at safety he’s improved every single week. Definitely wanting to make sure that he can slam the door and make sure that he leaves no doubt that he’s the safety. So, long story short, I still think he’s going to continue improving. The biggest thing I would take away from the game for him last week is I felt like he was playing football, not fit-ball. I always tell players, you can be a fit-ball player and do exactly what the book tells you to do, but you’re the one out there shooting bullets, you’re the one that’s playing football. And like the second interception was just him playing football. If he did it by the book, he wouldn’t have made that play. And so, he’s improving big time with regard to understanding the game and being more of a football player.”

By the book, what was he supposed to be doing?

“He’s supposed to be in the deep middle [laughter].”

As a coach, if he is out of position trying to anticipate something, are you having to talk with him?

“There’s balance. To whom much is given, much is required, right? If you study enough tape, we talk about in a game, if you say there’s 60 plays, there might be three or four times in a game where you just know what that play’s going to be. You know it. And you’ve got to have the confidence through film study and the confidence in one another, confidence in your teammates and coaches and we’ve got to have confidence in our players that when they know, they know, they know, they go take that shot. Because those are the plays when you look at a game, it’s like, ‘oh man, he had two interceptions, he had a TFL.’ Well, those were the ‘I knew’ plays. And I think that’s what he did a great job of on Monday night, taking advantage of those opportunities.”

How has DB Upton Stout developed maybe a greater feel in pass coverage?

“Yeah, same thing. It’s reps. He’s one of the more deliberate guys on this team. It’s super important to him. He puts in a lot of work in film study and he’s always asking questions. Shoot, on Friday night, he sent me over a text of a still shot of a video from Friday’s practice. ‘Hey, if I was in a,’ and he talked about a completely different coverage and a completely different concept than the one we gave him and was asking if they did this out of that look, what would it be? Which is a different level of thinking for a rookie. And so, he’s watching things the right way and he’s growing. Like I said, he’s deliberate. So, he’s been getting better every week. And again, he’s another young man that fully expect him to get better and better and continue getting better and hopefully he’s hitting us stride when we really need him to.”

When a guy like LB Curtis Robinson worked to get into the spot that he’s in and then to come in and have two pretty strong performances, having to go now against the Cleveland Browns, against a young quarterback, but being able to kind of keep the defense in it. What’d you think of his performance in his last game? What do you expect out of him against the Cleveland Browns?

“I thought he did a really nice job. I know that he didn’t fill the stat sheet up, and I’m sure from his perspective he would love to have had that happen. But, you just try to put yourself in his shoes. He’s battled, he’s had a lot of battles trying to find his way back into this, to get this opportunity on that stage with the type of game it was, playoff implications and all that on Monday night where the entire football world’s watching. I thought he did an outstanding job keeping calm, relaying, communicating, taking care of the huddle, on the sidelines, making the adjustments that needed to be made. And he’ll close the gap to allow him to make some of the plays that I know that he wishes he had back. But, I thought he was outstanding in that regard. And again, I expect him to get a little bit better this week. And same as everybody else. It means something to him, and because of that, he will get better.”

Ji’Ayir Brown did an interview and he cited your passion as something that he really loved and that you’re here early and you’re fired up. Does coach passion equal player passion? Where did that philosophy of coaching come from and do you show that passion to the players so that you get that back from them?

“I don’t know. I think everyone’s different. I try to stay calm during the week because there’s a lot of teaching going on. I’ve tried to explain it before, like my passion on game day is because of the, like Ji’Ayir makes the play he makes on the second interception and the amount of work that you know he put in for that one moment, right? Like, people look at it as one play, but there is probably six hours dedicated to that one moment. And it happened. And so, the joy you’re seeing on the field is for him and the amount of work that you know that he went through and the amount of trial and error that he had to go through. And there was actually a couple plays in the game where he was that close and I was like, ‘ah, just keep doing what you’re doing, it’s going to happen.’ So, it’s more jubilation for him than anything else and for the player when they’re having success. So, you just can’t, for me, I just can’t help but let that out. And so, whether it affects the guys, I have no idea, because I know that for them they’re already motivated and inspired to do the best they can. And shoot, [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] always already does an unbelievable job with his messaging. So, I don’t know. I don’t think they need it from me, it’s just my personal deal.”

You guys could have weather on Sunday. As far as the pass rush, can that hinder a Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett, a DL Bryce Huff, as far as getting off the line and just getting an edge?

“It could because if the footing’s not firm and it could be a little softer, grass giving way because it might be a little bit wetter. It could affect their get off. I don’t know if anything in the world can affect Myles, maybe if he wants to take a day off [laughter].”

What kind of challenge does Shedeur Sanders present? How is the Browns offense different with him at quarterback?

“We only have a game-and-a-half to go off of, but they’re going to run the ball. No one’s really giving the young man attention and that’s the back. He’s freaking good. I don’t want to mispronounce his name, number 10 [Cleveland Browns RB Quinshon Judkins]. He’s really good. [Cleveland Browns WR] Jerry [Jeudy] is really good. They’ve gotten [Cleveland Browns WR] Malachi Corley involved. Their rookie tight end’s doing a really nice job. So, they’re a really good offense. They’ve got a style to them. Shedeur, he came in over the last week-and-a-half, like his off-schedule stuff is going to be a problem, could already tell that. As he gets comfortable and what they’re asking him to do, he’s only going to get better because you could tell how important it is to him and how much work he’s going to put into it. A guy who’s as good as gifted as he is, both physically and mentally and with the confidence he has, you just know he’s going to get better. So, they’ll evolve as an offense. I wish I could tell you exactly what it’s going to be. We have an idea of what it’s going to be on Sunday, but I’m sure they’re going to keep adding little wrinkles to help him grow as a football player and we’re just going to have to be great in those moments and play good, sound, fundamental football.”

Did you watch any of his college tape?

“No, for style of play which we’re already familiar with just going through the evaluation process, our scouts do a phenomenal job just giving us a rundown of who he was as a college player. But, usually he’s going to play within the structure. His style of play shows up, but what they’re asking him to do within the structure of the offense will be what Cleveland is.”