Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh

Press Conference – November 6, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

How challenging has it been this year for your D-Line room and your coaching staff with all the injuries and guys always filling in and moving around?

“No, it’s the same. The season’s exhausting whether you’re healthy or not, but a lot of guys have stepped up to the opportunity and there’s been an extreme amount of growth over the past year, especially with a lot of guys getting new opportunities or unexpected opportunities. But, we’ve got a long way to go. We’re only halfway through and it’s really just more opportunities for guys to continue to show that they belong in the League.”

How valuable is it to have DL Bryce Huff come back right before this divisional matchup?

“Always. Bryce is a closer. When you’re sitting there in the fourth quarter and you need a play and you need it now and the speed at which he can do it, having guys like that are invaluable.”

When you have guys like S Marques Sigle and DL C.J. West who are getting some reps early in the year and then injured guys come back and they’re not getting as many, what’s your kind of message to them in terms of what you want them to take away from the time that they did play and then now when they’re waiting for their next opportunity?

“They’ve got to be deliberate in everything they do. They’ve got some game time experience. Now it’s working with the show team and making sure they’re being deliberate with their techniques, their fundamentals, taking advantage of every rep and individual drills throughout practice, their one-on-ones, the reps that they do get in team, so they’re not just on the bench they’re still getting those reps. Special teams, locking in on that and making sure that they’re being deliberate in that regard. But, their job is to be a pro, regardless of whether they’re playing or not and to continuously put themselves in position to be available and effective when their time comes up again.”

Wouldn’t that be helpful for them to maybe take a little step back and review what they did actually having those reps?

“I think it’s valuable. They’ve got the experience of playing in a few games and now they can see another guy go and do it. Especially if it’s a veteran who knows how to play the game. Sometimes it’s not helpful, but in this case, I do think it is beneficial for those guys.”

What makes Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford a big challenge compared to other elite quarterbacks?

“Man, he still slings it. His arm talent is still ridiculous. He sees the game extremely well. He’s decisive. He doesn’t turn the ball over. He hardly puts it in harm’s way. He’s just a challenge. He’s a coach on the field who happens to be able to throw a football at a pretty elite clip. So, he’s a challenge. Then you mix it in with their scheme and the weapons he has from the back to his receiving corps, then [Los Angeles Rams head coach] Sean [McVay] and the way they call it, it just makes it a tremendous challenge all the way across the board.”

This defense in year’s past has obviously had a big vocal leader in LB Fred Warner. There have also been enforcers like Denver Broncos LB Dre Greenlaw. Without those guys here, who is surfacing in those roles that you’re seeing?

“That’s the exciting part. I mentioned it a couple weeks ago, when we were here in ‘17 and ‘18, I was like, ‘well, who’s going to be next?’ You saw this little skinny linebacker named Fred Warner. No one expected it to be him. And you know, [Houston Texans S] Jimmie Ward and [former 49ers S Jaquiski] Tartt and [Indianapolis Colts DL DeForest] Buckner and [Jacksonville Jaguars DL Arik] Armstead, all those guys were so young, [former CB] K’Waun Williams was young. They all rose to the occasion and made a name for themselves. So, this group being as young as it is, I wish I could tell you. I have an idea. But, I’m excited for everybody to take advantage of their opportunity and to evolve into the player that we all know they’re capable of.”

Would Fred be offended if he heard you call him skinny?

“He was tiny (laughter). Just go watch that first clip of his rookie year. He looked like a safety playing middle linebacker.”

What’s the balance you have to find between what you did in Houston with a lot of blitzes and you’ve got a young defense with what you did last week versus New York?

“Every game plan is different. We tried to be aggressive with Houston and it didn’t quite work out. We tried to do our best to make the rookie play quarterback and it worked out. Some days will be good, some days not so much. This game plan is going to be specific to the Rams and Stafford and what we’ve got to get done in that regard. They’re going to challenge you. Schematically, they’re a tremendous challenge. It’s a big-time cat and mouse game, but we’re going to do the best we can to put together the best game plan for that particular team. But, always toe the line of what our guys are capable of executing. Then we’re going to roll it out on Sunday and evaluate on Monday.”

Do they have to develop and kind of take on those roles when it’s different stuff that they have to do out there and more?

“Yeah. We’re always going to push the envelope. I wish I can get Houston back because I felt like I probably nudged it a little bit too far. Last week, I thought they did a great job of executing the defense. Up until those last two drives, I thought we played a really solid game, clean game. This week it’s no different. You’re going to try to push the envelope but always try to find balance. We as a coaching staff are learning our players. They’re learning us. I think that evolution, like we talked about today, the objective is to continually get better and to master our techniques and be deliberate in everything we do. We don’t do a lot, and because we don’t do a lot, we can focus more on our technique and fundamentals. Usually at the end of the year, that’s what takes over in the League, in my opinion, are the people who can execute the best, play fundamentally sound the best and play the fastest are usually the ones who are surging towards the end of the year. And that’s what our goal is.”

You described your familiarity with the team and this cat and mouse game. How much can you maybe over second guess what they’re doing and just have to go out and do what you do?

“Yeah, it’s like hey, they know, we know that they know (laughter). No, there’s definitely like, ‘God, we’ve done that before,’ which is why division games are so cool because you know each other. So, it comes down to technique and execution. Players know players, O-Linemen know D-Lineman and vice versa. It always comes down to execution.”

The Rams are using a lot of 13 personnel probably to try to run the ball. What does it look like? Without giving away the game plan, how do you match up with the bigger bodies?

“We feel like we match up pretty well against any personnel grouping we get. We can get big if we need to. We can get small if we need to. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw more 12 personnel with [Los Angeles Rams WR] Puka [Nacua] coming back healthy. We’ll be prepared for all of it. I know they’ve done a lot more 13 personnel, and I think it’s kind of been out of necessity because of the injuries they’ve had at receiver. But, with a couple of guys coming back, we could very well see a heavy dosage of 12. But, whatever they roll out, we were expecting 12 last week and all they did was run 11. So, you just roll with the punches that you’re getting on game day.”

How much has CB Renardo Green improved since OTAs and how well is he playing right now?

“He has had a really good last two or three weeks where he’s really taken a big step. He missed some time in training camp, so I think he kind of got off to a slow start. But, he’s been deliberate, he’s been working. I’m excited about the trajectory that Renardo is on for sure.”

Special teams has improved here this year and the last few weeks especially. Head coach Kyle Shanahan has talked about how proud he was of that. You worked with special teams coordinator Brant Boyer in New York. What is he good at? How does he mobilize the special teams unit? They’re pretty disparate little different groups that they have to have up.

“Brant has been in this League a long time. I’d be lying if I knew anything about him when I got to the Jets, but I feel like I got a million phone calls talking about how great this guy was. He’s pretty good. He’s detailed in how he approaches the game, his film study and his game plans and his schemes. He’s a guy that definitely from a special team standpoint, will push the envelope in terms of scheme and technique. Once those guys get it, I feel like we’re at a schematic advantage with him and how he does things. He’s pretty fun to watch from a meeting standpoint, funny too, but when it comes to being detailed and making sure that everybody knows exactly what’s being asked of him and how to do it, he’s as good as they get.”

How can you help along in development of a player like DL Keion White? This is his fourth coaching staff in three seasons, was a young guy with a lot of potential, he was drafted in the second round but has really not been able to have continuity. How do you help along his development?

“Everyone’s a little bit different. With Keion, it reminds me of someone like [New York Jets LB] Quincy Williams who we had at the Jets. He was drafted in the third round by the Jaguars, didn’t quite work out, cut after the second year. We get our hands on him and he’s All Pro, an All-Pro linebacker, which credit to him and the work he put in. So, sometimes it just takes being in the right situation with the right staff. It’s not one staff being better than the other, it’s just a matter of just that connection. So, with Keion being in this situation, we feel great about his skillset. We know exactly what that skill set looks like and how it fits for us and what we do. I know he’s excited about it and I think with everyone being so excited about what he’s capable of, whatever he’s capable of in the NFL I think he’s going to be able to show it here.”

Kyle Shanahan on Monday spoke about how much growth DL Mykel Williams was getting to and how sad it is that he won’t be able to see that through. Have you had conversations with Mykel about how this could impact his career and how to respond? If so, how have those conversations gone?

“Not yet. But, once he’s done with his process of getting the surgery and getting back into rehab and all that and I get a chance to sit down with him it’s definitely something that I’ll have a conversation with him on. The good news but bad news is he has also got players like [DL] Nick Bosa to lean on who are going through the same thing that he is with regards to recovery. He has [S Malik] Mustapha from last year going through that recovery. The good news for Mykel, he’s built the right way, he’s made of the right stuff. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s going to come back next year as good as he was this year and continue to improve as he develops as a player.”