Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh

Press Conference – December 11, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

What does LB Eric Kendricks bring to the table and how’s he doing so far in the transition?

“He’s doing a good job. Obviously, he’s a veteran leader. He has picked up the playbook pretty quick with a lot of the recall he’s had throughout his career, so we’re slowly moving him along and hopefully he gets on the field soon.”

When you spend the Bye Week self-scouting and stuff, I’d imagine the last couple games, obviously impressive, holding opponents under 10 points. So, what’s your state of the defense going into the final four here?

“Same thing. We’ve got to continue getting better. You never want to sacrifice your style of play, the effort, the violence, the technique that we preach, and I think our guys have done a really good job of that. I think the Bye Week came at a perfect time. I think our guys were getting a little tired, which probably led to the, you know we had a lot of missed tackles, for example, against Cleveland. And a lot of missed tackles towards the end of the year, there’s a direct correlation between being tired and missed tackles for football teams throughout the course of the year. So, this Bye Week came at a perfect time. But overall, I’m going long answer short, it’s been good. We’ve got to continue getting better. We’ve still got a long way to go.”

How did DL Yetur Gross-Matos look today out there in practice?

“He did good. You know, for his first time out in a few weeks, obviously we just had him go through individual and we’ll continue to build him up as we go.”

For the rookies, it was their first Bye Week and learning how to handle that. How do you think that they did handle the Bye and how have they come out of it?

“I think they did a good job. We’ll find out on Sunday overall, but I think a lot of them felt refreshed. It’s not easy for a rookie when you go 14 straight or whatever, how many weeks we went, 13. Not to speak for [DL] Alfred [Collins], he was one of the guys I had a candid conversation with, and you could tell that he just feels rejuvenated. But, hopefully the results show on Sunday.”

What have you thought about Tennessee Titans QB Cam Ward’s game and in scouting him, have you seen improvement throughout the year with what he’s been able to do?

“For sure. He’s improved significantly throughout the year. Earlier in the year, obviously his numbers weren’t great, but I think his numbers have improved week-in and week-out. Uber talented, can make every throw. They do a really nice job. They’ve been in a lot of football games and they’ve kind of let it slip away there in the fourth quarter, but overall I think offensively they’ve been moving in the right direction. They do a lot of really good things. The quarterback, just speaking of him, he’s got a lot to him.”

What did you think about Tennessee Titans RB Tony Pollard and Tennessee Titans RB Tyjae Spears and how they pair together?

“Well, both of them, 20 and 2 are two very good backs, two very different backs, both physical, elusive, they can break tackles. They’ve got great vision and body-contact balance. So, really impressed with both those backs. And they do a good job getting them the football in a variety of ways. But, definitely something that has our attention.”

DL Clelin Farrell mentioned postgame after the Browns that even as a new addition he was impressed that the team was able to block out the noise. How validating is it for you to hear that a veteran like him can kind of come in mid-to-early season and notice that?

“He’d been here before, so he kind of knows what the standard is. I think it is good, but at the end of the day, you go out there, and I think Cle broke the team down the day and he just talked about having that confidence that when you take the field, you’re one of the best in the world. You suit up, you’re an NFL player. And that’s the truth. And to ride with that confidence. I think our locker room does that. I think our locker room believes that it’s the best in the world, which I think it is, and they approach every single game that way.”

Was Clelin a late bloomer? How do you explain this run that he’s on right now?

“I don’t know (laughter). He’s doing a heck of a job, and it’s not fake either. He’s winning one-on-ones, he’s getting to the quarterback, he’s playing with great effort and violence. You could say that. There’s a lot of pass rushers who came on late. I don’t want to misspeak, but I think one of the best ones of all time, [former New York Giants DL] Michael Strahan came on really late, so with all these players, you just never know. You just stick to the grind with them and you keep developing them and you keep giving them opportunities. And guys like him who play relentlessly the way he does, are always going to be given opportunities just because of his play style and what you can count on. So, credit to him. What he’s been doing isn’t fake, and hopefully it continues for the last four weeks.”

The games that you guys play up front, is it more about the quarterback you’re facing or is it about the personnel that you have on your line?

“You’re game planning the offensive line at that point, more than anything. You know who you can take advantage of and who you think you can crease. You’re trying to find space in the protection. So, we do a variety of different looks, whether it’s an eight-up pressure look or different types of show looks, just to get the O-Line to see where we can create space in there. And that’s where the games come from. So, it’s more of game planning the offensive line than it is a quarterback.”

Some people have watched Clelin and thought he looked slimmer this year than he did two years ago. That may be due to the different jersey number he was wearing. What do you see as far as quickness and could it be related to fresh legs, just him coming in when he did?

“It could be fresh. I don’t have any recall or any personal interaction with Cle. What I do know is that the guy plays like it’s the last play of his life, which is what you want everyone to play with. I think when guys have the mentality that he has with regard to effort and play style, you’re always going to give yourself a chance to succeed. Like I said, whether he lost weight and that’s kind of been the edge to give him that extra step, that’d probably be more of a question for [defensive line coach Kris] Kocurek, but what he’s been doing is not fake. Hopefully it continues for the last four weeks.”

How has Yetur handled this year? He hasn’t been fully healthy.

“Yeah, he’s been in good spirits. It could get frustrating. He missed OTAs and training camp trying to rehab and he came back, and I thought he was progressing well. Again, it’d be a good question for him. But, as far as I can tell, he’s been in good spirits, he’s been positive, he’s working his tail off, he’s trying to get back to the team.”

When you do the self-scout, is there an area that kind of stands out where you want to improve on, one you really circle, like, this is what I really want to hit on last four games?

“From a self-scout standpoint, you’re really just trying to find the things that you do really, really well and you’re trying to eliminate some of the things you don’t. That’s from a coaching standpoint. Let’s continue putting players in positions that we’re excelling at versus stop doing the things or asking them to do things that we clearly just can’t get done. And not to get into those details, but that’s really what you’re looking for is more, you’re not changing your scheme, nothing dramatic is happening, you’re just trying to emphasize the things that you do well, especially in this last stretch.”

Sometimes head coach Kyle Shanahan has talked about, not necessarily the defensive line going for the kill, but maybe just kind of containing the quarterback in the pocket. How unique is it to have a defensive line group that wants to play selflessly like that as opposed to just going forward the stats and the numbers?

“That’s a good question. I think that’s a credit to Kris and the way he coaches those guys. I always talk about our D-Line. It’s relentless chaos, but it’s organized in a way. He’s got those guys tied together. They understand what they can and can’t do. I always say in coaching, you always get what you emphasize, and Kris does a really good job of emphasizing the things that they need to get done where you can still rush the quarterback relentlessly in the way you need to, to win a one-on-one, but also within the within the confines of the scheme and keeping the quarterback in the pocket.”

LB Curtis Robinson’s got a couple starts now. What’s his style as opposed to what you’ve seen out of, LB Fred Warner is different, but him and LB Tatum Bethune to Curtis, how has that transpired?

“I don’t know if there’s a different style. There is, but I think all of our linebackers have the same mentality. Curtis is really smart. He is sidelined-to-sideline, he’s relentless in that regard. They play with great effort. A while ago, when I first got here in 2017, we were still kind of, a SAM linebacker needs to be 240 and a MIKE linebacker needs to be this, and the WILL linebacker needs to be athletic. I find it hard to imagine that anyone else is doing that anymore in the League. And we kind of shifted really in 2018 where it was just, give us three linebackers. All of them are the same and whoever can communicate the best would be the MIKE linebacker. And Curtis is no different than all of them in terms of size, length, foot speed, all that stuff. He just happens to be really good at calling the defense and he creates a calm in there.”