Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh

Press Conference – December 31, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

Can you take us through the final play and rushing two? Head coach Kyle Shanahan said yesterday that the two inside linebackers, although they were bluffing the blitz, they dropped back, what were the rules there from the pass protection that maybe you told them to drop?

“Not going to get too much into it from a schematic standpoint, but it’s all based on who draws who in terms of protection. It’s as simple as that. That particular team ran a certain type of concept that we knew we’d have one free hitter based on the show. We weren’t sure which one would show up. It was all based on protection.”

Later in that play, DL Yetur Gross-Matos obviously covered a ton of ground to get to the QB. Is that a freelance decision on his part or is that his responsibility on that side of the field?

“Yeah, he’s flash and if quarterback breaks contain, he’s re-contain.”

If you look at Week 1 of this season and that defense and personnel you have and you look at where there are now, can you really fathom all the changes and the position that you’re in?

“Well, it’s a credit to the locker room. I’m not going to say it’s been, even Sunday, it hasn’t been a smooth ride if you will. There have been some ups and downs, like even in the game, it was kind of feast or famine. When we give up explosive plays, we give up touchdowns. When we don’t give up explosive plays, we them to field goals or less. And that’s kind of been our M.O. as a defense over the last few weeks. But, I am pumped for the guys. I mean, they’re confident, they’re communicating really well. We’re seeing things that we haven’t seen around here in a while from a conceptual standpoint that offenses are giving us, and I think they’re doing a great job making the adjustments they need. There are still things obviously we’ve still got to clean up, but I’m really happy with the direction the guys are going.”

After the game on Sunday, DB Deommodore Lenoir said he wanted to shadow Seattle Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba. A couple of years ago, Indianapolis Colts CB Charvarius Ward did that here. What are the strengths and weaknesses, the positives and negatives of doing something like that from a schematic standpoint?

“That’s a good question. All right. We can go long on this one, but the reality is it’s easy for the guy who travels, right? I got that guy. I’m going to travel wherever I want. But, we’re a zone-based defense, right? So, if it was man coverage, easy for him, but then it is a little bit more difficult for the other guys. Like, how does everybody else align? Do you go match where everyone just picks a number? What if that number’s not on the field? Do you pick a different number? Or is it, alright, we’re all going to align off of DMo? And what if DMo’s in the slot? Does that put the nickel out on number one where he’s not used to being? So, techniques change within your man principles because now you’re in different locations. Alright, now put yourself in zone. You’re trying to match up where he is and you’re matching up now DMo’s in the slot. Does that mean [CB] Upton’s [Stout] now playing corner third, which he hasn’t done all year? And so, there are a lot of new techniques that you’re going to ask a guy to do. It’s very expensive, not for the guy traveling, but for the guys not traveling, if that makes sense. Now, can it be done? Of course it can be done. Do we have it in our inventory? Absolutely. Can we? Maybe. So, we’ll see.”

You just said it. Conceptually, you’re seeing a lot of different things that you haven’t seen in a while. Being as specific as you can while being vague, can you explain what you mean?

“Well, obviously the deeper developing concepts that when these offensive guys get creative, it’s like you give a guy like [Chicago Bears head coach] Ben Johnson, Kyle Shanahan, [Green Bay Packers head coach] Matt LaFleur, [Los Angeles Rams head coach] Sean McVay, like all the great ones, you give them a week to think of what they can build from a conceptual standpoint and have enough time, try to find a way to protect the quarterback, they can get pretty damn creative, let’s put it that way.”

Does offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak have any idea of what Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak might be doing?

“I think they keep it close to the vest. Obviously, they love one another, but at the same time, I don’t think they talk much when it comes to football.”

When a team has two running backs like Seattle does, they’re not the only one that does this, you just saw it in Chicago too, are there tendencies to be given by the back that’s in? Will Seattle Seahawks RB Zach Charbonnet run different stuff than Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III or can you kind of key in on certain plays because a certain back is in?

“There are different play styles but two very effective backs that can execute the entire offense as they see fit. If that makes sense. They’re both very explosive. You can say Charbonnet is probably more one-cut, downhill, where Kenneth can absolutely embarrass you, run away from you, he can do whatever he wants to you. They’re both very effective in their play style. It’s no different than last week. It feels very similar to last week where [Chicago Bears RB D’Andre] Swift again, downhill, can make you miss, can run you over, can run away from you and [Chicago Bears RB Kyle Monangai] 25 would just one cut and just run you over. So, this backfill tandem, two very effective, very strong. They’ve got two really good backs.”

With the explosive plays, when you watch the tape, was there something you put your finger on that was leading to those specifically? Or was it just play based?

“Yeah, the free play, which probably should have gotten called dead, but they let it play. That’s one, it’s unfortunate that it happened the way it did. The first touchdown on the big post, I think it was number [Chicago Bears WR Luther Burden III] 10, cool concept. Again, something our guys haven’t seen. We will be ready for it next time. It’s these un-scouted looks like, it was a pretty cool concept, let’s put it that way. And then obviously the one that keeps getting us on the sideline, we’ve just got to get it. I thought we put it to bed last week against Indianapolis. I thought we did a really good job two weeks ago and then it reared its ugly head again. So, we’ve just got to keep working on it.”

You’re saying the guys are seeing things they haven’t seen. Are those leading to communication issues like coverage busts?

“No. They’re not busts because the guys ended up where they needed to be. But, when you’re seeing something for the first time, you might pause. And so you’re just a step late. So, we’ve just got to do a better job anticipating. We’ve seen it, we should anticipate it, we should be able to react a lot faster.”

The defense started young, it’s only gotten younger as the season goes on. When the game is on the line, it seems like they’re all just locked in and able to usually get those plays to go in your favor. What would you credit that to?

“That’s one thing I feel like we’ve done a really good job of this year. I’m not saying we’re a top-10 third-down defense, but we’ve been really good in third-down situations. I’m not saying we’re the best redzone defense, but we’ve been really good in redzone situations and holding people to field goals and getting critical stops when we need to. And we’ve been pretty damn good this year in two-minute situations. Chicago is the number one two-minute offense in football and we stopped them. They didn’t score at the end of the half. They didn’t score at the end of the game. And the one thing I love about our group, they will not stop fighting. As rough as the game was, we got the two, three-and-outs to start the game. We gave up those two touchdowns. We got the stop right before the half. The second half wasn’t going our way, but we held them to a field goal and the turnover on downs in the last two drives, which credit to them, just fought and fought. We trust our guys in those critical situations. They don’t panic. It’s not too big for them. We’ve been in a lot of them already this year and I like it a heck of a lot more when it’s a blowout in our favor. But, they’re battle tested and I’m sure we’re going to experience a few more of them before the season’s out.”

Can you see Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold being different from the first week of the season now that he’s been in this offense?

“Oh, yeah. For all, even Kub [Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak] that working relationship between coordinator and quarterback, there’s a comfort level within the offense. They’re finding ways to feed everybody the ball. I know Njigba is probably the star of it all, but they’re all touching it and they’re all effective. So, they’re much improved from Week 1.”

Last time you guys finished him off with DL Nick Bosa getting a strip-sack fumble. How important is it to kind of get that pass rush going that really hasn’t been there much the last month or more?

“Yeah, it’s always going to be important. You’ve got to take advantage of your one-on-ones. We’ve got to keep trying to find a way to create one-on-ones. Even in the backend, when we do have to send more than four, we’ve got to win. It’s one-on-ones all over the football field. We always talk about somebody winning now and if you can’t win now we need the backend to make sure he hitches. That’s kind of always been our philosophy. But again, our guys are going to battle and we trust that by the time the clock strikes zero we’re going to make a play to win it.”

When you’re seeing more of these longer developing concepts, are they trying that just because the pass rush isn’t the same as it’s been?

“It could be. There’s stuff. That’s the challenge. It could be. It could be on my end just trying to find ways to create more pass rush where they can’t bank on the concepts that they’re trying, can’t bank on the coverages. So, it’s not just the pass rush, it’s all of it. And we’ve just got, like I said, to find a way to put our guys in position to be able to defend all that stuff.”

You have spoken to the broader assignment challenges of that shadow man-coverage, but what about the specific challenge of manning up Jaxon Smith-Njigba?

“It is a challenge. What does he have about 120 catches, 1,700 yards, something like that? He’s had success against every team that he’s played against this year. So, he is elite in that regard. Coming out of the Draft, I’ll put my hand up, I didn’t think he’d be as good as he is. He’s freaking unbelievable. Just a super talented kid, great body control, great strength at the catch point, he can go up and get it. So, he’s a challenge for anybody in man coverage. And at the end of the day when your number’s called to go win, we have to go win and that’s really the gist of it.”

A lot of people say if you can’t get pressure with four, you bring five. If you can’t get pressure with five, you bring six. Is it fair to say that you’ve been more concerned with limiting explosive plays than bringing extra pressure?

“Yeah, one thing I feel like we’ve done a really nice job of, with the exception of last week, I felt like the explosive plays we’ve allowed had been to a minimum. I’m not sure where we are. I would like to think, I don’t know if we’re top-10, but I’m pretty sure we’ve been pretty good in terms of limiting explosive runs, explosive passes. And when we do that, I feel like we can play pretty good defense. But, like any defense in football, if you’re giving up explosive plays, the offense can light up the scoreboard. So, there is. The more aggressive you get, the more aggressive they can get with regards to creating those explosive plays. And so again, it’s a cat and mouse game, just how aggressive do we want to be. We’ve got to pick and choose our battles and hopefully we choose right when the time is right.”