Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh Press Conference

Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh

Press Conference – August 1, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

With your top two corners being banged up right now, you’re going to look at some of those other guys. What have been your early impressions of your depth at cornerback?

“It’s been good, competitive. It opened up a pretty cool competition I guess you could say. We’ve got that third corner spot’s wide open, and I’m not talking nickel or anything, there’s a different battle for that. Just the third in the event one of them gets hurt, who’s first up? So, if you’ve noticed, we’ve been rotating a bunch of guys, giving different guys opportunities to go in with the ones, and we’ll continue that all the way throughout training camp.”

I apologize if you’ve already answered this when you first came back, but now that the players have put the pads on and they’re able to hit each other, how good does it feel to be the captain of the defensive ship again?

“It’s always great to be here. You know [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan], [president of football operations/general manager] John [Lynch], [chief executive officer] Jed [York], [president of 49ers enterprises and executive vice president of football operations] Paraag [Marathe], you know the leadership group here is as good as anybody in football. Being back in this organization with those people has been awesome.”

Does it feel like you have left?

“Oh, a lot of new faces, but a lot of the same stuff. But, no, time happens fast.”

Do you find yourself watching how DL Nick Bosa and T Trent Williams do when they go one-on-one and in the 11 on 11 drills? Or are you too big picture?

“Yeah. To be honest with you, I don’t want to say I’m not paying attention to them because I am, but there’s so many different and new pieces. We’re just trying to make sure that we’re clean in the areas that we need to be clean. Like Bosa is going to be Bosa. He’s going to take care of his job and, and knock on wood, he’s going to be just fine.”

Robert, you said that for that first day in pads, you were going to watch DL C.J. West on video to see what the fuss was all about. What were your impressions?

“No, he’s <laugh> done a really nice job. He’s getting better every day. A lot of things he still has to clean up with footwork, hand placement and all that. But he’s one that we’re excited about. He’s going to continue to get better every single day. He’ll be part of the NFL for a while.”

Going back to Bosa, being away from him for a few years and, and seeing him again first week in pads, what pops out to you as far as where he’s taken his game from the time you last saw him?

“I’m going to be honest, Bosa was such a rare rookie. He was already way ahead of it, just the pedigree he’s come from. He’s come from a whole family line of how to prepare, eat, and how to take care of your body. Now, from a repertoire standpoint, just understanding football, his past rush moves and all that, and his awareness of things around him, it’s obviously a lot further along. In terms of just his demeanor and his preparation, all of it’s been spot on.”

Robert, I know a lot of things that surprise us, don’t surprise you guys. But what do you think of 55 [Sebastian Valdez]? It seems like when he’s on defense, he’s winning a lot of these one-on-one reps and in doing it in an impressive fashion.

“Yeah, he’s getting an opportunity, and I think we’re all kind of excited for Denver to get in here so we can just see our guys lean on different people, different schemes, blocking combinations and all that. But you know, he’s done a good job to point and with these three preseason games coming up, he’s going to have more opportunities to show what’s real and what isn’t.”

Another rookie question. Your two third rounders CB Upton Stout and LB Nick Martin are not the biggest guys in the world. How have they done since pads have gone on and is that something that you are looking forward to seeing them?

“Yeah, I’ll start with Nick. One thing we’re not worried about with him is his violence, getting off a block, and understanding how to get to the football. He just has to continue mastering the scheme to give himself the opportunity to play fast. That part, from a rookie standpoint, he’s got to catch up. But at the same time when he’s in a position where he’s comfortable to play call, he’s comfortable with what he sees pre-snap, you see everything that we drafted and that stuff is pretty good. Upton, he is a straining, scrappy young man, don’t fall asleep on his size. I mean, the guy plays way bigger than he is and way bigger than he looks. He’s got a violence to him; he’s got a violence to his demeanor. So, he’s coming along really well too in that regard.”

Just as far as that weakside spot, if you’re Nick Martin and you’re playing weakside in the summer, would that be an easier transition to strong side if you guys decided to go that way for the regular season?

“No, it’s a very good question. There’s going to be a transition, right? The techniques are the same, but everything gets flipped. But at the same time, you trust that with a week’s worth of preparation, they’ll be able to figure it out. That’s what you’re banking on. You want to put these young men in position to show themselves the best they can throughout training camp. You want to avoid having them bounce around too much because there is too much thinking involved. Sometimes as a coach, you want guys who have flexibility, but at the same time, we’ve got to set aside what we want to prepare these guys to make this football team. From there, you trust through just the diminishing of the roster and the amount of reps people get. You trust that, like I said, with preparation, they’ll figure it out.”

S Ji’Ayir Brown spoke yesterday about going into offensive meetings, sitting there absorbing information so he can be better. How common is that for safeties where you’ve been in the past, and how do you see that reflecting on his game so far?

“I think the great teams always share information with one another. Whether it’s player to player, coach to coach, player to coach, or coach to player. I talked about it today; Kyle does as good a job as anybody in front of the team in terms of the information he shares both offensively and defensively. Thirdly, special teams and what coaches are trying to scheme, what coaches like and what players are trying to accomplish on all three phases, and really helping these guys with the big picture of football. So, they’re just not stuck in football one-on-one where their scheme is all they’re thinking about. There’s so much more to scheme. It’s understanding what you’re being asked to do and the wise of every technique. I think when you are a player, if you can always strive to get that information, that 501 level of football where you’re thinking beyond your technique, you’re thinking beyond your fundamentals, and you’re thinking beyond just what you’re being told to do. You always give yourself a chance to expand the field so you can make more plays.”

What’s your perspective on the QB Brock Purdy to TE George Kittle combination? You’ve seen George with a lot of different quarterbacks the first go round, so what makes this special and unique?

“Purdy is a damn good quarterback. I’ve said it before. The young man layers the ball as good as anybody in football. He’s very good with processing, gets the ball in and out of his hands, and Kittle makes it easy because he’s got unbelievable route running abilities to create separation. He’s a big body that still has all the speed he had when he was a younger man. He’s still young, but it’s a testament to Kittle. It doesn’t matter who the quarterback is, he’s going to work relentlessly with that quarterback and with himself to put himself in position to be a playmaker and credit to Purdy. He gets him the ball when he needs to get it to him.”

DL Alfred Collins was asked to play a little bit differently in college than what you guys are going to ask. How’s his transition to your scheme going?

“He’s coming along. He missed all of OTAs, not to make excuses for the young man, but he did. It was with an injury, so it wasn’t like he was camping out, doing D-line drills. He was just trying to get up to speed. So, he’s behind the eight ball, but he’s working hard. Love the way he’s approaching every day, and he’ll catch up. He’s a big body with good feet. Those are things you can’t teach. It’s just a matter of time before he gets his legs underneath him and he starts to make more of an impact. That’s visible.”