Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – August 7, 2023

San Francisco 49ers

You indicated at the start of training camp that you would maybe address some of the reps issues in the preseason game. Does that mean fewer reps for QB Brock Purdy in that game so that the two other guys can get more in?

“I mean I doubt Brock plays. We haven’t fully decided it yet. Usually when we go scrimmage against guys, I rarely play our starters. That’s usually my plan going into it, because I’m a little more into the practices than the games. But I’ve changed my mind a couple times too based off how those practices go. So usually that’s our plan, but we’ll see how those practices go.”

Do you plan to have Brock play both practices against the Raiders?

“Yes.”

Will he rest tomorrow?

“I’m not sure. I don’t think so. I think he’s going tomorrow.”

You don’t have to make a decision because there is built in days off this week, but he had mentioned the other day that you had a conversation about maybe taking that day off away. Did that happen?

No, it’s coming up. I think it’s next week. It hasn’t changed since the beginning. So yeah, it’s coming up.”

What are the pros and cons of joint practices? Do you prefer them to the preseason games as an evaluation tool?

“Yeah, I definitely do because you get to make sure that guys are getting evaluated. You do normal plays, you get to put guys in situations. You never know how a game’s going to unfold, what the situations are, who’s in there. Sometimes you get in situations where you can’t do stuff based off of protections and things like that in games. So in practice you get to get everything done and you get to learn a lot more about the guys, to me, than you do in the games. Negatives are, it’s always more competitive going against another team, so you want to make sure that there’s no fights. You want to make sure both teams treat each other with respect. And I think us and the teams we’ve gone against have fairly been pretty good about that. And I expect [Las Vegas Raiders Head Coach] Josh [McDaniels] and his crew to be the same.”

Does Brock need to play at all in the preseason?

“I think it’s always good to play. I don’t think he has to, a lot of guys don’t have to, but it usually helps.”

I know he had a near interception today, but QB Sam Darnold hasn’t thrown any so far in camp. Is that something that you were curious about?

“You guys positive? You guys are pretty good at tracking these stats, but there was a tip. I’ll bet you guys. Oh, are we allowed to bet on that [laughs]? Hey, well I’ll take it. No picks. I don’t know, I thought there was a tip that a guy dove for and got. But I’ll check again.”

Is that something that you were curious about coming into the camp about what he would do with football as far as picks?

“Yeah, I am with every quarterback and he’s done a good job of that, but it’s something that we don’t really look at it that way. I would not have known that. We watch each play how it is, you see how he performs, how consistent he is, how much he can stack up with the type of throws he makes. Whether he is accurate, whether he gets to the right spot. Can he get it off with the pass rush? Half these aren’t even getting off because we’re not sacking guys out there. So you evaluate all that stuff and that’s why camp’s a long time. You get a real good feel as it goes and you don’t try to just put too much into that stuff each day.”

Brock mentioned in the spring that one of the things you guys wanted him to work on was staying in the pocket a little more. You like the off-schedule stuff, but doing it more. How is he coming along in that area and how much is just getting all of these reps in camp, unlike last year, helping him in that regard?

“I think a ton. It’s when to break and when not to. And I think Brock does as good of a job at that as anyone. But as more of the year went, a couple times later in the playoffs, just missed a couple, leaving the pocket too early that he had. Then he has to throw it away. But he also kept us on the field a ton leaving it when nothing was there. So there’s a fine line with that and stuff that you talk about all the time. But sometimes you got to take the good with the bad.”

Was it just a rest day for WR Brandon Aiyuk?

“Yes.”

Have you gone to General Manager John Lynch or President of 49ers Enterprises & Executive Vice President of Football Operations Paraag Marathe or anybody to just kind of get an idea of where things are with DL Nick Bosa?

“No, definitely not.”

How do you manage to just stay out of that?

“Easily. Just stay out of it. There’s not much to ask.”

Is it stressful at all for you?

“No, not at all. Because I don’t know if Bosa has ever done a training camp and he has done pretty good. It’s a little different when you’re a defensive lineman. Everybody wants people here and you want to do that stuff, but it doesn’t affect the team as much from a defensive end standpoint. I have as much confidence in Nick as any player I’ve ever been around in terms of how he prepares and everything. I know they’re going to get it right, both sides, and I’m excited for when I do see him.”

How much more will you be able to kind of grasp where your defensive line is when you get to these practices?

“I think a good amount. I got a pretty good idea just going against them every day. Those guys go hard, they’re a little banged up right now. We’ll see how they are when we go out there. But I know we have a good defensive line. Just hope they can stay healthy; hope they can keep working on their craft to improve while they stay healthy. And as long as they do that, things will be good for us.”

With you guys going to Vegas and with some other teams hit by gambling issues during the year, what length have you guys gone to educate the players and staff about the NFL gambling policy?

“Definitely more than we have in the past. I know we did it in OTAs, we did at the beginning of training camp and then we’re going to do it again tomorrow before we head down there.”

CB D’Shawn Jamison, the undrafted corner has gotten a lot of love. Has he opened your eyes and if so, what qualities does he possess?

“Yeah, he’s made some plays out there and I think he keeps getting better. He takes coaching very well. He’s been mixing up his techniques and really doing what [defensive coordinator] Steve [Wilks] and [defensive backs coach Daniel Bullocks] DB ask of him. And the receivers are noticing him, the offense is noticing him, so I’ve been real encouraged with him.”

DL Arik Armstead mentioned the other day that he felt like toward the end of last year he was kind of getting back to where he had been previously. Where is he now and how much of a bounce back are you kind of expecting from him this year?

“Yeah, last year was so tough on Arik because he got hurt the first day of training camp, never really got right, so he never really got that practice that he needed to get his body under him and everything ready to go. And then the whole year he was kind of just trying to get back from that and it was up and down and towards the end of the year he started to string enough healthy weeks together where he started to come and then the year was over. So, the offseason he had, how he’s been in training camp so far, he looks healthy, looks good. And he’ll be Arik as long as this keeps continuing.”