Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – October 22, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“Injuries for practice today. [DB Deommodore Lenoir] Dmo has a quad, will not practice. [DL] Bryce Huff, hamstring, no practice. [OL Jake] Brendel, hamstring, no practice. [DL] Yetur [Gross-Matos], hamstring, no practice. [WR] Ricky [Pearsall], knee, no practice. [T] Trent [Williams] and [RB] Christian [McCaffrey] both vet days. [QB Brock] Purdy, toe, limited. [OL Spencer] Burford, knee, limited. [CB] Renardo Green, toe, limited. [CB Upton] Stout, ankle, limited. Go ahead.”

When did Lenoir get hurt? Was that during the game?

“Yeah, during the game.”

I asked you this last week, but with Ricky not practicing at all, is that a setback for him?

“I don’t think it’s a setback, just not going as fast as we wanted. But, nothing new has happened.”

Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was saying today that there was a conversation he had with you where you told him he could become a head coach, and he never envisioned himself doing that. What did you see in him? Do you remember that conversation?

“I don’t remember the exact specific one, but I always knew DeMeco was like that. I mean, just even as a player. My first year as a position coach in 2006, he was our first pick in the second round. Ended up being our captain and rookie of the year, I believe. But, just the way he has carried himself his whole career, he’s smart, knows football, works so hard and how consistent he is as a human. Always knew how good of a coach he’d be if he wanted to do it. I probably was saying that strong to him because I didn’t want him to leave right away and tell him like, ‘dude, don’t just go jump at a job. Like, you’re going to be a head coach. Make sure you get the right one and stuff because you don’t have to just take one and take one.’ That was probably my biggest advice to him.”

When you watched the film last game and looked at the offensive line, what did you see from Trent Williams and what kind of challenges will he have this week with Houston Texans DE Will Anderson Jr. and Houston Texans DE Danielle Hunter?

“I thought Trent had a great game. He’s been playing really well. I think he’s got just as big if not a bigger challenge this week. Whether it’s Hunter, I know the other guy’s not over there all the time, but he does go. Just whoever it is, even their backups, they rotate them, they all go hard, they play with a certain style and one of the best, if not tied for the best, D-Lines we’ve seen.”

The GPS devices that track the distances that players run, and you use that for wide receivers and things like that. For Christian McCaffrey and the running backs, what do you use to gauge fatigue or workload?

“All the same stuff. I mean, it’s just about being able to hit your speeds and things. For wide outs, you don’t shut guys down after they hit a certain amount. You’re just aware of it and everything so you know how to rep guys in practice and things like that. I think the biggest thing is when you know guy’s hitting fatigue and stuff is what is their baseline? And we’ve got an idea of everyone’s baseline. When a guy can’t get to his baseline, why is that? Is it because he has an injury? Is it because he is sore or is it because he just has dead legs and fatigue. Those are the things that help you look into it.”

Is it speed for the baseline?

“It’s speed, it’s output and it’s talking to the player. But, I’d say overall it’s speed.”

What is the biggest challenge for your offense going up against a DeMeco Ryans’ defense this weekend?

“There isn’t one in particular. You’re going against a very sound defense schematically, a defense that plays the right way with their intent and just how physical they play, and a very talented group of 11 guys too with good backups. So, everything’s a challenge about it, but it starts with their physicality and soundness.”

From what you’ve been told, is Brock making progress that your medical staff has predicted he would make through this point?

“Yes. Yeah, it is different dealing with a toe, but I’d say it’s steadily getting better each week.”

How serious is Dmo’s quad?

“Dmo? Serious enough for him not to go today.”

Is he expected to miss multiple practices this week?

“I’m not sure about tomorrow, but I hope he can go. I guess he’s going to go, but I won’t know until we see how it reacts tomorrow.”

I asked you about CB Chase Lucas before. Why do you think he is able to come in and make plays? What stands out about his preparation and his ability to do that?

“I mean, Chase works his butt off. You guys see his energy with how much he talks. But, that’s how he is all the time. I mean, he’s so involved with everything. He just, he can’t stay still in a good way. He’s always talking about each play. He is so attentive, he’s running around and he’s always banking reps even when he is not in. I think when Chase gets out there, it’s just his awareness, how fast he can recognize things. The motions and stuff. He doesn’t hesitate on what he does. There’s zero hesitation. He shoots his guns, plays fast and I think that’s what gives him an advantage.”

Does he have the ability to play outside if you need him to?

“Yeah, he has to. There are only so many guys up. We like him inside. We also like him at safety. But, that’s why we played him outside for a game in the preseason to make sure he could do that. Chase can do it all.”

What can you say about the type of guys you have on the defensive side of the ball, they’re pretty young compared to other teams?

“We’ve got cool dudes. I don’t like to overdo that narrative, but we’ve got guys who are close, guys who enjoy football and guys who got a lot of love for [LB] Fred [Warner]. But when you talk about guys like [S] Malik [Mustapha] and you talk about [LB] Tatum [Bethune], those are dudes who eat up football. They’ll talk to anybody about it at any time. They’re in this building all the time. They don’t leave in the offseason. But, they’re just dudes who love football.”

You got the run game going this past week and it was probably the best it has been all year. We always ask you about what it looks like and why you fall short of it. When it was successful, what was the key this week?

“A lot of things. It’s not just one thing. I thought we blocked a little bit better, I thought we ran a little bit better, I thought we called some better looks. I thought we were really good on third down, which kept us out on the field. I thought our defense really slowed them down even in the second half when they went down and scored seven and I could feel them getting some momentum and the offense needed to answer and they went three-and-out, which really worried me because I could feel their momentum. But, then they ended up going three-and-out right away which allowed us kind of to still control the game and keep it the same way. So, a lot of factors went into that. To me how the lack of them threatening to score in the second half that much and our consistency in running it and our consistency in passing it. I thought we threw the ball well especially on third down which kept us out on the field and allowed us to keep getting those runs.”

As far as the run game, obviously Christian, his mindset and intensity and everything is always great. Did you have any sense of if he was upset with the talk about his yards per carry and the run game? Did that motivate him at all?

“Yeah, I think we all were. I don’t know if it’s all the talk. I don’t know what he listens to or not. I know Christian has a high standard, what he expects to do running the ball. I do personally, I know our whole team does. So, not getting the production that we would like these first five weeks I think had us all pissed off. I’m not saying we were pissed off, that’s why we did it well in Week 6. We try our hardest every week. But yeah, when we’re not running the ball well, no one’s happy around here, especially Christian.”

Was the first time you ever called plays when you were on the Texans 2008 as a coordinator?

“Yeah.”

Do you remember your first play call in Pittsburgh?

“I don’t remember it because I didn’t do the openers. So, I had to call someone else’s for those first 15 plays, then I got away from it. But no, I don’t remember my first one. I remember all the bad ones in that game. We got our ass whooped. I was scared of [former Pittsburgh Steelers LB] James Harrison and [former Pittsburgh Steelers S] Troy Polamalu. They went on to win the Super Bowl that year. James Harrison was MVP. It was a very tough first game.”

When did you start calling the openers?

“Washington.”

What kind of challenge does Houston Texans QB C.J. Stroud present and what is the key to defending him?

“Just not letting him get comfortable. I mean, the guy is as good of a thrower as there is. You can see why he got rookie of the year. You can see why he was a high draft pick. He throws it as good as anyone on this planet with arm strength, with touch. He doesn’t need a lot of room to do it. So, if you let that guy get comfortable and get going, he can throw as good as anyone.”

Every team is different year to year, but did you feel like you regained some of your personality against Atlanta? Were you able to run the way you were able to play?

“I don’t know. It depends on what our personality is this year. I mean, that’s how it was in the past a lot. That’s how we felt our team was built and the way we needed to win games, and we did that a lot. So, I think a lot of people on our team have gotten used to that. A lot of you guys, our fans and myself included. That really hasn’t been the way that we needed to win games this year. We’d still like to, that’s always the best way to do it to me, just running it down someone’s throat and controlling it on the other side. But, you definitely to win consistently, you have to be able to beat people that way. That was the first time we did it this year, which I think was a good feeling for us because if you can’t win that way, it’s a matter of time before it catches up with you.”

Do you think this team has established an identity yet?

“Yeah, I think we establish an identity every week. There are lots of different ways to win, but just the way that this team, I didn’t totally know this team when we first started. Like a lot of times I remember the Week 1 Saturday night meeting, I usually show some stuff from the year before and things like that and trying to establish how I want it to look. It was the first time I didn’t show anything from year’s past. I don’t want to show things from year’s past. I don’t want to base this off anything. I want you guys to show me who we are and our identity is what we put on tape. I show that a lot on Mondays. I show that a lot on Wednesdays and Fridays, and I remind them on Saturdays. I’ve been very happy with the tape I’ve been able to show these guys on Saturdays to remind them who they are and to show them what it looks like and I expect it to look better each week.”

How are you going to create more pressure off the edge now without Bryce?

“You’ve got to get creative at times and you need other guys to go. It has to do with a lot of stuff. Bryce is definitely our guy who can win the fastest right now. I do think other guys can do it and it doesn’t just go to rush and blitzes. It also goes to coverage. It goes to how we do on offense, but it definitely hurts losing Bryce for this time with his hamstring being out. But, opportunity for other guys to step up. We’ve had that every week at a number of positions and those guys have continued to do it.”

K Eddy Piñeiro set a franchise record for consecutive kicks. How much confidence do you have in setting him out there and did you think it would go this well?

“Probably not. He hasn’t missed one yet except for his first extra point. So, I wouldn’t count that. He said he hit every field goal except for one extra point. That definitely gives me a lot of confidence. My confidence is always based off my life experiences with someone and my life experience has been pretty damn good with him so far. So, he’s doing a hell of a job.”

TE George Kittle has said repeatedly that defensive coordinator Robert Saleh was the best offseason signing and his players have said that he’s patient and that’s one of the ways he’s been helpful for them. With everything that’s gone on, how has that patience helped him with some of the younger and newer guys and still having the defense perform at a high level?

“Just Saleh’s style. He’s going to think through everything. Sometimes he takes some time to really decide exactly which way he wants to go because he’s going to try to think of just the best way to do something not just the quickest way to be decisive. Eventually we’ve got to make a decision, but Saleh works through everything. He thinks a lot and that’s why I feel fortunate to have him. You need someone in that situation, especially with a lot of turnover and to overcome a lot of injuries. Everybody knows what they want to do, but it’s what’s the best thing to do. That answer changes week-in and week-out and sometimes every quarter based off what you’re going against and based off who’s available. Saleh’s done a hell of a job with that so far.”

Do you consider him one of the top defensive minds in football?

“Yeah. Have for a while.”