Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – October 31, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“Injuries for the game. [OL Jake] Brendel will be out. [DL] Yetur [Gross-Matos], out. [DL] Bryce Huff, out. [WR] Ricky Pearsall, out. [OL] Ben Bartch, questionable. [OL Spencer] Burford, questionable. [DL] Sam O [Okuayinonu], questionable. [LB] Dee Winters, questionable. [QB] Brock Purdy, questionable. [DL] Jordan Elliot, questionable.”

This is the first time that Brock has been questionable here and not out. What does that mean as far as possible availability for Sunday’s game?

“It means he’s got a chance to be available.”

Does he have a chance to start?

“No. [QB] Mac [Jones] is going to be starting.”

You’ve discussed it’s a delicate situation with the toe. You don’t want to have it aggravated again. He has a chance to play on Sunday, so how do you balance that he could play and the possibility that he could aggravate it again? Is his toe fully healthy?

“What’s the question? Is his toe fully healthy? No, it’s not fully healthy.”

So, there’s a chance he gets out to play. There’s a risk with it. I guess there’s always a risk.

“Yes. I think you just answered your own question. Obviously, there’s a risk with everything. But yes, can he hurt it again? Yes. He didn’t get all the starter reps this week. As soon as he had a chance to get through practice and stuff the first time, we let him get all those starter reps and it was great. Then there was a chance he could re-hurt it in the game, he did, and he has been out for the last month. He got more reps this week, but we weren’t going to commit to all of that like we did last time. So, I think it’s easing him back more than last time, if that helps answer your question better.”

Did he get a lot of starter reps this week?

“I wouldn’t say a lot.”

This defense is a little bit of a contradiction. It’s an incredibly talented front, but they’ve got some really ugly numbers against the run. When you watch them on film, what are you seeing? What does it look like to you?

“I’ve seen some games where they’ve been really tough versus the run, and I’ve seen some really bad games. Especially the one last week, just number-wise, they busted out a bunch of long ones, so it got away from them. I don’t remember exactly, but I think it was like 250 yards. When you give up 250 yards in a game that’s going to make your stats really bad. Three weeks before that versus the same team, I think they gave up about 75 yards. They really were stout in the run game. So, you can’t give up the long explosive ones. I mean, the run game’s always hit or miss, but when you get something like that, it’s going to be a tough day. They also got up in the fourth quarter and we’re able to stick with the run. There’s always opportunities to run the ball every week, but they do have some really good players. They have a good scheme when they’re all playing at the top of their game. I think they’re very hard to run the ball against.”

Are Bartch and Burford on the same plane in terms of being ready?

“I think Burford is ahead of Bartch in that area.”

Do you expect DL Keion White and DL Clelin Ferrell to be playing?

“Cle we’d have to activate, so we have that decision until tomorrow. But I expect Keion, yes. Chance with Cle.”

Ferrell coming in, you only had him here for a few days. Did you see enough that he could be in the mix for an elevation on Saturday?

“Yeah. We’re real low in numbers, so everyone has a chance. We have guys that are questionable, guys that have been banged up. But also just separating that, we’re real familiar with Cle. He looked really good in all three of these practices. So, if it makes sense for our 48th then no doubt about it.”

What’s your observation of Keion this week and just how he’s kind of come in and taken up the defense?

“I thought he had a good week. He got here right before practice on Wednesday. He was able to clear everything and get going so he was able to make that practice, which I think was huge. To get two full-speed practices in and the walk-through today I think was really good for him and gives him a chance to help us out Sunday.”

How would you describe Brock’s frustration level with this injury? He’s obviously wanting to have a big year for you guys and this thing just won’t go away. What’s he like behind the scenes? Is he despondent? Is he frustrated? How’s he handling it?

“Brock’s a pretty composed guy, so he is not going to get really emotional either way in either situation. He is never going to get too up or too down. But, just speaking for him, I know he is frustrated. Anytime you’ve got stuff that you haven’t had before that lingers, Brock is more frustrated than anyone that he can’t be out there. So, he has talked to a lot of people who have had this, so I think a lot of people have warned him that this is the case, so he understands it. So, it’s not just totally shocking him. But, I think anytime you have something that doesn’t go away, it’s frustrating. I remember I never sprained my ankle my whole life and I remember I got my first high-ankle sprain my fifth year of college and I thought I would practice the next day because it felt better than the 10 regular ankle sprains I’ve had in my life. I couldn’t walk for like a month and missed a whole month of football and you don’t really get it. It just lingers and it doesn’t go away. I haven’t had a toe injury, so I can’t totally relate to it in that way. But, people who have, it sounds very similar if not a lot worse when you’re dealing with turf toe compared to something like that. So, something he’s dealing with, but I know we’re getting closer.”

There are quite a few interruptions in WR Jordan Watkins and his timeline’s been just kind of disrupted by injuries. What has the process been getting him back up to speed every time?

“I think that’s the hardest thing for rookies. It happened to [DL] Mykel [Williams] in training camp. Jordan Watkins, he had a real good OTAs and he got hurt in that first preseason game, which I thought Jordan really needed the preseason to fully get ready and I think he would’ve been, but he missed all of it from there. I think he came back, I think Week 2, I can’t totally remember. Then it’s almost like he’s right back to the beginning of training camp, so you hope he can get that in a couple weeks of practice. He started to do it and then he hurt something in those two weeks. I think he pulled something, then he got another month back. So now he’s getting back into it, but it’s tough for these guys. Same thing that happened with Ricky. He missed all the training camp as a rookie and then right when he came back, he got shot, and then it’s a month off and then he is playing kind of the whole season is kind of like a rookie training camp. So, it’s real tough when those guys miss it, put some really behind the eight ball, but he’s had two good weeks and hopefully he can continue to stay healthy and if he does, he’ll get there.”