Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – October 4, 2024

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“Alright, injuries for the game: [DL] Yetur [Gross-Matos] will be out, [LB Demetrius] Flannigan-Fowles, out, [WR] Chris Conley, doubtful, [WR] Jacob Cowing, questionable, [TE George] Kittle, questionable, [LB] Fred Warner, questionable, [DL] Kalia Davis, questionable, [CB] Isaac Yiadom, questionable. Go ahead.”

Do you expect to move Kalia to the 53-man?

“Yes.”

With Flannigan-Fowles, he’s out, right? Who becomes the backup middle linebacker?

“Who does? It’s a secret.”

How about this then, how has LB Tatum Bethune been? What have you guys seen from him since training camp and these games?

“He’s been good. He did a good job at backup MIKE linebacker to the backup during preseason. Runs the huddle well, he’s mixed in there throughout the week, especially with Fred not being able to practice much. He does a good job. Where he’s needed, he’ll be ready.”

Do you expect to call up WR Trent Taylor to return punts?

“There’s a chance. Trent is an option, [FB Kyle Juszczyk] Juice is an option, Jake is an option, [WR] Ronnie Bell is an option. We still don’t know about Jake yet, but if Jake can’t go, all those other guys are choices too.”

There’s a lot of different pass plays and all these different route combinations. Who designs, do you devise them and design them and where in the process, is this offseason stuff or does it happen every week, you devise all these different route combinations?

“We have the foundation of the stuff we work on. We do all offseason, just how we distribute guys so the quarterback gets good at it, the receivers get good at it. Then we usually study the coverages on Monday and Tuesday. And we do most of that on our own, get together later on Tuesday afternoon and decide which ones we’re going to finalize, mainly based off of what our players are good at. Well, first of all, what we’re going against and then what we’re going against to see what we like with our players. And then we do the same thing the next night for third downs, then we do the next night for redzone. So it’s a little bit of everybody.”

How has the absence of RB Christian McCaffrey impacted the offense in the redzone in particular?

“Kind of the same way as the rest of the field. When Christian’s out there, it’s easier in everything you do. But he usually is pretty automatic in his one-on-ones. And that’s why you, when you have players like Christian, I think it helps you know what you’re getting a little bit more. You know that defenses understand how good he is in one-on-ones, so you know how to, you expect two people to be there, which helps you with other places and just helps you know what you’re getting a little bit better.”

With the, I think the latest forecast is 95 degrees at kickoff, what’s the story with your guys’ uniform situation, where you wanted to get to all white or something and then just how have you prepared for that?

“Yeah, when I was on the East Coast, that was such a big deal. Being in Tampa Bay and things like that, you’d always want to wear those whites early in the year. Didn’t have to worry about that much out here. But, got the memo earlier in the week that it was going to be hot like this. We asked on Monday and we weren’t allowed to do it, you had to do it before the season started. So in order for us to do it, we kind of have to make a conscious decision or a commitment before the year that we wear all whites until like the middle of October or whatever, and then they go to normal. But it’s not usually this hot. But we’ll probably do that now, just in case.”

So you guys are going to have white pants now?

“Yeah, they’ll let us do our throwbacks, just alternate it with the other ones. So we’ll get as much white on as possible. And the most we possibly can do is white pants. So hopefully it helps a little.”

Guessing hydration is what your focus is?

“Yeah, that’s everything. It’s what we keep saying.”

Will more guys get pre-game IVs? Is that a thing?

“I would assume so. Each person is different. Sometimes when you push IVs a lot, then people think they don’t have to hydrate at all and they just depend on the IV. So we’re not preaching all that yet, but that’s usually what you do in these situations. A number of guys do it, just as routine anyway, on Sundays. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot more are doing it this Sunday.”

You played in the southeast, in Texas in college. Did you ever do that before a game?

“Always. Yeah, always.”

How does it make you feel after you get it?

“Better. [Laughter] I still do it, if I had too much fun the night before.”

Had that thing with the uniforms, had it never come up before this week?

“No, we’ve never known in advance how hot it was going to be. And honestly, since I’ve been here, it never seems too hot. I feel like even on the hottest days, I still need a hoodie at some time during that day. But this week has felt different, and I truly believe Sunday is going to. So it’s the first time we’ve really looked into it and I think that’s been a rule for a little bit we just had to get reminded on it.”

The rule that you have to commit before the season?

“Before the season starts, yeah.”

You guys have two games in five or six days or whatever it is, four days. I know that you’re always gearing everything towards the next game, but in a situation like this, do you take some of your staff and say, “Hey, we want you guys to look at Seattle and get going on Seattle” so you don’t have to start from scratch?

“Yeah, there’s so much busy work that needs to be done so you can evaluate people the right way. Just how our cutups are done, all the stuff that you’ve got to input in a computer, so we know the areas to look at. Guys work on that stuff, usually all day Monday. And we get going on the rest. It’s our Monday night once we put the game to bed from the day before. And then you get all day Tuesday to really do that stuff and now you’re cramming a whole week into one day. So those guys can’t be doing any busy work. As soon as we come in early on Monday, we’re going right away. So guys have to get that stuff done in advance. But in terms of studying and getting your creativity and trying to get prepared for that, I’ve never done it, personally. I just, I don’t like to mix things together. I like to be all in on one thing and no matter how little of time you can commit, you can get all in on something else. Especially when you know you get three days off after it.”

Arizona ran for about 240 against you guys last year. You won the game. What makes their running game such a handful?

“They’ve got a good scheme. They’ve got a really good running back. And then they’ve got a really good quarterback who is a threat in every single play. Whether he runs any, you’ve always got to honor him. And when you play 11-on-11 football, in the run game, it’s something that you don’t have to do week in and week out, and that always makes it a more challenge. What they do, schematically, and [Arizona Cardinals RB] James Connor is a stud, so all of it together.”

You’ve got a lot of guys who are very into health and sleep and all those types of things. FB Kyle Juszczyk is maybe the leader to that. How does that manifest itself? What do you notice that he does just to make sure he can play at 33?

“Just him in particular, he is just extremely smart. He is very detailed on everything he does, like just the way those guys prepare all year around really. They don’t just do it in football season. I learned stuff just listening to them, just not to be an athlete, just but how to be a healthy person. What they put in their bodies, they know everything that goes in their body. And just the recovery, everything they do. Juice definitely is one of the top in it. Christian is, Fred, [DL Nick] Bosa, all these guys are. It’s become such a big deal. And when you have guys who have the success they have, it’s so cool. So cool for us as an organization because young guys come in, they see it, they ask questions and just hanging around those guys. I think collectively our team gets so much better at all that stuff.”

What have you incorporated that’s healthier? Can you share with me?

“I sleep more in the offseason. I drink more water. It doesn’t work as much for me. I put some stretch things in my office, but that’s about it. I use it once a week mainly. It just stresses me out that I don’t do it. But if you get really out of shape for a while, your body gets used to it and you don’t feel as bad. That’s kind of my secret [laughter]. Guys who are in real good shape and they miss like a week of working out, they feel miserable. But if you can tough through that for like a couple more months, then it just becomes natural.”