Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference
Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
Press Conference – November 11, 2024
San Francisco 49ers
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Opening comments:
“Alright guys, injuries from the game: [CB] Renardo [Green], just his toe, he’ll be day-to-day here, [TE George] Kittle had some hamstring irritation today so we’ll see how the week goes with him, see how he feels on Wednesday, and same thing with [P] Mitch Wishnowsky with his, his back flared up a little so we’re going to evaluate some treatment options this week and see how he deals these next couple days. And that’s it from the game. Go ahead.”
Did you feel the need to address with the players the situation that occurred after K Jake Moody’s final missed field goal?
“I didn’t initially, after the game and stuff. I didn’t think it was too big of a deal. But after getting home and seeing it all on SportsCenter and everything and all that stuff, I wanted to make sure I did. Talked to the guys about it, talked to a number of guys on the team. We squashed it and we’re good.”
You’re satisfied with where things stand now?
“Oh yeah, totally. I think it was a little bit overreaction and I don’t think, you never want [WR] Deebo [Samuel Sr.] to throw a baby punch or anything on anybody on our own team, but Deebo also wasn’t saying anything bad to Jake, like it sounded. He was meeting him on the field telling him to lock in, the same thing I’ll tell to an offensive player who just dropped some balls or made some penalties or something. You never sit there and belittle anybody or try to embarrass anyone. You try to challenge guys that you believe in and a way of, that’s how we speak to each other and telling someone they need to focus and lock in because we know you can do this. And I like [LS Taybor Pepper] Pep’s intentions on it, he’s got his kicker’s back. But I think he kind of interpreted wrong what Deebo was doing to him and overreacted a little bit. And Deebo didn’t like that and got him out of his face, and that’s really about where it ended.”
Do you have in-house fines for that kind of thing or does this not rise to that level?
“No, I fine people for breaking rules. This is just people being football players and dealing with stuff on the sidelines and I didn’t really chalk that up to a big deal at all.”
DL Nick Bosa said afterwards he was affected by his hip issue and that it kind of affected his play. He still got a couple of late pressures and a sack. Did he come out of this game okay?
“Yeah, he came out alright. I’m sure it’s sore and stuff, but anytime you miss most of the week of practice and everything, that’s going to affect you. He battled hard throughout the game and I thought he was real impressive there on those last two drives, the one getting the sack and a couple run plays that he did there inside the 10 where I thought he did a good job too.”
What’s the coaching point for CB Darrell Luter Jr. on that play? Is it just to be aware of where the returner is at all times?
“Oh, without a doubt. It’s something you’ve got to talk about a lot, because everybody coaches gunners to push the jammers into the punt returner, especially on a high punt like that. So, it’s something that you’ve got to be aware of. You’ve got to always get out of the way at the last second or those guys will always try to drive you into the punt returner. It’s your job to get out of the way. It’s not the punt returner’s job to look at you.”
Do you anticipate opening the windows for any players this week as far as off of an injury list?
“I think we’re going to get [WR Chris] Conley back this week. We’ll see on [DL] Kevin [Givens]. I don’t expect us to do it to [LB] Dre [Greenlaw] this week. So no, no new guys.”
At the start of the season, you mentioned sort of a desire to avoid having RB Christian McCaffrey have a ton of touches like he did last year. Does him being out affect that or where do you sort of feel on that in terms of, he was rode, you rode him pretty hard in his first game back?
“I didn’t think we rode him pretty hard. But no, I think we were good with it and we’ll see how this year goes. That was our first game with him. I think he had 19 touches, which I think is a little less than he had last year. But it was our first game back with him and we didn’t want him to go too many series in a row. We started taking him out, I think we did it in between two series in the first half, and once we only had one drive in the third quarter and we got into that fourth quarter, we weren’t taking him out in the fourth. So, we’ll see how the year goes with it.”
Any update on CB Charvarius Ward and what do you expect timing-wise on his return?
“I think there’s a chance for him to come back this week just talking to him over the weekend. I haven’t got a chance to talk to him today. Probably do that sooner than later and see where he is at, but I’ve got no updates right now.”
When OL Jon Feliciano was downgraded to out, did he have a setback or is that just something you do when you’re not going to play him?
“No, that’s just something you do when you’re not going to play him.”
You guys added CB Nick McCloud, a cornerback to the practice squad today. Do you anticipate him making an immediate contribution on special teams?
“No, I don’t think it was like that. I know probably getting a vet with Gip [S Tashaun Gipson Sr.] in here and releasing [S Adrian] Amos and stuff, just how it chalks up and just getting another guy in here for depth. [CB] Chase Lucas also helps out a lot on our scout team. He’s had a calf here, so he wasn’t able to practice last week, won’t be able to this week either.”
If you remove the last names on the jerseys, the last two games, it seems like LB De’Vondre Campbell’s been one of your best defenders. Did something click? Did it take a couple months for him to get used to your style of football? How would you describe what you’ve seen from Campbell in the past couple weeks?
“Yeah, I think you’re accurate on that. I thought Dallas was his best game of the year and I thought this game was maybe even better. De’Vondre’s a very good player. He’s done it. He did it in Atlanta. He did it in Arizona. He’s done it in Green Bay. And he has done some real good things here. It’s just getting used to our scheme and he gets better and better each week. These last two games have been his best. He’s getting more confidence playing in it just our style and kind of how we do things. Everything’s a little bit different and playing next to all new guys and everything. But I couldn’t be more happy with him and his journey throughout this year.”
After a day to think about it, what did you think about Jake Moody’s performance? Any thread to his misses when you watch it? There’s been a lot of chatter, obviously, about his tough day. How do you view it 24 hours later?
“Not much different. He missed three kicks. I thought it wasn’t the easiest place to kick in. The wind was weird, especially the direction that he missed the stuff. It was different. But it was a few big kicks and came back and hit his first game winner on a walk off. So, thought he finished it well and we’ll move on to next week with it.”
How did you feel about the play of the of the backend of the secondary? The pass rush wasn’t always there, but they seemed to hold up pretty well, particularly the rookies Green and S Malik Mustapha.
“I thought they did a real good job. They eliminated some big plays. The one time they got us on a double move Renardo did a hell of a job of recovering and getting the ball out without getting the PI. Just with not having Mooney, with Renardo going out in the game, [CB] Rock [Ya-Sin] even coming in, had a penalty, but then had the huge play on the goal line that stopped him and made him settle for a field goal instead of a touchdown. And Ike [CB Isaac Yiadom] I thought had a hell of a game. I thought those guys did a real good job.”