Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – November 26, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“All right. For practice today: [LB] Tatum Bethune will not practice, ankle. [DL Sam Okuayinonu] Sam O, ankle won’t practice. [K] Eddy Piñeiro, hamstring, won’t practice. [LB] Luke Gifford will be limited. [RB] Christian McCaffrey, Vet Day. Go ahead.”

DL Robert Beal Jr.’s back to normal.

“Yes.”

Is Sam O’s injury concerning? Could it be long term?

“Yeah, it’s going to be at least a couple weeks. High ankle sprain, so it’s going to be some time.”

What’d you think of LB Curtis Robinson this past weekend?

“I thought he had a really good game. It was really clean. I thought he ran the defense really well. Got us in and out of a lot of things. Made all the right calls and it was a really good first game for him.”

What were your draft thoughts on Cleveland Browns QB Shedeur Sanders and were you surprised he went in the fifth round? What do you recall about that whole thing?

“I didn’t put a lot of time into him personally. I knew our coaching staff thought he was a good player. The tapes that they showed me, I thought he was a good player also. Yeah, it did surprise me just going a little bit later when he did just hear what everyone was estimated and stuff, but I’ve been in enough drafts to know that not much should surprise you.”

S Ji’Ayir Brown had the interception in the end zone. You guys have had a few plays down at the goal line this year, getting takeaways. Why are you able to pull that off successfully?

“I mean, when they give you the opportunity, you have to catch it. And he was given the opportunity. You saw what the quarterback was trying to think, going back to that tight end and Ji’Ayir just being free on that play, playing with vision, going and making that play and other places on the field. We’ve had a few opportunities and dropped them a few tips and things like that, and down there it stuck to us a little bit more.”

Can you talk about his progress this year? It seems like he’s playing at a really high level. It’s been a little up and down previously for him.

“Tig’s been awesome. When he first started over starting here, he replaced [Denver Broncos S Talanoa Hufanga] Huf. When Huf got injured, I believe it was Huf’s ACL injury. And then Tig played at a really high level all the way to the Super Bowl and into the next year. He was in and out a little bit when Huf came back. But this offseason, went through a lot of rehab stuff, missed some time with camp, missed some time in the offseason, gave guys other opportunities, which had him start off not in a safety role, which I can’t tell you guys about how well he handled that. He really became a very good player on special teams, which is how he started out. He was unbelievable in our big nickel role and really just with how he was handled both of those roles. We wanted to make sure we gave him an opportunity back at safety before [S] Malik [Mustapha] came back. And when we did, he did well in that role and has kept the job and is getting better and better each week.”

What is it about his play in particular that’s really improved?

“I mean he has played like this before, so I don’t want to say like he’s just overall improving. I thought he played at a high level when he came in as a rookie and played for us. But I think just stringing together these weeks, you know when you’re in and out throughout the offseason with the surgery he had and the injuries in training camp, it’s hard to just get better each week. I think stringing together, whatever these weeks are, six weeks, maybe more, he’s been starting, you can just see him getting more consistent, getting more confident doing his job great, knowing when to cheat his job and take some of the tips and knowing when to make some educated guesses and stuff. That’s the way you make plays out there by doing that stuff. Can’t get carried away with it though, because that’s the way you give plays to other team, and I think he’s found a really good balance at that each week.”

What do you remember about watching University of Colorado head coach Deion Sanders as a kid and now how full circle is that you’re facing his son?

“It is weird just because he was my hero growing up. He was probably my number one player just in terms of being a true fan. I always talk about how I got his jersey in ‘94 and wore it for about six months straight until someone jacked it from me. I’m still looking for that guy. But no, he was such a unique player. He was just different than everyone, his talent and everything. Now to watch him be a coach and to watch him raise, I think he’s got three boys, but to watch the two boys in sports have been really cool to watch. I know my wife and my daughter, they’re huge Colorado fans too. So, I get hear about Buffaloes all the time.”

What challenges do you see from Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett? How are you preparing for that?

“Just preparing to go against one of the best pass rushers ever. So, it’s a huge challenge.”

What will be your process to prepare for the potential inclement weather?

“We won’t go in the bubble this week. Hope that rains for us a little bit. Get our mind right for it. I showed them a bunch of videos this morning of what it looked like a year ago I think this day there versus Pittsburgh, just a blizzard and stuff and told them to expect it. I’d be surprised if it’s not that way. You expect it to be that way, so you get your mind right and you don’t walk out Sunday and be shocked by anything besides that. We’ll work enough to sweat and make the balls wet that way, but we’re not going to water them down or anything.”

In the second half, you guys didn’t take any shots down the field. Was that by design with how the first half went? Why was that?

“It’s not like when we take a shot down field, the play isn’t called take a shot down downfield. It depends on how they’re covering it, and we had three plays in that first, those three picks in the first half, I think two of them, he was number two in the progression. One, he was number one. Most of the plays later didn’t have as many deep plays, but we called a couple of the same plays again, just didn’t get the right read. But it just plays out that way sometimes.”

What about a glove for QB Brock Purdy? I mean, does it make sense for him to practice with a glove if it’s going be a different temperature here in practice versus in Cleveland?

“Yeah, I always personally believe if you know you’re going to do something on Sunday and it’s going to be different, then you want to practice with it. But I always feel that’s up to the individual. I mean, they’re the ones who go through it, they’re the pros. It’s not like me suggesting to a middle school kid on how to handle his first element game. You know, those guys have an idea of what they’re comfortable with, what they want to do. I haven’t talked to him about that yet, but I’m sure that’s something I’ll be thinking about throughout the week.”

Some of the numbers show special teams wise, you guys have taken a big step forward. I know some of that is just making kicks versus not making it, but what have you seen in that regard and how do you think that’s been able to come together?

“Well, I think anytime missing kicks, that brings attention to everything. So, when you miss a bunch of kicks, it’s tough for the whole special teams. So, it’s been nice with just making those this year and our high percentage of it but also eliminating blocks. I think our returners have gone our whole return game, whether it’s punt return or kick return, I think has improved each week since week one. I think these last five weeks has kind of even taken off, especially in the kickoff return. So, I think for everyone, just being more consistent, continuing to work at it, and not allowing a bad play to happen that can kind of sour. You can let one bad play happen and it kind of sours all 15. So, I think it’s giving those guys more confidence each week.”

The kick return, is there anything in particular that is working for WR Skyy Moore? You mentioned the last five weeks that seems that it’s taken off.

“I just think the more reps guys get, the more confidence they get. I think Skyy’s always been a threat. I think with [RB Brian Robinson Jr.] B-Rob, I don’t know how many times B-Rob has done it in his career. None that I know of. So, I know that was new for him. But both of those guys just being the same guys back there, Skyy since the beginning and B-Rob, I want to say since like week three or four. But they just keep getting better at it. The better they get at it, the more confidence they get. The more confidence they get, I think the more confidence guys get blocking for them and the more motivated guys are, you just collectively get better.”

You go up against the wide-nine in practice all summer long. Is Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz’s version of it any different? What makes him such a challenge?

“Not different with the front four and how they’re coached. Changes a little bit with how they play their linebackers and their secondary, that’s where it changes. But I mean Jim’s as good of a coordinator as there is, and when you’re as good of a coordinator as there is and you have the talent that they have, it’s a pretty lethal combination.”

WR Kendrick Bourne’s snap count has tapered off a little bit the last few weeks. Is that just a case of too many mouths to feed or trying to get WR Demarcus Robinson more involved?

“No, it’s just [WR] Ricky [Pearsall] was our starting Z and when he went down, we moved K.B. to our starting Z. When you’re a starter, usually you get the ball a lot more and you get to play a lot more. Ricky has pretty good stamina, so we don’t rotate him as much. And D-Rob’s done a good job owning our F role. So, it’s been nothing against K.B., but I don’t like that. I’d love to get him out more there more than we have the last two weeks.”

FB Kyle Juszczyk is the teams’ Art Rooney sportsmanship award nominee again, what are some of the intangibles he brings that we don’t get to see?

“Just how good of a football player he is. I mean, there’s nothing that you put in that, guys could do stuff on paper. They can do it when it’s all like set up and lined up exactly how you tell them it’s going to be. But Kyle, just almost everything’s slow motion for him. You get that for some quarterbacks and things like that. Sometimes the game slows down for people, but to have a fullback like that is different. The way he can maneuver through fronts with a lot of stuff going on, and even when it isn’t the guy, even when other people take the wrong guy, and he can just naturally adjust and go take their guy like you wouldn’t even notice someone made a bust. When we throw the ball to him, it doesn’t matter how big of a moment, what the situation is, he always comes down with it. He gets up the field after the catch as good as anyone on our team and just one of the better football players I have ever been around.”

Are you opening the practice window for anyone this week?

“No.”

So how is DL Yetur Gross-Matos doing with his recovery?

“He’s coming along, it has been a tough year for him, missing all training camp with his knee. Then when you do that and you come back, it makes you susceptible to other things. That’s kind of what’s been his story a little bit this year. But he’s got a chance to come back, and he’s working really hard at it. I think we’ll have a chance here after the Bye.”

What is it about Myles Garrett that makes him so difficult to scheme for?

“Even coming out of college, he’s one of the most talented guys that I think anyone’s ever looked at just from height, weight, and speed. Also, how long his arms are when you measure, just get-off, his helmet crosses the line of scrimmage faster from an analytics standpoint than anyone in the NFL. So that means that get-off’s amazing. When you put that with amazing ability, that to me comes around generationally. And then you got a guy who’s played in a similar system for a while, who has stayed healthy, who’s doing it over and over again and trying to be great. When you have all that, how can you not be what he is? So, it’s been extremely impressive.”

On, practice windows, I assume that next week he wouldn’t open any practice windows with the Bye.

“No, not next week. Yeah.”

Is Myles just a guy who gets better and better as he keeps playing?

“Yeah, he does. He’s that talented, and he works at it that much. He plays hard; he’s always rushing the quarterback yet being a real problem in the run game too. So, he’s like a number of those top guys. When you just look at his true ability too, he seems to separate himself from those top guys also.”