Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – December 10, 2024

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“Alright, injuries for practice: [OL] Ben Bartch, ankle, will not practice, [T] Trent Williams, ankle, will not practice, [DL Nick] Bosa, hip/oblique, will not practice, [RB] Isaac Guerendo, foot, will not practice, [LB] Dee Winters, limited, [S Malik] Mustapha, limited, [LB Dre] Greenlaw, limited, [LB Demetrius] Flannigan-Fowles, limited, [DL] Yetur [Gross-Matos], limited. Go ahead.”

Is there any update on Isaac? Just on the extent of his injury and his chances for this week?

“Same as what I told you guys yesterday.”

You seemed hesitant yesterday to say that Greenlaw might be activated for this game. Is there a reason for that? Is it not going as well or was there a setback in the last couple weeks?

“No, I just hadn’t talked to him yet and wanted to talk to him and see how this week went.”

I know you hate social media, but yesterday, WR Deebo Samuel Sr.–?

“I don’t hate it.”

Well, it’s not your favorite thing in the world. You don’t use it.

“I don’t know how to do it.”

You don’t know how to do it. Well, Deebo knows how to do social media though, and so yesterday he said that he’s not struggling, he’s just not getting the ball. Has he expressed any frustration with you in terms of targets and production?

“Deebo and I talk every day, I understand Deebo saying that, Deebo wants to help us out and the only way he helps us out is getting the ball more, and we’d like to get it to him more and we’ll continue to work at that.”

When he does that, obviously, it’s more than just saying that. It can create a distraction, or people can perceive that in different ways. Maybe it can’t be good for the team. Do you have any problems with that or have you talked to him about, “Hey, maybe just keep that in-house?”

“Yeah, we’d always love things to stay in-house. That’s probably why I don’t mess with social media. I’m sure I’d get worked up and stuff too if I was reading stuff about myself all the time. And then I’d maybe make a tweet or something too. I mean is it a distraction in our building? No. I’ve got to answer questions about, it’s the first time I’ve talked about it is right here. But Deebo and I see each other every day and talk about stuff every day. So my advice is to not let the outside frustrate you, because just answering those things isn’t going to help you in any way. Usually only hurts you. But as far as like what we deal with and our relationships and our team, it’s water under the bridge.”

Part of this Kyle is, you guys scored 38 points on Sunday. It seems like the offense has found its rhythm that it’s been looking for all season. How do you feel about the offense right now?

“I liked how we played last week. It’s a week-to-week thing. We played good in that game and I thought we hadn’t played that well the previous three weeks. We did versus Tampa the week before that. We haven’t been as consistent as we’d like, and hopefully we can string two games together in a row here.”

K Jake Moody got a couple kickoffs that didn’t reach the landing zone there. What was going on? Was he trying something or it was just a slip or what was happening there?

“No, he was trying to, when you wind up to try to boot it out so you don’t have a return, sometimes you don’t hit the bottom of the ball correctly. You hit the middle of the ball and don’t hit it right, so he just shanked two.”

What have you thought about the play of OL Dominick Puni and Mustapha, a couple of rookies who have played a lot this year?

“I think they’ve helped us out all year. They came out real strong and showed right away in camp. Puni earning that starting position with two injuries, I think, in the first three days at camp. So he’s basically been the starter since day three. And he acted like the starter right away, and he’s continued that throughout the year. Malik getting his opportunity with some injuries also. But both of them have been playing at a high level. It is tough this time of year for all these rookies. They’re usually done around this time. So I know it’s a challenge for them, just with their bodies and everything and keeping up with the wear and tear and having to play through some of the soreness and the injuries and things like that. But I’ve been real impressed with them. They helped us a ton and they’re going to be good Niners here going forward.”

Now that you’re almost two years into this, is it almost frustrating that the Rams have had Los Angeles Rams WR Cooper Kupp and now they’ve found Los Angeles Rams WR Puka Nacua, who is kind of playing out of his mind the last few weeks?

“A little bit. You’d rather them not find really good players, but teams do. And Kupp’s been one of the best here over however long he’s been playing. And Puka showed last year he’s one of the best and he’s continued to prove that this year.”

DB Deommodore ‘Dmo’ Lenoir addressed the team the other night. Is that something you would’ve expected to see him do, maybe a couple years ago or when he was a rookie? How would you categorize his maturity from the time he got here to now?

“A ton. He’s still working at public speaking but just, Dmo from his first year to his second offseason. He came in and did pretty good right away. I remember versus Green Bay with about 17 seconds on the clock, he had a bust in coverage, which was a big play that got them into a field goal range and had them beat us on the last play of the game. And he kind of lost his confidence after that and kind of went, was just quiet, didn’t talk that much. But when he came back that offseason, you could tell something had clicked because just the energy he played with, how he was in the building every day. And I think after his first year, just how he approached work every single second and the love he has for football kind of showed up to our whole team. And I thought the next step was trying to get him to speak a little bit in front of the team, which he was a little reluctant to do, but we encouraged him some and he pulled it off.”

There are some entrenched leaders on this team that have been on the team a long time, why did you feel that Lenoir was ready and that he was the right man to do it at that time?

“I think, I just like people with authenticity. Dmo is a very real dude. Sometimes you don’t want guys who always talk all the time. We’ve got a lot of guys who can speak well and who are leaders and it always starts with what you do on the field. But how he plays on the field, the way our guys respect him and it’s always cool to hear some guys who don’t speak up that much.”

What was QB Brock Purdy’s message when he spoke Saturday? And how do you feel like he’s asserting his leadership on this team?

“I thought it was good. Brock is definitely one of the leaders on our team. He’s been that way since he took over as quarterback. But I think the guys just enjoyed hearing him talk. I think everyone knows how Brock is, he’s consistent as anyone in our building. But anytime your quarterback gets up there and says what he’s expecting to do the next day, what he’s expecting from the guys around him, it carries a lot of weight.”

How is DL Javon Hargrave doing and what’s the plan for him for 2025 after you guys tinkered with his contract?

“Plan is for him to be a Niner. I don’t know about the contract tinkering. That’d be more of a question for [President of Football Operations/General Manager] John [Lynch] and now [President of 49ers Enterprises and EVP of Football Operations] Paraag [Marathe]. I think that’s just mechanics of contract stuff. But things I don’t look into until after the season.”

The rookies being somewhat tired because they’re usually done at this time of year, is that something you can prepare them for, talk to them about or they just have to kind of go through it?

“You can tell, you can try to tell everybody everything, but usually people don’t believe you until it happens. So you just try to tell people how it’s coming, that it usually happens, just with experience of being around it. You try to tell them that throughout the year, so they don’t really, they kind of set up their routine at the beginning of Week One a little bit in training camp. And you try to never differentiate from that routine. Sometimes rookies, they get to Week Four and it’s not that big of a deal, they don’t have to go through their routine. But once they get to around now they’re, now they’re like, ‘Oh, now I get what you’re talking about. I should have kept with that routine.’ So we pick up on that stuff or talk about it all year to prepare them for this moment. But it still does hit them. And you just talk about the reality of it. It is going to hit you, you do feel that way, but that’s why you’ve got to make conscious decisions and understand it is normal. But it’s stuff you’ve got to fight through because too many people are depending on you.”

Based on where you are in the standings and what’s left ahead, does this feel like the playoffs already?

“Yeah. Last week felt like the playoffs already. Since that Buffalo game, every week is a playoff game. So, it feels like it this week and hopefully we can take care of business, so next week feels the same.”

Has your dad said anything to you about Guerendo reminding him at all of former NFL RB Ricky Watters? They seem very similar.

“No, he hasn’t, but I do love Ricky Watters and hope Isaac turns out like Ricky. That’d be awesome.”

Do you feel like DL Leonard Floyd has turned a corner recently, I don’t know, the last month or so? He just seems to be more impactful when he’s out there.

“Yeah, I think, his results, definitely. I think he’s gotten some more production as far as the stat sheet and everything. But Leonard’s just an energizer bunny. It’s crazy with him being one of the older guys and stuff and how many different teams he’s been to, but I’ve played against him enough and felt that. But just guys who’ve known him, talking about how he practices and everything, [assistant head coach/defense Brandon] Staley being with him in a number of places, telling us how he is. And you always think about bringing in an older guy and stuff, are they not going to be able to practice? Are you going to have to take care of him? And I mean, he’s one of our hardest workers every single day. He set the tone in practice last week, coming in on that Wednesday, to our Thursday practice was our last one on full pads, and you would’ve thought he was the one who was demanding that we went full pads. Just the way he goes about everything. He loves football, plays so hard, and usually when you’re like that, eventually the numbers come.”

As a head coach, would you prefer a player to step up and deliver a message like that in a crisis time than to do it yourself?

“I don’t really have a preference on anything. My preference is whatever gets the best effect. And so you’ve got to balance that off differently. We’re with each other all week, so if a player does it six days in a row or a coach does it seven days in a row, I don’t think that’s ever the best deal. You’d like to hear it from a different people. But the main thing is what’s the result. And so, it’s got to be the right player. It’s got to be the right message from a coach. It’s got to be all that.”

Are they going to have give speeches again because it was so effective?

“I’m not superstitious, but I’m a little stitious, so they might have to do it.”