Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – December 24, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“The injuries for today. [DL] Yetur [Gross-Matos], knee, won’t practice. That’s just maintenance from the same thing all year. [TE] George Kittle, ankle, won’t practice. [CB] Renardo Green, neck, will be limited. [WR] Ricky Pearsall, knee/ankle, will be limited. Go ahead.”

Any early thoughts on Kittle’s availability this week?

“He’s got a chance, so we’re not ruling him out.”

It looked like there could have been two hip-drop tackles on him in that game. Did you see it that way as well?

“Yeah, they were possible ones. They weren’t the really obvious one, like Ricky got. But, they were debatable.”

How much do you think Ricky will be able to do today?

“I’m sure he’ll be able to do most today. We’re going half-speed and everything, so yeah, that makes it a little easier on him.”

What have you seen from your offensive line the last month or so? Seems like they’re ramping up a little bit.

“Yeah, I think they keep getting better. I mean, the more you play together and stay healthy, usually if you work the right way you get better as a unit. I think just collectively they’re moving together, blocking well the run game and doing a really good job in the pass game also.”

What makes special teams coordinator Brant Boyer such a good special teams coordinator?

“His consistency. He’s the same guy every day. He doesn’t get bored with the little details. He demands a lot, holds guys accountable and usually when you’re like that you get better as you do more work. And that’s what we’ve done throughout the year.”

What have you been seeing from RB Jordan James in practice that helped activate him Monday?

“He’s been doing a good job for a while. He’s had a number of good weeks here once he got healthy a while ago. We’ve been wanting to find a way to get him out there. And we just thought it was time. We wanted to give him a shot. I don’t know if it’ll be the same this week, but he’s done really well in practice. We thought there might be a chance for it to get him to the game, but didn’t go that way.”

Can you look at the Bears and see a lot of what Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson was doing with the Lions or is it different?

“No, it’s similar. Everyone has stuff they like to do, but I’ve got so much respect for Ben just in in terms of how they run the ball. It starts with the run always with Ben and the things off of it, which he’s a very balanced play-caller and makes teams defend everything.”

During Monday’s broadcast they said that you told them you were looking forward to getting WR Skyy Moore for a full offseason to teach him how you guys run wide receiver. He’s a free agent in March. Is it your hope that he re-signs and you have that spring/summer with him?

“Yeah, they were just asking me more about him as a receiver, not just a returner. I just talked him up to them. I didn’t know they’d shared all that with you guys, but I don’t watch the TV copy.”

Well, they talked a lot about it.

“Well, that’s good. I try. That’s my goal (laughter). No, I just told them that Skyy just got here late. I think he’s been really good at receiver too. I mean, I love his skillset and I love the person. It’s just always hard sometimes when you don’t get to go through all the run blocking, all the routes, all the formations, everything. So, he works his butt off and that’s why we don’t mind putting him out there at all. But, I think there’s still a lot more.”

Is it particularly different what he was doing wide receiver-wise in Kansas City versus what you guys do?

“Yes. Yeah. Sometimes things are similar, but I think they are bigger difference than most.”

You faced Chicago bears QB Caleb Williams last year. When you turn on the tape this year, does he look the same, better, more developed?

“I think anytime you give a quarterback a top run game, they all look better. So, I think that helps him huge. Caleb is one of the best throwers, one of the most athletic quarterbacks I’ve ever seen in terms of his height, weight and speed. He makes some big-time throws, extremely scary on the perimeter, can hold onto the ball for a while, not in a bad way, but by creating stuff which makes coverages have to hold up forever. And when you have a talented guy like that who’s got the speed and the size, usually they get a run game, get some bootlegs and play actions off of it, you limit how many times you’ve got to drop back. It makes sense why he is playing at such high level.”

What do they do defensively that has allowed them to create so many turnovers?

“One, I think they’ve got guys who are really good at catching it to start with. But, I think [Chicago Bears defensive coordinator] Dennis Allen has been one of my favorites over the years. We’ve gone against him so much and have as much respect for him as anyone. They are very consistent with what they do schematically. So, if you look at Dennis over the years, they always just get better and better and better. When you look at it, one of his teams in Week 1 compared to a week like right now, and when you have a sound scheme and you play a lot of zone, they mix in man, but you play a lot of zone, play with vision and you do it throughout the year and you stay pretty healthy, especially now where they’ve gotten their corners back and then you’ve got guys who are capable of catching it. It’s not surprising with a Dennis defense.”

You are one of four on challenges this year. It’s kind of funny after you won a game, like I wasn’t really trusting my information. But, when it doesn’t work out like that, do you have to review your process at all or how you guys figure out if you want to challenge something?

“Yes, definitely. Yep.”

Can you share what steps that might entail?

“There are just two I’d like to take back that we’re working on.”

Well, you can’t take them back. How do you avoid it in the future?

“The process? You need to see stuff to know for sure, and you need to know what the letter of the law is to know for sure. I really like my own eyes when I can see something, but always when I see something then I always want to talk to someone that I would basically call a lawyer who understands the letter of the law and exactly how it’s written. So, based off of what my eyes see, which translates to common sense. Yes, I think that shouldn’t be the case, but based off of your study of the rulebook, letter of the law and how they articulate those words, will it match up on a review? And those are kind of how you go about it. When I don’t see it, I usually go off of the letter of the law, should I throw it, based off of what you saw? That’s how I’ve always been. That’s how I always will be.”

So, are you looking for a new lawyer?

“No, but nobody’s perfect, including myself. But, it’s always me. I still don’t have to throw it.”

Kittle was talking postgame about the speeches that assistant head coach of defense Gus Bradley gives and the positivity he’s brought to the building, which he says he thinks bleeds into the whole office. I’m just curious what you think Gus’ contribution has been and how much of some help he’s been to defensive coordinator Roberts since they’ve been together so far?

“Gus has been amazing. I love Gus. Just his personality, how he carries himself and how much knowledge and football he has too, which is so good for everybody. Definitely Saleh, but just for everybody in the building. Players and coaches. Saleh had a style with him. He would do these stories for like, he’d have them done in July, which always annoyed me. But, he’d have a planned-out story for all 17 weeks, they’d do PowerPoints and make guys laugh and there’s always kind of a message with it. And then the first day I let Gus speak to the team for a Ball meeting, he did the exact same type of story and for like one second I thought he was stealing Saleh’s stuff, and then I realized that Saleh stole his stuff 20 years ago I just saw Saleh first. And then one night for a team meeting, I always show film usually and football stuff, and I thought we had had enough of that I’d done earlier in the week. I asked Gus to do one of his stories and it hit, the guys loved it and we won. And then I kind of stick with things at work, and he’s undefeated doing it and I’m like .500 doing it. So, I don’t take people off when they’re on a heater. So, he’s been doing an awesome job. I think it’s nice sometimes, you do x’s and o’s all week and there’s always a message in there about football, about playing a certain way and what we want to do. But, it’s also entertaining and makes guys laugh and it’s a better bedtime story before you go to sleep to get ready to get up and play.”

Could you give an example of one of his stories? Like do they have anything to do with football?

“No. The message does, but it’s a totally random story. Like it could be about taking his son fishing when he was younger. Could be a lady getting pulled over in some town in Alabama. It could be going on a rollercoaster with your friends in some amusement park. They’re the most random stories ever which makes guys laugh, then he brings it full circle and there’s a message eventually that pertains to the game.”

On that. When QB Brock Purdy was sacked by Indianapolis Colts DL Laiatu Latu, TE Luke Farrell was blocking him. Obviously, Farrell got beat pretty quick. Is that the design of that play? Did Brock have a chance? Is that designed to get out like immediately?

“No. No, that was a deeper developing play. Sometimes Luke won’t be on a zone on that play, but they blitzed so you slide the whole line, which makes it a lot stouter inside, but the weakness is having a tight end on a D-End. Luke’s one of the better ones in the league at doing that. But, just like tackles get beat, so do tight ends. It’s a little harder for Brock to see it when he was throwing to the left with such a quick win. I’m just glad Luke didn’t give up on the play. Ended up being a bad play and then a hell of a play by him.”

Have you found over the years that when you’re facing an opponent that regularly plays an offense that runs your offense like the Bears and the Packers for example, that they’re better prepared for you? That defenses have become better prepared for your style as more and more offenses have started to use it.

“Yes, no doubt about it. I think it’s more from practicing against it all OTAs and offseason. You could tell teams try to get used to the speed of outside zone and things off of it, all the motions and things like that, which you can’t really do that on a Wednesday, Thursday, Friday practice. But, you get a lot better at it if you practice against it all offseason, just used to it. And some of the adjustments don’t shock you as much. I feel like half the league’s seeing that stuff in the offseason. So, it definitely helps guys be more prepared.”

Obviously not a lot of teams would be in a position you’re in with playing two quarterbacks, one starting half the games. When you brought QB Mac Jones in, you obviously knew him a little bit, but did you have to think about how would he and Brock fit together, like how they can work together? Because it seems like they’re pretty close and supportive of each other.

“I mean, you think about that to a degree. You don’t want something that’s going to be bad. I know Brock so well that even if something was a bad situation I don’t feel like Brock would be that affected by it. I mean, if it’s something that was truly bad, then you make a change as a coach, so I never really worry. Brock’s so easy that someone would have to be really messed up for that to be uncomfortable with. Then I remember that when we did get him, I asked him what he thought of Mac and if knew him at all, and he said they throw together and they work out all the time in Florida before this and they really like each other, so it was a huge bonus of it.”

How much do you think they’ve of helped each other, especially since both of them have had to play so much this year?

“I mean, who knows when it comes to on the field and stuff, but we spend so much time together and it’s such a long season and there’s a lot of pressure situations, a lot of things you’ve got to talk about. And when you’re in a small room with people all year long, if you’re irritated with each other, it makes the year a lot harder. So, I’ve been really happy with that room and not just Mac, but [QB Kurtis] Rourke, [QB] Adrian [Martinez], it’s been a really cool room.”

You guys got multiple pro bowlers on special teams this year. Can you speak to the impact that element of the game has had on why the team’s gotten to this point?

“It’s huge. When special teams struggles, you can see how many games that can cost you. My first point with special teams is I don’t want it to cost us. If anything, just make sure, and it’s hard, I mean don’t get field goals blocked, don’t give up touchdowns, don’t have really bad penalties. And that’s a huge challenge, and if you can do that then the better team should always win the game to me based off the offense and defense. That’s what your goal is. If you can do that and affect the game and give your team a chance to win by having big returns, by having a kicker who’s so consistent, by having real good punts, by getting turnovers, then it’s a huge bonus and makes your team a lot harder to beat.”

This year it has been a little bit more than just not costing you guys. Has it added?

“Definitely. When you make the returns we’ve made, I believe that’s, I’m forgetting which game it was, but it was a few weeks ago. One of the reasons we were able to get out to a big lead on somebody. The way our kicker’s been, I think is huge. That’s why we always get points on our long drives. If you go on a bunch of long drives and you miss field goals, that can really hurt a team. I think our team believes that we can change the game on special teams. And when you do believe that, I think everyone plays a little more inspired.”

How was LB Eric Kendricks and his 10 snaps as far as just being on point with the system? With Bethune, are you pleasantly surprised that he’s not on the injury report after Monday night’s game?

“Yeah, I was really happy with him. We wanted to be able to get him a shot, and we didn’t know how it would go. And Tatum zinged his ankle, which kind of was expected anytime you come off a high-ankle. So, he got a series off and Eric stepped in, I think it was early fourth quarter. And he looked exactly like we’d hoped he would. He is a very natural linebacker as we all know. He moved well and thought it was a really good first game for him.”

And how is Tatum doing health-wise?

“He is good to go. Yeah, he did zing it like people do on high-ankle sprains, but felt good the last two days. That’s why he wasn’t on the injury report.”