Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – July 24, 2024

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“[T] Trent Williams wasn’t here today. So just before you have to ask guys, he didn’t report. It’s contract related. [president of football operations/general manager] John’s [Lynch] speaking with his representatives, been doing it for a while. He’ll continue to go. When they work it out, I’ll be pumped to see him.”

WR Brandon Aiyuk showed up but he didn’t practice. He’s essentially holding in. Is that preferable to a holdout or is it a sign that maybe a deal’s imminent?

“I don’t really know what it means. It just means his back is sore today and his neck is sore. So going to stay out of practice, which obviously is a hold in. And so we expected it, and I understand the situation fully.”

It looked like RB Isaac Guerendo went out with a little hamstring in there?

“Yeah, we think it was a hamstring. So it looked like he hyperextended a little bit. He was going about half speed it looked like. So it was an unusual one, but they just told me it was a hamstring. But we got to get the MRI.”

Trent was at minicamp. I don’t know that he worked. Was it the contractual situation kind of extend back to then?

“Yeah, we’ve been talking about it for a while. The first day, he had his daughter graduate and stuff. And then he came and I don’t think we did any O-line stuff anyways. But it’s been going on in discussions for a while.”

What’s your view on hold ins? Can they just go on indefinitely for you? Do you have a point where you’re like, we can’t have that?

“I don’t think we’ve had a hold in. So I don’t see much difference between a hold in and a hold out. It’s probably better for them to hold in because so they don’t get fines since you can’t resend them like you could back in the day. But I don’t see much difference.”

Is it better for you or same difference?

“Same difference. I think it’s better for them I think too that at least they can be around here, in meetings and stuff like that. So hopefully when things do work out they’re just still use to some things. They haven’t been that far behind.”

You said you talked to Brandon occasionally through the offseason. Did you talk to him since he’s been here and how do you gauge his move?

“It’s been one day with him and I think he’s coming in with a plan that’s been obvious so far. He is holding in and we’ll see how it goes each day.”

Trent Williams is obviously quite good and quite important. How concerning is it that he’s not here?

“It was something I knew could be a possibility. I was hoping that he would be here but I knew it could be a possibility. I feel pretty confident it’ll all work out in the long run. And he’ll be here and we’ll get on the same page with everything. But it’s just one day of practice. And I think Trent will be alright missing a few practices.”

With where Trent is in his career. Is it part of this to figure out kind of like how much more he wants to go? Is that kind of a piece of the puzzle here?

“I think a lot of things play into it, but I’m not going to get into the personal parts of the contract.”

You just accept this is part of having a roster that’s veteran. You have a lot of veteran players, RB Christian McCaffrey had his deal redone, you’ve had other situations, or does this seem a little different? Do you accept that this is just the way it goes with a roster like this?

“I think it goes this way more often with the roster like this. But I’ve been on other teams and seen a lot of things like this happen. I don’t think we’ve had too many of them, but I think people deal with it around the league. I’ve seen a number of it throughout the years and I’ve been on teams that have had to deal with it. So, I think both reasons.”

Your offseason communication with WR Deebo Samuel last year about his physique is well documented. How do you think he looked reporting to training camp?

“I think Deebo looks great at that. He looked great in OTAs and minicamp, And I think he looked better today.”

Why didn’t Christian McCaffrey do any team stuff today?

“Just our plan with him. He did all individual and stuff and tomorrow I think he does team stuff. We have a whole thing mapped out, so it’ll be different each day. A number of players are like that.”

LB Fred Warner said during minicamp that LB Dee Winters was the best player in OTAs. What have you seen from that second-year player? What kind of jump has he made?

“He made a huge jump. Always waiting to see the guys to do that in the second year and I thought he really did in OTAs. I think it was nice for him not having Fred and [LB] Dre [Greenlaw] out there. So he gets a lot of reps. And he was ready for those reps. When you go through your rookie year sometimes things click for guys and I think being behind guys like Dre and Fred being able to watch how they work. He’s kind of clone himself after those guys, just the work ethic being a pro and just so dialed in and locked into everything. He was so ready for OTAs and when you’re that ready for OTAs, then you get so much better in OTAs which will allow him to be a lot better here in training camp.”

S Malik Mustapha had an impressive pick today. What’s he looking like to you?

“That was awesome because I just watched the route and I thought [WR] Danny [Gray] got the corner so I thought he was going to win on the go route and then the middle third safety picked it off with ease. He showed his range there. I got to kind of see what the quarterback did. Hopefully he didn’t stare it down, but if he looked him off and he still got there then it was extremely impressive. But it was still showed a lot regardless of what the quarterback did, being able to get there, eat that up because if he didn’t, that was a big play.”

CB Isaac Yiadom had a nice one-on-one against Deebo down the field. Is he looking like what you expected?

“He has. He had a really good OTAs. He’s been really good at the line of scrimmage. He’s been one of those guys too that we just got to know him in the offseason, but so locked in, such a professional and really stood out in OTAs and picked up where he left off today.”

In your mind, would you like to have a locked in nickelback who only plays when you have three instead of sliding DB Deommodore Lenoir more outside then inside? Does that matter to you?

“In the ideal world you want everyone to be at their best position all the time and never have to move. But if someone’s our best outside guy and our best inside guy, that’s what you’ll do. You’re always going to put the best three on the field, however it can tie with your best 11. So it’s always nice when you can just pencil guys in and never have to move guys, so it just makes things easier on everybody. The same goes with wideouts too. But you’re always going to put the best guys in the best spots.”

How does QB Brock Purdy look to you physically from the Super Bowl and now? Size-wise, bulk, anything that stands out to you about his physique?

“Brock works really hard in the offseason. We always joke about his baby [DL Nick] Bosa legs. He builds those up, gets his strength. Brock is always improving each year. It’s the work ethic he has, mentally and physically. He continues to get better.”

What’s the balance for a quarterback as far as bulk, size and being able to also go through a season, be agile, throw the ball and all those types of things?

“You add bulk to help you and you don’t just add it to add it. So those guys experiment with that a lot. Sometimes guys add a lot of weight, a lot of muscle, thinking it’s going to help and then they get into something where they don’t feel quite as athletic, they feel a little bit heavier and then they usually learn from that in the next season. They still try to be as powerful and explosive, but they lean up a little bit. So it’s a lot of trial and error. You have to find out what makes you your best. But you know, with a quarterback it’s always a lot more legs than upper body. You want that upper body fluid, you don’t want it tight, but you have to be able to handle the hits too.”

Last season Brock talked about working on his agility, his mobility, maybe running a little bit more this season. Is that something you’ve seen him do in the offseason and how would you see that can fit into his game?

“That’s not something that I see much because that has to do with shuttle drills and things like that, stuff they do with [head of strength & conditioning] Dustin [Perry], our Strength Coach, or they’re doing on their own when they’re working out. But I think that’s a great part of it. Brock isn’t necessarily a running quarterback, but he’s a guy who can make a lot of plays with his legs. And when you do have that quickness and speed, if you work at anything you get better at it. So for him to add in that area and just get stronger in it, it completely helps his game. But it’s not, I don’t think it’s a specific area he is focusing on. I think he just tries to improve on all of it.”

How has S Ji’Ayir Brown looked to coming into his second year?

“I’m pumped about Ji’Ayir, I thought he finished the year great last year. He’s had a hell of an offseason. He’s around here all the time. The guy lives football and I’m pumped for him to go through this camp.”

Is he ready for the responsibility of maybe S Talanoa Hufanga not being ready? “Yeah, I thought he was ready last year. Everyone knows how good of a player Huf is and [S Ji’Ayir Brown] Tig got his opportunity when Huf went down and he was ready for it. I talk about Dee Winters, someone who was always ready but never really got that opportunity. Tig was the same, but he did get it. And then when you’re ready for it and you get to play through some stuff, it makes you so much better, the experience, and he took that right into the offseason. Huf not being quite ready right away will allow him to get more reps and just continue to help him.”

With Brock running, as a rookie, he said an emphasis was to make sure he exhausted plays from the pocket. Don’t get out here too early. As he matures and evolves, will he have more freedom to make that decision?

“It’s always a weird question, he’s free to play football. Didn’t you watch him play his rookie year versus Miami? He ran all over the place. So Brock is going to react and go. One of the things that guys, if you don’t know what you’re doing and you don’t know where the ball is and you aren’t reading coverages and your anxiety is high and you’re revved up, a lot of times you get in that pocket and you can’t see anything and you just look for exit angles and you try to break and get out of there. And when you do that, you sometimes you make plays, sometimes you don’t. The key is how to tie both together. How can you help other people make plays when there’s an opportunity for you to do it, can you react and just go? But if you’re just looking for that, sometimes it’s hard to be a good quarterback. I think Brock has done a great job at balancing both of those out. I think the more he plays, the more you always get better at the drop back stuff, which I think can help you, not have more freedom to, but it could help your mind make quicker decisions on when it’s time to do it. When I do have a bad look, when I have a good look and I want to wait on something, times in games, weather, things like that. That just comes with experience.”

RB Cody Schrader is a guy with a ton of experience in college. Have you seen that early on here, carrying over to how he’s picking stuff up?

“Always when you get the experience playing in college, it helps here. But it’s still different. So the more you can have some of those similarities and things, it’ll always help with this level. Sometimes when you get guys who have played in the system or a certain style of ball that just is completely different, it takes him awhile to kind of learn football but his has definitely helped him.”