Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – August 25, 2021

San Francisco 49ers

What’s going to be the process with S Jaquiski Tartt now that he’s active?

“Going to see how he looks today. Hopefully he can go these three days, show us that he’s healthy and can play at a high level. And hopefully he’ll get some time in the game.”

Is he a possibility with Week 1 being this close to play against the Lions?

“I haven’t seen him out there yet, so we’re hoping so. We’re giving him the chance to do it. I know he feels good right now, which is very encouraging. I think he started feeling a lot better while we were down in L.A. So, I’m just pumped he wants to practice today, feels healthy enough to practice today and we’ll evaluate these three practices and decide for Sunday and then decide on our 53.”

Is the expectation still for T Trent Williams to practice this week?

“Yeah, Trent’s good to go. Yeah, he’ll be at practice all week.”

Is DL Nick Bosa good to go for practice?

“Yeah, Nick is good to go. He’s going to get some team reps today.”

What do you want to see out of Nick? Just how he responds?

“I think it’s more mental to me with that. He looks great on the side. He looks, good doing all the football movements, in individual and stuff. And to me it’s more of his mind, which all guys need coming off a serious injury like that. Nick’s ready for football. He just needs to go through some reps and he’s back in there and I hope he feels good about it at the end of the day.”

What about DL Dee Ford? Anything additional that he’s going to ramp up to do this week?

“No, Dee Ford has been good. He’s been on a steady pace and I think he’s gotten enough reps in this camp. We’ll keep continuing with the same pace for these three days and I’ll decide on Sunday at the end of the week for him and pretty much all the players. But we’re good with the pace he’s been on.”

What have you liked out of QB Jimmy Garoppolo in the past month? What have you seen?

“I think he’s just had more command at this time than he has any of the other years. Jimmy always gets there eventually, but I think he’s come in, and I think that’s natural with it being his fourth or fifth year. He came in the middle of our first year, but I think it’s a lot easier for him just knowing what’s coming off my lips before it does. Knowing exactly how to spit it out, where to go. When you don’t have to think and all that stuff’s effortless, the semantics of play calls and the offense, I think it’s a lot easier to play.”

Is there anything you can learn from 2012 with former NFL QB Robert Griffin III and apply it to now just given it’s a rookie quarterback who is also a running quarterback?

“You learn a lot when you get to experience different types of schemes and stuff. So everything I learned doing that those two years I think has helped me everywhere I’ve gone. Whether with running quarterbacks or with not, you start to understand defenses the more you can use 11 guys. I learned a ton that year schematically because it was my first time being around it or doing something like that. The stuff helped me throughout my whole career.”

From a competitive advantage standpoint, what do you gain by not naming the starting quarterback at this time?

“I look at it more as what do you gain by naming it? If there would be one reason I can think of by naming it that would help it’d be to end those questions. If you could give me another reason that it’s a big advantage that helps our team, affects anything that has to do with us then I will name it. But I don’t think it does. And you know, why tell people. I know you guys want an answer, which is fine. I get the suspense of it, but I’m not just going to answer it to end your guy’s suspense.”

This suspense is great. Keep it going.

“Oh, you’re welcome. Hey, I’ll try to get you more clicks (laughing).”

I know it’s a totally different situation going back to 2017. What did you see from Jimmy to know that he was ready? You said you have to see something from QB Trey Lance. What did you see from Jimmy then to know that he was ready to start?

“That he was the best quarterback in our building. So, I saw it pretty fast and pretty early.”

A few weeks ago, you said that Trey would play situationally. Has anything or what if anything that he’s done during camp has suggested what situationally he might be best at, in that regard?

“It depends who we’re playing, what the situation is, what fronts. I don’t know when that’s going to happen. Could happen today, could happen Week 1, could happen not until the end of the year. But I think we have a guy who has a skillset to come in and do some different things and that’s what we’ve been working him at. And we’ll do that when we think it helps us.”

Are there challenges doing that, just in terms of getting both guys in and shuttling guys in and out? What are the challenges with that?

“Yeah, I would think so. We do it a little bit in practice. I think I’m doing a little bit of more of it here these next two weeks, just for me to get used to it and stuff, so the guys get used to it. Watching New Orleans [Saints] doing it with [former NFL QB] Drew Brees and [New Orleans Saints QB] Taysom [Hill] has been pretty cool over the last three years. I’m sure that took them some time to kind of get the flow of that. But it’s nothing that you can say, ‘Hey we did this in practice so this is how it’s going to be.’ You adjust to that in games and you prepare for everything, but you don’t know until you go through it. So that’s why I don’t sit here and pretend like I have all the answers because I don’t. You prepare for every situation, you work the guys to the best of their ability, and then you see what your gameplan is and you figure out what gives you the best chance to win that game. And you try to keep your thoughts just to that.”

Is sprinkling him in more part of the original plan that you’ve had all along or is it more because he’s maybe further along than you expected at this point?

“No. I knew that when you do get a quarterback who does have a different skillset than your starter, regardless of whether they’re ready to do a whole game or not or anything like that. I know watching other teams, having some experience myself, I know that can really affect people. You have to prepare for that stuff a lot. Other defenses can’t just go out and play against something that you haven’t been preparing against. So, whether guys are doing it or not, it always helps that people are preparing to have that threat and if it’s effective and we think it helps us then you do it more and more.”

You’ve obviously spent some time in the Bay Area growing up. What was your recollection of the Raiders-49ers rivalry when you were in school?

“When I was here they were in L.A. so it was a little bit different. And my dad was actually the head coach of the L.A. Raiders for about three days. It felt like. I always knew, I’ve always known there’s a big rivalry there, especially when they came back to Oakland. You can tell just being around here with the fans. I think it’s a little different now that they moved, but I know it’s a little more exciting for a preseason game when you get a team to come back that does have a tradition like that. And anything that can add more excitement to preseason games I’m all for.”

This is the dress rehearsal. Does having a little extra juice help along those lines?

“I think it’s for the fans and maybe people who watch it on TV. I don’t think it affects us very much.

Did you ever meet former Raiders Owner Al Davis?

“Yes, but I was a third grader, so I kept to myself on it. I didn’t know everything that was going on. So, I was just a fan around that time.”

Are you in full regular season mode this week? Are these practices like regular season practices?

“No. I mean the schedule is, that’s my biggest thing. You want to dress rehearsal the times. That’s why we had a walk through. That’s why we’re doing the media now and we’ll have lunch, then we’ll go back out and do our normal practice. So everything, the meetings and everything are the same, but still the most important thing is how to get your individuals and your team completely ready for Week 1. So yes, you try to spend a whole normal week so they know where they are in Week 1, but our main concern is just getting us as good as we can be. Not just Las Vegas.”

I know you won’t tell us who, but have you decided on a Week 1 starter?

“I’ve got a pretty good idea, but as you guys can see with everything I don’t know our schedule a couple days from now. So, I’ve always had a pretty good idea. But, there’s lots of days between now and then, at every position.”

We may not even be alive.

“I won’t say it, but that is a fact. Like that is a fact.”

You mentioned in the post-draft press conference that you kind of enjoyed watching everybody squirm over the decision between, at the time people thought, New England Patriots QB Mac Jones or Trey Lance. Are you enjoying watching us squirm right now?

“Not really. I’m not watching it too much. Then it was kind of more, I might’ve used the word enjoyed, but I was more kind of amazed with all the strong opinions and everyone thinking they knew everything when I knew that no one did. So that was just kind of interesting to watch. I wouldn’t say I was having fun watching it, but it was interesting. This situation, I feel like I’ve talked pretty consistent through this whole time and I get everyone wants to keep talking about stuff and I would love to help you guys and answer you guys but I think you guys all got a pretty good idea and I think our team does also.”

Have you talked to general manager John Lynch about making that decision or do you keep it to yourself?

“I talk to John about everything. John’s not coming down, he’s the same as me, he’s not sitting there asking what day it is or anything like that. We’re pretty good about that. We know where we’re at and we know where we’re going.”

You’ve talked a lot about wanting to hold off on naming Lance the starter and telling people you’ll wait until you feel like he gives you the best chance of winning. What is it you need to see from him to feel that way?

“I could talk for six days on that. It’s about a quarterback giving us the best chance to win and you don’t just throw guys out just because of a skillset. You throw guys out because of how they work in your offense, how they work for your team, how the other plays tie to them, and what they’re ready to do. We do have a quarterback with a lot of experience who has played at a high level. And we’ve got a team I think that has got some pretty good experience that has the capability of playing at a high level. So, you’re trying to figure out how are our 47 guys, now on gameday, can play at the highest level possible and whether they’re starting or whether they’re coming in and there’s so much that goes into it. That’s why you will never get a straight answer from me.”