Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – September 30, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“Injuries for today. [WR] Ricky Pearsall, knee, won’t practice. [WR] Jordan Watkins, calf, won’t practice. [DL] C.J. West, thumb, won’t practice. [DL] Robert Beal Jr., ankle, won’t practice. [QB Brock] Purdy, toe, won’t practice. [WR] Jauan Jennings, ankle/ribs, won’t practice. [DL] Yetur [Gross-Matos], knee, limited. [CB] Renardo [Green], neck, limited. [LB] Dee Winters, knee, limited. [DL] Mykel Williams, wrist-oblique, limited. That’s it.”

With any of those guys you’ve mentioned are, have you ruled any out from playing?

“No.”

What has Brock’s progress, if any, been since we last talked to you?

“Not much. That was yesterday.”

Is QB Mac Jones totally off the injury list now?

“Yep.”

How is that with Mykel Williams’ wrist? I mean, he went to the locker room early in that game with it, but how has that hindered him or is it hindering him at all?

“I’m sure it does some. I mean, it’s painful, especially a position you play with your hands all the time. He’s been dealing with it and he’s been battling through it.”

This will be your first time facing the Rams with Los Angeles Rams WR Davante Adams and Los Angeles Rams WR Puka Nacua. What kind of challenge do those guys present as a tandem? What have you seen on film so far?

“I mean, just those two great receivers with an unbelievable quarterback. So, huge challenge. Just like when they had Puka and [Seattle Seahawks WR] Cooper [Kupp] going, I mean two huge challenges, especially paired with [Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew] Stafford. Two of the best hands in the League with Puka and Davante and the separation ability, how they can cut, how aggressive they are on their routes. I mean, they’re as good as it gets.”

The Rams added Los Angeles Rams NT Poona Ford to their D-Line. How has he changed what they look like up front?

“It hasn’t changed what they look like. Just added another one. He’s a hell of a player. We’ve looked at him a number of different times, is really good in the run game, also is effective in the pass game, but just add another real good player to that group which allows them to rotate a lot more and keep them fresher.”

Obviously, CB Upton Stout won’t be on Nacua the whole game, but what about Nacua makes it such a challenging assignment for a nickel?

“How big and physical he is, how good his hands are, and how aggressive he plays tied with how big he is. He’s full speed all the time, running through people, attacking edges, and the same way he runs through that football and catches it.”

Will the decision to play Brock come down to pain tolerance?

“No, it’ll come down to do we feel he could play to 100-percent of his ability and do we feel that he can protect himself with it.”

President of football operations and general manager John Lynch said on the radio this morning that he thought that perhaps the second quarter scramble by Brock affected him. “Bothered him,” I think were the words he used. Was that part of what Brock was told to do to try to avoid scrambling as much as possible in that game?

“No, he wasn’t told that. It was my first time dealing with people with a toe injury like that. I was trying to ask if it was like a high ankle sprain, like is it something you just keep zinging over and over? They said, ‘no, it’s not like that.’ If you ever got caught in an awkward position on a tackle is where you could hurt your toe again. But it doesn’t work like an ankle or anything like that. I think they got him on that when they took him down. So, whether it’s scrambling or just getting tackled was kind of the worry of it.”

RB Christian McCaffrey went on TE George Kittle’s show this week and he said that he, at that deadline where you acquired him, he thought he was going to be traded to the Rams. Had that happened, one, how painful would that have been for you, and did you realize the Rams were in the mix for him?

“We heard they were in it, yeah. So, I mean, you hear a lot of things when you’re dealing with trades. Sometimes they’re real, sometimes they’re not. People always do it left and right, usually just trying to get a few more picks out of it and stuff. So, I guess it was true, but glad he ended up here.”

You’ve had a lot of success it seems like with the dirty kickoffs. What’s sort of the challenge of dealing with those?

“Just how hard they are to catch. I want to say they’ve had 23 kickoffs and 21 of them have been dirty balls. They’re number two in the League, the other team who’s number one, Carolina, they’ve been great at kicking those dirty balls too. So, anytime you can’t catch it clean, the timing of just how you block and everything’s off. So those guys get back there a lot faster. When the timing’s off like that and you don’t know where the runner is tied to the blockers. Also, a lot more penalties happen too with holdings and stuff. So, the dirty ball’s a huge part of this game with the new kickoffs. It’s not an easy thing to do for everybody.”

Are you guys looking to using the dirty ball more often on your kicks?

“You always look into it. Every team does. But, the issue is if that ball comes up short of the 20, if it goes out of bounds, it’s not really easy to always do a dirty ball. You just miss it a little bit and it’s out of balance or short or you kick a touchback like that. That’s real risky too. I think you guys saw that with Arizona last Thursday night. So, there’s a lot of risky things to it.”

After the game, Christian said in a lot of ways that the team is really close to doing everything that you should do out there on the field, especially in the run game. When you look back at the tape from the game, did you see the same thing?

“Yeah, I see that. I mean, you’d have to watch all 20 of the clips to do it, but that’s usually how the run game is. You’ve got to break some big ones, and when you don’t break any, we had about three opportunities to and a lot of people are involved in that, but we’ve got to stick with it more by being in some different games to get more opportunities of that. But, it’s no one quick thing. It’s everyone still going to work. Eleven guys blocking, 11 guys getting after it and doing better on other downs also.”

During a normal week you’re immediately correcting all the mistakes that you made in the game you just had before you move on. Does that not happen this week?

“No, we don’t have time to. I mean, we watch it all as coaches and stuff, but we don’t review it today. We came here and it was Wednesday morning and I think it’s already Thursday for us and by the end of today it’s Friday and tomorrow’s Saturday. So, we’ve got to get going, but we’ll get to it eventually.”

Do you just assume that guys are doing it on their own?

“I mean, position coaches will do it with guys. They won’t sit and review the whole game, but they’ll review specific things that we’ve got to change or we’ve got to get fixed. You’re not going to review a guy dropping a ball or something like that, but when someone’s having a missed assignment or doing something wrong, those are things you definitely get corrected.”

How concerned are you with this offense that you haven’t scored a rushing touchdown so far?

“I get concerned with scoring points. I don’t really care how we do it, so I’d like to score more points. If you score a lot of points and they’re all passing, I don’t care. If you score a lot of points and they’re all rushing, I don’t care. I just want to score points.”

It’s pretty rare for your team to play four or five on the road so early in the season. And I know you’re focused on this game, but how challenging is this block of games coming up?

“I’m not sure. I don’t even know who we have after the Rams. I know we’ve got three days off to think about that. But I mean, it is what it is. It’s always a challenge when you have more on the road, but that means you get more at home later at some time. So, it’s all how the schedule goes out and the health of your team when you’re doing it and stuff like that and could be a disadvantage, it could end up be an advantage, so don’t look too much into it.”

What NFL coaches do you think could beat up defensive coordinator Robert Saleh?

“Just me. That’s about it (laughter).”

What about Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell?

“Yeah, I would probably bet on Dan over a lot of people. Saleh’s too nice usually, but seemed like someone struck a chord the other day, but I don’t think there’s any fights going on. It was kind of comical now to look back at it.”

You said previously that you thought C.J. West could play with a cast on his thumb. Did that change after the surgery?

“No. It’s something that we’re looking into and still considering this week, so that’s why we haven’t ruled him out. That’s stuff he’s experimenting with right now.”