Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – November 13, 2021

San Francisco 49ers

Opening comments:

“Alright guys, injuries. [DL Maurice] Mo Hurst is out. [RB JaMycal] Hasty is out. [WR Mohamed] Sanu [Sr.] is out. [S] Tavon Wilson’s out. [CB Dre] Kirkpatrick’s out. [DB] Jimmie Ward’s questionable, [CB] Josh Norman, questionable and [DL] Arden Key’s questionable.”

With Kirkpatrick being out, does that put both of the rookie cornerbacks in uniform for Monday?

“Yes.”

How is DL Arik Armstead coming along?

“He’s coming along alright. I think he’s doing a little bit better this week than he was last week. So, hopefully he’ll feel good Monday.”

It doesn’t completely change your gameplan having Los Angeles Rams WR Robert Woods out for the season, but with the possibility of Los Angeles Rams WR Odell Beckham Jr. going in, do you look at his old film or do you look more focusing on the Rams and what they do and how they could possibly put him in?

“I’m sure corners study, you study your player when it comes to man-to-man coverage, but it’s more of the scheme and the offense. I’m guessing his reps will go up with that injury happening to Robert, but we’ll have to find out on Monday.”

How has OL Jaylon Moore looked this week and what’s his demeanor like? It seems like he’s a pretty steady guy. Is he like that?

“Yeah, his demeanor has been very impressive since he’s gotten here. Doesn’t talk a ton, but pretty poised. Nothing seems too big for him. That’s kind of how he played in the Indy game. I thought it was an adjustment for him moving to the right earlier in the week, but I think he got better each day with the reps.”

What are the challenges of flip-flopping sides?

“Just what foot you have up, the way you kick every second. It’s muscle memory and you bank thousands and thousands of reps moving a certain way and everything’s the opposite on the other side. How you move, how you set, how you stand, play calls that sound one way where you’re always doing something now it’s kind of the opposite in your head. So, I didn’t play O-Line, so it’s kind of surprising at first, but then when you really think about it in the world they’re in, it is a big deal for those guys.”

You’ve mentioned in the offseason you happened to be watching more Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford video than you had in the past and you came to appreciate him in a different way. I mean, you knew he was good, but you were like, ‘wow, he’s really good.’ What about his game did you recognize that you hadn’t before?

“You rarely sit and put a lot of time studying quarterbacks, franchise quarterbacks. I mean, you watch them, you study them a little bit, but you rarely look into it like you would a draft pick. But when the possibility, when everyone found out that he wasn’t going play in Detroit and was going to eventually get traded then study him like a college player, you study everything about him. So you always knew he was a Pro Bowl player, but when you watched it all, just seeing how good of a quarterback he is. With getting the ball to the right spots, how he plays in the pocket, how he’s good at getting rid of the ball when they don’t block, how he’s good at when they block well holding onto it for the big play. He plays the game at a high level and his talent is one of the better talents that I’ve ever seen.”

Why do you think Los Angeles Rams RB Darrell Henderson Jr. has started to look more comfortable in their offense? It felt like it took a while and now it’s sort of clicked for him.

“He’s been there a couple of years now and I think when you get forced into those roles with the injuries that they had, the more reps that’s you get you get better or worse. You never stay the same. And he’s a skilled back with talent and getting more experience and I’m sure he gets coached up after each game and he learns from mistakes and learns from the good and bad. And it usually happens with most of the players that have that ability and especially when they can stay healthy.”

We saw just the warmups of course, but it seemed like the energy was a little higher today than it was on Thursday. Did it feel more like there–?

“I don’t know, when it just goes to warmups, maybe it’s because Thursday is our hardest practice of the week and they’re a little more into stuff or focused and ready to go on that. And today is a little slower speed. You’re reviewing a lot more and maybe they liked the songs more in stretch. I’m not sure, but I thought that we had a good week energy-wise and I know our guys are pretty pumped for Monday.”

You guys have largely dominated the Rams. When you see Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, I’m not sure on the status of your relationship, but you’re friendly. Does that come up?

“No. Regardless, you’d like to win head-to-head battles, but I’d take a better record. So you go off that year-to-year and they had a better record than us last year. So, I know we beat them twice, but would always take the record over that.”

I know you love QB Trey Lance questions, but I’m asking because you said something on KNBR, I just wanted to make sure that I interpreted it right. Is it that the injury that he suffered in Week 5 kind of set him back essentially a month and he had to sort of get back to the level he was going into that game and is it the case now that he’s now at that level?

“Yeah, I think with all players, if you had an injury that had him out for a couple of weeks, the entire Bye Week, where he’s not able to throw and do anything and then the next week. So when you miss two weeks, usually guys, when you do get a little bit of a setback, not much, but, he’s gotten back to where he was. I think his knee is a hundred percent now and he’s feeling pretty good.”

When the WR Jalen Hurd waiver happened, how did you guys give up on his ability to come back from that knee injury?

“We realized he wasn’t going to come back this year. We were giving him as much time as we could. We all felt very strongly that if he ever could come back how much he could have helped us. But for the third year in a row, just with his unluck with these injuries, how it was healing, we knew it wasn’t going to be this year and just going into a fourth year in a row of it would just be too much of a risk for our organization. So, we had to move on.”

DL Darrion Daniels was one of your scout team players of the week. Who was he working as out there?

“He was working as [Los Angeles Rams DL] Aaron Donald, and he did a hell of a job this week. Always when guys put on his jersey and try to work like him it seems like they all up their game a little bit. And he had a hell of a week and did a great job preparing us.”

The other two were TE Jordan Matthews and FB Josh Hokit?

“Yes. Yep.”

Do you ever encourage them to keep trying to do that?

“Yeah. I was joking today or the other day, because it happened to [DL] Kevin Givens a couple of years ago. He had his best week of practice the day he emulated him. If that’s what it is then they should wear that jersey under theirs, whatever they have to do to get their game better.”

Was there a play in particular that you’ve pointed out to your team this week, preparing for the Rams?

“From last time we played them? Yeah, a lot of plays because you always go back to the history of it, especially when schemes are very similar in how you play each other and how they adjust each game. But I try to show that our guys, the mindset that it takes to win, to compete to try to make it a certain type of game. And I really liked how we’ve finished with the ball the last four times that we played them and being able to end with taking a knee or kicking a field goal.”

How did RB Jeff Wilson Jr. get through the week and what kind of role do you envision for him?

“He got through good and he was better than last week. Had a little bit of a scare on Wednesday. Just felt something and it scared him, so that’s why he went off. But ended up checking out fine and finished good yesterday and had a good one today.”

Do you expect him to get more with Hasty out?

“Yeah, I do.”

Can you identify, is there a player that pops to mind, who got the most out of his talent that you’ve coached, whether it was a good talent who became a great player or a no talent who became a good player?

“There’s a number of them. I wasn’t prepared for that one. I thought [Atlanta Falcons QB] Matt Ryan was unbelievable in his preparation, how much he worked, but he was also the third pick in the draft and was very talented too. But just how he was every week. I think [C] Alex Mack, the way he locks in and how much stuff he goes through in the week. I think [LB] Fred Warner has been that way. Fred has never taken a day off since his first day here. Those were the first guys to come to my head.”