Head Coach Kyle Shanahan Press Conference

Head Coach Kyle Shanahan

Press Conference – May 28, 2026

San Francisco 49ers

You guys added a bunch of explosive playmakers. Looking for more explosives in the pass game, what’d you think of them today at practice?

“I thought they’ve had two good days. I never try to look into it too much. I mean, we’re just trying to get the guys out there, get them introduced to the offense and stuff and got through two healthy days, which is the biggest goal and thought we were better today than yesterday.”

Aside from that, what is your goal with this week of OTAs, next week of OTAs and then the mandatory minicamp?

“To not get anyone hurt and find any way to get better with everything we do. There’s a lot of things at this time of year that I always feel in order to get better at football, the true way, you’ve got to practice football full speed. And we’re working through a lot of that stuff right now where you learn how to do that. There are certain things with rules and things with safety that we can’t fully go by. So, our whole goal is to get as much out of this as we can while still protecting everyone.”

WR Ricky Pearsall, WR Jacob Cowing and WR Jordan Watkins were at it again. I mean, you last saw them really quick last offseason, they all got hurt. Have you seen improvement in their game other than them just simply being healthy?

“Yeah, definitely. I mean, Ricky, we got to see throughout the year battling his injuries. Jordan and Jake, we didn’t get to see quite as much of. They all came back healthy. I was really excited how Jordan and Jake came back though, you could tell they came back, it wasn’t just healthy. You could tell they’ve been putting work in and coming in here in shape and stuff has allowed them to get farther ahead in these five weeks than just coming here to get shape. They’ve come here to play and work.”

How are DL Nick Bosa, DL Mykel Williams and DL Keion White coming along?

“They’re coming along. They’re all in their rehab with a number of other guys. A couple of those guys will have a chance at training camp, and we’ll see it with Mykel as it goes.”

How will you go about incorporating WR Mike Evans into the offense? What kind of unique characteristics and traits does he bring that maybe you guys didn’t have?

“I mean, Mike’s a Hall-of-Fame receiver, so his experience of the game, what he has done in this league, just the respect he’s earned that’s different. I haven’t had many guys like that except for [former NFL WR] Andre Johnson and [former NFL WR] Julio [Jones] just with the career he’s had so far. And just what’s unique about Mike is his get-off, how he can attack down the field and I’ve never been around a guy that is that tall with that long of arms, the competitor he is. So, I’m excited to have the person in our offense and the talent.”

Some similarities from where WR De’Zhaun Stribling is coming from versus the program he’s coming into. Has he been able catch off pretty quickly? What have you seen from him?

“We’ve only been out there two days, but he’s done all our drills for the two weeks we had him in phase two. He’s been awesome in the meeting rooms, works his tail off and it’s been good to watch him in two practices. But, that’s what they’re going through right now. We throw a ton of stuff at them. They usually do well the first couple days. They usually melt the second week and they usually come back in training camp a little bit better for it.”

What have you seen from QB Brock Purdy after watching his film from last year and how he’s approaching this season? I know it’s early.

“Like he always does. I mean, Brock always comes in here not to mess around, not to be complacent in anything. He always expects us to be hard on him through the tape. He’s one of the most fun guys to coach because he is never sensitive, and he is very deliberate in everything he does out there.”

Have you worked with the coaches that you’re going to be going up against in the preseason as far as joint practices?

“Yeah, we’re most likely going to go up against Tennessee and the Chargers.”

And with the Chargers, is there any at all thought about you know you’re going to be playing them during the season as well? Does that factor into it?

“Not really, no. You stay pretty vanilla. You’re not scheming and stuff and doing stuff in practice, it’s just more getting guys a chance to go against a couple different things than they usually go against.”

I know Evans was there yesterday, didn’t see him today. Is he around? Are you just going to kind of spot some of these veterans?

“It’s voluntary, so when they’ve got stuff going on, you know, Mike had some family stuff he had to deal with back in Texas I believe. So, he was here the last two days but had to take out today and expect him to get back here next week.”

How come QB Mac Jones didn’t throw today?

“His shoulder was a little sore today. He said he could have gone through it, but it was unnecessary and gave a chance for the other guys to get more reps.”

Do you notice any sort of boost for LB Fred Warner just having LB Dre Greenlaw around?

“Maybe a little. I think there’s a boost for everybody. Everyone loves Dre being around, just the way he carries himself and how into football he is. And it’s really cool when I talk to the team to sit back there, see those guys shoulder to shoulder, and I’ve seen them like that their whole careers together, there was one year off and it’s pretty cool to get them back for everybody. But yeah, Fred’s excited.”

You have a few new defensive linemen. Do you get a chance to look at them at all right now even though like it really isn’t going until later?

“Yeah, I think that’s the biggest challenge about now. I mean, we look at them a ton in their individual drills and stuff, and that’s what they’ve been working on for really five weeks and these last two practices. We did yesterday without helmets, today with helmets just so they don’t run into each other with their teeth. But just the whole deal is nothing’s full speed, so you’re using your hands, things like that, which is more assignment based. It’s trying to give the safeties and the running backs the right look at what hole they go to, but no one’s out there really competing or trying to make a play. So, it’s more about their conditioning and giving them a chance to try to be ahead when we get to camp.”

One of the talking points during the Draft was that RB Kaelon Black didn’t have many catches in Indiana. What have you seen from him as far as route running and just how comfortable he looks catching passes?

“I see a guy that I think could be developed in the pass game. I mean, we definitely were excited about him and the first thing we loved about him was him as a runner. But, we’ve gotten a lot of guys here who didn’t start out great in the pass game, have the skillset to do it. They just haven’t worked at it that much. And I know [Minnesota Vikings RB] JP [Jordan Mason] was like that. I know [former San Francisco 49ers RB] Elijah [Mitchell] was like that. I thought those guys got a lot better and I see Kaelon being the same way. He’s got the skills to do it, just needs to work at it.”

Do you ask the veterans to come in and really take charge and be leaders throughout this whole kind of voluntary workouts? Do you have most of the guys here? Is T Trent Williams here?

“Trent’s the only guy who hasn’t been here yet. He’s coming here next week. Everyone else has been good. You guys know Mike’s missing today, but everyone’s been awesome. It’s a little different than last year. Last year we had such a mass exodus of people who had been around and carried that team for about five years in a row, that there was only about 12, 13 specific guys I was kind of talking to. And now when I kind of talk to the leaders and kind of the makeup of our team, especially from last year and stuff, there’s guys all over. I mean, it’s a bigger group now. It isn’t just veterans. There’s a number second-year players that started two years. There’s a number of third-year players who are going into their fourth year and have already started three years. So, a little different situation than last year with just the group and overall different team, that it’s a different team than three years ago definitely. But, it’s similar to the team we had last year.”

Have you had conversations with TE George Kittle about how he’s feeling? I know he was out there a little bit later. Is he saying anything interesting? I know some think he may come back earlier.

“I mean, he is on track and very positive and happy every day like Kittle is and doing good. Kittle works his tail off and he’s extremely talented and gifted, so he’ll do it as fast as you can.”

FB Kyle Juszczyk talked about how you have some of the veterans over to your house for dinner. What was your message to them?

“I did that last year for the first time, and I think I’ve told you guys about that, or other people have. That was 13 guys and it was all guys who had been here four years or longer. Just to tell them kind of the difference going into this offseason compared to the previous five. I tried to do the same thing, but when I looked up there and tried to pick those guys, there were too many of them now, there were too many guys who had kind of been a part of it. So, I just ended up inviting guys, most of the starters who had been here the last two years. It’s tough. I can’t invite 90 guys over to my house, and I don’t want to invite 50 guys over to my house right now, so I’ve got to have a spot to cut it off so it doesn’t get too much. We just talked about I wanted the guys to be in this offseason and just the group there that was starting, and doesn’t mean they’re guaranteed to start this year, but we’re the group that kind of went through it together last year and just leading us this way.”

What has been your Impression of DL Osa Odighizuwa over the last few days?

“I’ve been extremely impressed with him since the day he got here. I’ve heard about it, it was advertised. I always knew about him just from tape. Once we traded for him, all the phone calls we got and the type of guy he is. But I mean, he’s been one of the best leaders on the team so far. Just how he works, how thorough he is on everything and what he does on his own. Bringing guys along with him. Everyone from Dallas told us this and it’s been that way. He has been a stud.”

When you talk about that roster transition from two years ago to last year, you guys had set a high standard here and sometimes something can get lost in translation in that type of transition. Do you feel like that standard has been either restored, maintained, kept it intact or maybe even gone higher since then?

“I think we have a standard to, we’ve tried to talk about the standard and how we work and how we approach each day, which is with everything we’ve got. I think our standard for our team always tried to stay that way. I like to look into standard for results and stuff, but I think that was more our message last year. We can’t get obsessed with the results. You tend to get obsessed with them, especially with how close we’ve been. But, I don’t think that’s the healthiest thing for our team. I didn’t think it was last year. I think I kind of got my point across on that, and we had some success, didn’t accomplish the one goal we’re always setting out to do, but we had some success and now it starts over.”

Is Greenlaw definitely written in as the weakside linebacker? I mean he has had some injury stuff, but is that the guy who’s going to be a weakside?

“Yeah, definitely.”

Did you think about keeping Dallas Cowboys LB Dee Winters?

“Oh, we did. And lots of linebackers play also. I mean when it’s base, there’s three out there, so we would’ve loved to keep Dee. We also just looked at our overall roster when you look one to two years out. Also knowing the number of unrestricted free agents we have, the number of guys that we do feel can make this team at linebacker, the thought that we were going to add linebackers in the draft and it’s hard to stockpile players. When you can add a Draft pick and add a younger guy when you might be losing someone the next year and stuff, last thing I wanted to do is trade Dee. We love Dee as a player. We love him as a person. We know how much he’d help us as one of our top three backers, we know how much he’d help us if Dre or Fred got hurt. But then you also look into contracts, how a year out and stuff that is, what you’re doing in the Draft and sometimes you’ve got to make tough decisions like that that can possibly help you in the future.”

Who is the leader at the strongside right now?

“There isn’t a leader. It’s open for everyone. I mean, [LB Luke Gifford] Gif held that the strongest last year. But it’s open for everyone right now.”

Would LB Tatum Bethune be an option there or do you just want to save him to back up in the MIKE?

“Linebacker, just like receiver and just like interior linemen, you’ve got to be an option at all three. I mean, you’ve only got so many people up on game day, so you’ve always got to be an option. We do believe MIKE’s Tatum’s strength, that’s what he did in college. That’s where we feel his skillset is at the best. But, we usually have five guys make it, sometimes six. You’re always going to usually keep the best five or the best six, however that pans out.”

Would you say that Nick Bosa is here rehabbing?

“Yes.”

And then what’s the interest level in signing his big brother?

“I love signing good players. But I mean, my kids do Instagram and look at your guys’ stuff, so they ask me that all the time too. Not hearing about all that stuff much. I know I look at our team as kind of we have our team and anyone else that we can figure out to bring, especially someone like that, that’d be awesome. But, that stuff’s not always possible.”

You’ve been pretty vocal about going to Australia Week 1, but the League scheduled you guys three home games after that. Just your thoughts on that after going to Australia?

“I mean, three home games is irrelevant. That doesn’t mean anything. It means you’re going to have three more road games in December and January. So, that’s my answer on three home games.”

Where does LB Nick Martin stand in that linebacker room? It took a while for him to get on the field last year and he had a concussion.

“I think we’ve got two guys who established as starters, and I think we’ve got a big-time competition for our three, four, five and six.”

You were very positive about RB Jordan James at the end of last year saying that you were kind of keen to get him in, but the opportunity didn’t show up. What have you seen from him now, back on the field?

“Similar to I think what someone asked earlier about Jordan Watkins and Jake. I’m always curious how these guys are going to come back when we see him for the first time in April or the end of March, whenever that is. And sometimes guys come off their rookie year, and they finally relax because they’ve been going since their bowl game, since the combine and they come really out of shape and those are the guys that usually have a sophomore slump or the guys that don’t get it. And so, I was really curious to see how he came back and it was really cool. He came back in shape on day one which I think has allowed him to really gain ground in these five weeks. He didn’t come here for us to get him in shape. He came in shape and it allows him to get better at football.”

What’s going on with RB Isaac Guerendo?

“Guerendo tore his pec lifting about a month ago.”

Is that a season-ender?

“It’s not a season-ender, but it’s right around the end of training camp.”

As far as that strongside spot at linebacker, is it too much to think that LB Jaden Dugger could come in and play that role? He seems kind of custom built for it, but he’s also a rookie.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s too much. We’ve had rookies come in here and play at linebacker. If you look at Greenlaw and you look at Fred. I’m not trying to compare anyone to those two guys, but it’s always a possibility. I mean, the spot is open. We have two established guys and we can have an on-the-ball linebacker as our third, we can have an off-the-ball linebacker. We’ve got a number of different skill sets in that room this year and I think it’ll be one of the more fun positions to watch how it plays out.”

Just reading between the lines, it doesn’t seem like you’re too thrilled about your schedule.

“I mean, I try to answer questions without, like I told you guys when you guys asked, I said ‘when you get it, you just deal with it.’ And that’s what I’m dealing with. Now, you’d rather not travel that much, and I don’t care as much about that. It’s more about recovery.”

Are you guys doing anything special with the Australia trip? How early are you going to get in? Do you spend another night there? What are you guys doing?

“Usually when you travel with a 19-hour flight, you don’t want to get there the day before because you lose like a whole day there or two and you’re just messed up. The people we’ve talked to, you don’t feel normal until like the third or fourth day. So, we’d like to go out seven days early. But, since it takes a day and a half to travel there, we’re going to go nine. I think we leave on Wednesday and land on a Friday. And so, then we get there about seven days before our game. I think it’s Friday, we play Thursday or Friday morning Australian time, Thursday here. So that’s it.”

You’ve adjusted camp here a little bit, right? Because of that?

“You have to. I mean, when we’re starting, everyone gets that bye week after your fourth week. The whole NFL gets three bonus practices and four mandatory days off. We’re traveling on that third day to Australia, so you kind of miss that week to recover and to have those days off and those bonus days. So, it ends up being about a week different than usual.”

Would you like to have your extra week of practice here? Or in your mind you were having an extra week of practice there?

“I would love to have three extra bonus practice here and then four days off like everyone. But, when you open on a Thursday on the other side of the world, you lose that because it takes a couple days to travel there. It takes a couple days to adjust.”

Would you start camp earlier?

“We can’t start camp earlier. Camp starts based off of, I think 15 days away from your first preseason game. So, you just lose those days.”

Have you already finalized plans for Mexico City?

“We haven’t finalized it yet, but we’d love to stay here and go there. It’s a shorter flight, but that’s not really the issue. The main thing with Mexico City is it’s 2,000 feet higher than Denver. And so, we like to get adjusted to that altitude. So, we’ll probably go to Colorado Springs again like we did last time to get ready for that altitude and then probably go to Mexico City the night before.”

Will you do that straight from Dallas?

“We haven’t decided that yet, but most likely. We’ll probably end up, the Mexico City trip will probably be a longer one than the Australia one, just because of that.”