Offensive Coordinator Klay Kubiak Press Conference

Offensive Coordinator Klay Kubiak

Press Conference – September 4, 2025

San Francisco 49ers

How much less stressful is it going into Week One knowing that WR Jauan Jennings is on the better side of possibly being out there, given the calf and the contract negotiations. How does it feel to have him out there?

“It’s great. Yeah, less stressful to have Jauan out there. A great player, big part of our team. Nothing like seeing his smiling face out there playing and he gives us energy and he’s a great player. So real excited to have Jauan. Happy to see him out there on the field on Sunday.”

To follow up, against Seattle, that’s one less position you have to worry about having someone who’s accustomed to the system. That’s what I mean by less stress. Do you feel that now that he’s available?

“Yeah, it definitely takes a little bit of a burden off bringing guys up to speed, especially some of the new guys we have in who maybe would’ve played a bigger role had Jauan not been ready this week. But you know, Jauan also hasn’t been out there in practice. You’re bringing him up to speed from a physical standpoint too, but yeah, it definitely takes some of the burden off those guys, but we’re expecting contribution from those guys regardless. So, but to answer your question, yeah, it’s definitely better.”

Have you been in touch with the Seahawks offensive coordinator much?

“A little bit. This week’s been a little quiet, so we’re giving each other our space and look forward to seeing him on Sunday.”

Going back to childhood, have you had many head-to-head battles?

“This will be our third time going against each other in the NFL, obviously nothing outside of that. So, it’s a really cool thing. It’s a cool experience, it’s pretty rare, so we treasure them for sure, but it’s a little awkward during the week, but it’ll be fun on Sunday.”

Do you try and guess what he’s going to do or how do you play that the mental game beforehand?

“It’s not my job. It’s interesting that we’re on the same sides of the ball, so we’re really not competing against each other. That’s for [defensive coordinator] coach [Robert] Saleh to figure out. And same for him.”

What makes Seattle Seahawks heac coach Mike MacDonald’s scheme unique and effective?

“I mean, they’re really well coached, that’s the biggest thing. Whether it’s unique is one thing. I mean, it’s, yeah, it’s unique in that they’re really well coached. The way all their coverages tie together, the blitzes tie together, it’s a really coherent, cohesive scheme and you can tell they’re really well coached. You can tell they coach detail, and they play very hard. They tackle, they do fundamentals well, but they also challenge you mentally and as a play caller, they challenge you schematically. So, he’s definitely one of the best, hardest guys to go up against and it’s going to be a challenge.”

Head coach Kyle Shanahan called RB Christian McCaffrey a psycho in a good way. How would you describe his drive to get to this point now after he’s come back and where he is at Week One?

“Yeah, I mean, he hasn’t done anything we didn’t know he was going to do. He has that gene, whatever it is, where he is just so driven and he’s not going to be deterred from his goal. And it’s been awesome to see him just starting the offseason and just carry him through training camp to where he is at now. Just a lot of respect for Christian and how he takes care of himself, how he prepares and, and whatever word you want to use. Yeah, he’s unique in that way.”

Can you even quantify how much confidence he gives the staff and teammates?

“Yeah, I mean, no. He gives everyone confidence. He’s one of our leaders. He’s one of our best players and when he’s rolling and feeling good our team has a pretty good mindset.”

WR Ricky Pearsall missed a lot of time earlier in the offseason, but since he returned, he hasn’t really missed any time. How much has he improved during this span?

“A lot. He missed OTAs and he had the setback coming into camp, but since he came back, I don’t think Ricky’s missed a beat. And you can just see the growth; you see it in training camp every day. You saw it in the preseason game, and that’s been huge for him. That’s what he needed. He needed to string together weeks and stack practices to really start to grow as a player. And he has done that. And so, he has given himself a great chance to have a good year. So, I’m happy where Ricky’s at.”

How will the play calling go on Sunday? Is Shanahan going to take the reins and then how will you kind of chime in?

“Yeah, Kyle calls the plays. Obviously, I called them in the preseason. I had to talk to the quarterbacks, but Kyle communicates to the quarterback. You know, play calling, it is collaborative in some regard. Like, we’re always communicating, we’re always suggesting things and giving ideas in certain situations. And Kyle does a great job of taking that information in and processing it and then letting that be whatever he wants to call. But so, he’s calling plays, but like always, it’s a collaborative process between me, him, our [assistant head coach/offensive] line coach Chris [Foerster], [run game coordinator/tight ends] Brian Fleury, and anyone who kind of sees things as the game goes on.”

To follow up on that, at the college level, in-game adjustments have really changed because of technology. Like how hard is it and how has it changed since you got into the league?

“Since I’ve been in the league, it hasn’t changed much. You have the tablets to see kind of the pre-snap and post snap of each play. So, we kind of haven’t gone beyond that in the NFL. We’ve talked about this before, but there’s sometimes it’s having too much information, too much video in between plays, it can cloud your mind with too much stuff. And the simplicity of the picture is, it’s kind of what we know. It’s kind of how we know how to make adjustments in games. So, I don’t know any different way. So, I’m not going to compare it to anything else.”

TE George Kittle is almost 32 now, and the last couple seasons since you’ve been here. Has there been any curiosity of like is this guy going to be the same. Have you noticed anything as far as slippage?

“George is in as good of shape, looks as good as he’s ever looked to me. And that’s a credit to him for how he handles his off season, how he takes care of himself in the off season, during the season. He’s a specimen in that way. I mean, he’s really, to me in the best shape he’s ever been in as a player. And it just speaks to how he prepares and it’s really cool.”

QB Brock Purdy has established himself as a terrific scrambler. When you watch him run, do you think, man, we need to design some runs for him?

“Brock can run. I mean, I don’t want to reveal plans or anything. And we’ve had plays for Brock to design run. It depends on the scheme you’re going against too. You know, you do want to avoid your quarterback getting hit. That’s always a big part of it. But if we see something and we think there’s a way to take advantage of it, we always try to, it doesn’t mean it’s going to get called, but we go into games with stuff for Brock.”