Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Chris Foerster

Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Chris Foerster

Press Conference – November 7, 2024

San Francisco 49ers

How much more do you get out of pass protection when you have RB Christian McCaffrey on the field?

“I think all the guys do a really good job. I’d put him in the category. Christian’s always done a good job with protection, but I think the other guys do a good job as well. So, I think there’s much of an uptick. Everything’s an uptick with Christian, I’m not going to joke. Everything gets a little bit better with him, obviously. But I wouldn’t say it’s that big a difference.”

Is there a player in the league quite like Tampa Bay Buccaneers DL Vita Vea in terms of size?

“No, I’m trying to think of one, big guy from Baltimore last year [Baltimore Ravens DL Michael] Pierce I think his name is. He was a similar player, big guy. Vita Vea is one of a kind. I remember last time we played him up here last year or two years ago, I don’t remember which game it was. It might’ve been two years ago. They said he was sick pregame like he wasn’t going to play. We’re all hopeful. And I go out there and he’s playing, what’s that game where they kick the bag around…hacky sack. He looks like a like a middle schooler playing hacky sack. He’s three hundred and fifty pounds kicking the ball in the air. It’s unbelievable how good he is. He’s really talented, very agile for such a big, gigantic man.”

When they line him up sometimes as an edge rusher. What kind of challenge is that?

“It’s hard, yeah. Obviously, you can get some more help. Sometimes you can get a little more help to him with a back or a tight end as well. It is scary to think that he has a running head start at the quarterback. But I did say this morning, he’s got that direct line to the quarterback right over the center in the A-gap. It makes it difficult. He’s a challenge for everybody.”

Does he remind you of anyone?

“Well, the thing is, these guys today have become better pass rushers. There’s some great players in the past. I’m not quite sure they were as big as him, but I won’t go through the list of guys due to time today. The guy is an edge. He can get on an edge and be a good rusher as well as a power guy, which makes him unique.”

What about Tampa Bay Buccaneers DL Calijah Kancey? He had a couple sacks last week. He’s not the same build but he’s really effective player.

“Guys are excellent pass rushers on the edge. They’ve got good length; they’ve got good speed. They’re great speed to power guys kind of like the guys from the Rams do a good job with that. They’re up the field, they have long arms, they’re able to push the pocket and condense the pocket. This team can condense the pocket and make it collapse. Then [Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach] Todd Bowles does a great job with his pressure package as well, where guys come free and create some issues as well.”

How has OL Jon Feliciano looked in practice and have you been looking at him more as a center this year versus a year ago?

“Nope. He’s the same. Right now, he’s competing. He’s trying to get well and see where he is as his progression as far as rehabilitation towards being active. We’re looking at him right now as the backup center, guard. So, if we something were to happen to the guard, he could go in, something happen to the center, he would go in. Definitely not looking at him at this point in a starting capacity. He’s in a backup capacity at this time for as well as the guys that are playing in the interior three at this point. But we’re great to have Jon because we have a true starter in a backup role. [OL] Nick Zakelj who’s been playing that role as a backup center and then [OL] Spencer [Burford] being the backup third guard. I think we feel like we have a guy that’s started and played more football at both positions and it’s great to have as a backup.”

I know it was a little before you got here, but in 2018 RB Jared McKinnon had signed here and got hurt right before the season. Head Coach Kyle Shanahan had said at the time, it really kind of blew up all of our plans of what we did the whole season. Has there been a similar thing with Christian this year where it’s made it difficult to kind of just adapt your offense because you don’t have as many variables with what you can do with him?

“I don’t think it feels the same way. I think that there’s other players that have kind of learned from Christian a year ago. Christian was not in and out last year, but the guys had to step in and we had to continue to play with [RB Jordan Mason] JP or whoever if Christian was in and out of the game and things like that. So I think we felt real confident that without Christian there, we all know that he brings a whole different dynamic to how we can game plan and how defenses approach us. So yeah, the defense may approach us differently, but I don’t think it caught us quite as – I think at that point, I wasn’t here to remember exactly, but I think it was a little bit more like, gosh we were really counting on him and without him, there really wasn’t somebody else that was going to pick up that slack that we encountered for him to do. I think we have guys now that can kind of do a little bit, albeit not as much or as good.”

Do you handle the Byes here differently than other places you’ve been? The record here post Bye is pretty good.

“It’s changed because the league kind of said what to do. I remember my first year in Tampa, going back now in the dark ages, the 1990s. We had actually full practices because we were one and eight. So [former Head Coach Tony] Dungy was like, let’s go out there, we’re starting from square one and we just did full padded practices all the way until Friday. How time has changed, right? So now the league slowly mandates less and less time for us to be able to be available that the players are able to work. So we kind of go off what the league does and what they say. And we’re really hesitant to do much banging around in the Bye weeks. I think it’s paid off. I think it’s coming back from the Bye that’s so critical and important as to how you can take care of your players coming back.”

How’s Christian looking? How’s he feeling? How’s the team responding to him being back?

“Everybody’s always positive to have him back. It’s always good to have a great player back on the field working with you. And when he’s out there, he practices so hard and everything’s right. That’s the thing you see, like all of a sudden, he runs his own play and as well as [JP] and [RB] Isaac [Guerendo] have done and the other guys. It’s like all of a sudden it’s just ‘bam’ and he hits the hole right in time, perfect timing, perfect pacing of the play, catches some balls down the field and things like that. It’s nice. Again, it’s a process getting ready to play. There’ll be no decisions made until later in the week obviously. But having him back out just being out there and practicing like you’ve asked is really cool for the whole team. It energizes everybody. At the same sense, you always got to temper that too because you just don’t know, as a guy’s trying to get his feet back under him, is he going to be ready to go?”

Bowles likes a blitz heavy scheme. Is it different than what Minnesota does? Both are kind of blitz heavy teams.

“Different. It’s different. I can’t explain exactly why, but there’s some similarities and I think there’s a little bit of give and take. Todd’s gravitated a little bit towards some of the things that he’s seen [Minnesota Vikings Defensive Coordinator Brian] Flores doing and then vice versa. So, Flores has always kind of done what he’s done. But similar, but it’s not like identical.”

Does having Christian on the practice field help those younger guys in terms of whether it’s route running or just the little techniques and having him hit a hole?

“They’ve all seen it before. This is the first time for Isaac getting a full dose of it. So, I think it’ll help to see him and see how he practices, see how he plays, see how he prepares, all those things.”