San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, and offensive line/run game coordinator Chris Foerster spoke with reporters after Thursday's practice. The team is preparing for its Week 10 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. Here is everything they had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
QB Jimmy Garoppolo
It's been almost two months since you came in that Seahawks game and how are you as far as kind of rhythm and feeling like your pre-injury self now?
"It's getting there. The shoulder obviously, you're always trying to get that better and better, strengthen it, be able to make some of the throws that you used to make, so I don't think that will ever go away completely. But no, I feel like I'm in a good spot. I feel like our offense as a whole, every week keeps getting better and better and we just have to keep that trend going right now."
Kyle talked about bringing in RB Christian McCaffrey, now you have WR Deebo Samuel and Christian and RB Elijah Mitchell, all the different skill-players. Does that get you a little extra fired up for Sunday Night's matchup?
"Yeah, when we got the whole regime out there, it's pretty fun. We've had two good days of practice here. It's just a matchup nightmare for defenses, it's pick your poison type of thing. And so it's my job to get those guys the ball in space, let them go run and be the special players that they are, but yeah, it's been fun so far."
What was it like throwing in those early games coming off the shoulder, what it that some throws that normally were automatic before aren't automatic anymore?
"Yeah, some are like that. Some, you see the window and you're like, 'I can make that throw.' And that split second it goes through your head and you can't make that throw the same as you used to, but one thing I've noticed is my arm just keeps getting stronger in certain areas. Stamina is always getting better each week. And we're all working at getting better at things and that's what I'm working at right now."
How about you're release, do you have to build that back up to be at the level of quickness that it was before?
"Yeah, that kind of happened earlier in the process of rehabbing everything. It's more about the strengthening, driving the ball, those types of throws, but the release, yeah, there was definitely a time where I was scared for a second, I lost it, but thankfully it's still there."
You were able to throw some a few short passes to Christian last game that they don't seem like a big deal, but if he has to slow down for them, it changes the whole play and he can't turn the corner. And it seemed like your timing with him was really good for just as short as you've been together. Did you find that you guys were compatible in that way or that he's just really good at it? Or how would you describe the way you guys got on the same page so fast?
"I think YAC comes from an accurate ball and then what those guys can do after it. The more accurate you are, the easier it is for them to go run with it. And Christian just has a natural ability to feel space and defenses, whether it's zone or man, he did both two weeks ago. There was a couple times in zone where he would just sit it down real, not slowly, but just he would feel the space, be in the right spot, being quarterback friendly and as a quarterback, it's an easy throw for you and just have to get him to the rock at that point. But yeah, he has a natural feel for it and we have a couple guys in there that could do that, have that feel, but the more guys you can get with that, the better."
Guys go down in practice with injuries frequently, but it sounds like what happened with CB Jason Verrett yesterday was particularly difficult just as a team. Can you describe kind of why that is and what the mood was?
"Yeah, it was. It was weird. It was emotional. I don't know, you see it all the time, but in our locker room, a guy that you've been a brother with as long as Jason, you've seen him go through the process of injury after injury and just grinding to come back from it. It's just tough when you see a guy go down like that because we all put in so much work. The time that you put into this game and it's unforgiving. And when you see something happen like that, it just, it breaks your heart. But that's football. It's happened to me, it's happened to all of us, it's going to happen to everyone at some point, but you just have to live with it. But yeah, prayers up for him. I love that guy, man. I feel for him."
Does somebody have to step up and say something to try to switch the morale?
"It's just part of it. I don't know. There was a moment there yesterday. Yeah, where it was awkward, kind of quiet, but you just have to move on. As cold hearted as it sounds, that's just kind of part of the business."
How do Elijah and Christian complement each other really well and how can Elijah coming back kind of maybe help out Christian getting him in space and maybe putting him out wider in the slot a little more often?
"When you have those two in the game together, that's a hell of a combo. There's a lot of combinations that we got. Guys that make it tough on defenses, but Elijah, he has a natural feel for running the ball and Christian does too, but in our offense, Elijah has just been through more plays. So having Christian being able to see that and watch Elijah do some of the plays that Christian hasn't done yet, I think will definitely benefit him."
You've seen Los Angeles Chargers S Derwin James a little bit before, but watching film of him, how does he disguise what he is going to do? He's got three sacks on the season. He seems very talented at getting in in multiple ways.
"Yeah, he's an instinctive football player. It's hard to describe, he's very instinctive. Like you might think he's going this way and all of a sudden, he feels something and he'll dart the other way and it's maybe not even part of the defensive scheme, but he just makes a play on it and sometimes you have to tip your hat to it and you just have to always account for him. Pre-snap, you have to know where he is at, see him post-snap where he is going and when he blitzes, he is trouble, so we just have to handle that."
Is it hard to determine what he is going to do pre-snap?
"Yeah, he makes it tough. He definitely does. He'll keep you guessing, but that's just the game within the game."
Is it one of those things where you don't know what he's doing, but they don't know what he's doing at the same time?
"There's part of that, but he makes it work. When the guys making plays you can't really question it, but you just have to have an awareness for him, really."
Are you a little happy you're not going against Los Angeles Chargers DL Joey Bosa?
"Yes, definitely. Yeah, Joey got me a couple times last year when we practiced against these guys, so definitely happy he won't be out there."
How about LB Khalil Mack, what do you see from him?
"Khalil, he's the same old guys as always, man. He's heavy on that edge. Strong hands, sets the edge well. I remember playing him when he was in Chicago. He's a game wrecker and we have to account for him, so it'll be important for us to handle that."
How much can you take away from those practices at all and then going against Khalil in the past, does that help you as you're preparing?
"Yeah, you could definitely pull some things from there. You have to be careful because it is a year ago and schemes change, players change, but there's definitely some things you could pull from that. And yeah, just little things."
Defensive Coordinator DeMeco Ryans
Opening Comments:
"Alright guys, just to open it up. I know everyone saw the news, heard the news about [CB Jason] Verrett, but it's just an unfortunate, devastating injury for him and for us. We all feel for J.V. We know the work that he's put in to come back and we're all saddened about what happened to him. J.V. is an unbelievable person, unbelievable leader and for us, he's been tremendous. Leading these young guys and giving us everything he's had, so it's just an unfortunate thing. We're praying for J.V., that he's able to bounce back and recover. He's been through it before, we know he will. Strong man, so all our thoughts are with him at this time, because we know how difficult it is for him and we know how much work he put in, how dedicated he was to coming back and helping his team, so it definitely hurts for us. The guys are with him and the guys around him will pick up the slack and be ready to roll."
How did he get hurt?
"Non-contact."
How close was he to probably playing on Sunday? Were you expecting him to debut?
"We were still working through it to see where he would be by the end of the week, so as he's been in the past, we've just been giving him time to work back into it."
He has such a big presence in the locker room. What's the mood like? What was the mood like at practice today?
"Yeah, as you guys would expect, it's a somber mood because all those guys have seen him working on the side, seeing him being back out there and the energy that he brought to the team, just him being back out there working, everybody seeing him work, it was definitely uplifting for the entire team to see him, so when you see him go down, it's just a somber move for everyone, coaches, players, everyone. And our support staff, everyone just feels for him."
What does it do to the cornerback room, just mentally because you've suffered a number of big injuries this season in that room?
"Yeah, the thing with injuries, they are tough, but it happens to everyone in this league. So for that room, guys just understand the position they're in. It doesn't change. You're always competing to be your best. You're always competing with yourself and guys just have to continue to do that. Guys don't have to do anything different. You have to just continue to hone their skills, work their techniques and give us the best that they can give us."
In the cornerback room, you talked about how Jason is kind of a pseudo coach in there. Who are some of the young guys he's especially given tips to and encouragement?
"Yeah, just watching him throughout the years, the way he worked with E-man [CB Emmanuel Moseley]. Throughout his time here you see the development of E-man and all the younger guys, I think just pouring into him whether it's safeties, talking to [DB] Jimmie [Ward], talking to Huf [S Talanoa Hufanga], it's all the guys, not any one guy in particular, but just all those guys when he talks, all the guys listen."
You told us the last time he went through this that he almost retired. Was he close to doing that again after Week One last year?
"I'm not sure. I can't answer that for you. That would be a question for him."
You had LB Oren Burkes step two weeks ago and play every single step after being on special teams. I assume that if LB Dre Greenlaw's back and LB Azeez Al-Shaair's back, he'll to go back to special teams, but how big is that for him to be able to do that and produce in case he's needed down the road?
"Yeah, that's where guys, you get your opportunity in this league. You never know when it's going to come. So are you ready? You don't know until you're thrust into that moment, into that position and Oren, he stepped in and he did a good job for us, played the entire game, made some big plays for us and he stepped up and did what he was supposed to do for the team. And then whatever his role is, the great part about Oren, he's a smart guy who's always ready to step in and help out at either one of those linebacker positions, so I'm proud of the way he stepped in for us and made some big time plays for us."
Has S Tashaun Gipson Sr. since he got here, exceeded your expectations?
"Watching Gip, you always seen that he's been a starter in this league. He's been a top player in his league, so he didn't exceed my expectations, but he's been everything we could have hoped for. To get a guy that late and the ease of transitioning him coming into our scheme, very smart guy picked up on it very well. And not only just smart, but a good player. He's made a lot of plays for us, coming out of the post, making some really nice tackles for us and he's been a calming force in that back end for us. And so I'm proud of Gip and happy that we were able to get him when we got him, because normally you don't find good players during that time."
Do you have any guess as to why he was unemployed in mid-August?
"No, not sure why, but I'm happy he was. He's employed now. That's all that matters."
What kind of progress has DL Drake Jackson made and what's his state of readiness if DL Samson Ebukam can't go for a bigger role?
"Yeah, Drake has been progressing each week. I've seen Drake be better and better each week, so Drake has to just continue to do what he's been doing, man, I'm happy with where he's headed. He's been doing some really good things for us and I think he'll continue to get better with the more reps that he's given. He'll continue to get better and make plays for us, so I'm happy with where he is."
Can you just speak to the Los Angeles Chargers front line, they've surrendered the least amount of sacks in the NFL so far?
"Yeah, the Chargers, I think with them surrendering the least amount of sacks, I think it's in part because of the quarterback play. [Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin] Herbert is a very talented quarterback. He does a good job of getting the ball out very quickly, going through his progressions and the accuracy is really good. This guy's one of the top quarterbacks in this league. You talk about the movement skills in the pocket and being able to make any throw on the field, I think that's part of the reason why those guys don't have to block for long, because he's making smart decisions with the football."
I don't know how far you go back when you're watching film of the opposing team, but he had a pretty severe rib injury that he played through. The feeling down there is that he's just about back to being normal again. Can you see that or could you see that he was impaired a little bit on older film?
"Oh, for sure. You can see, a rib injury, if anybody's going through it, it's tough and you definitely don't want to take more hits. So you see his game change a little bit. You see him getting the ball down to the check downs a lot more, getting the ball out even faster, but you see this last week him starting to move around. He could still move in the pocket, athletic guy, big guy. He can move around and make plays on the move, so he's a very dangerous guy that we have to be on our toes, have to be ready for him."
What makes Los Angeles Chargers RB Austin Ekeler such a dangerous player as both a big play threat but also has a check down option too for Herbert?
"Yeah, I think Austin, he's a guy, if you watch their offense, he's a guy that is trustworthy. He seems like a guy they can count on, whether it's running the ball, catching the ball, in the check downs and gaining positive yards. He gets a lot of catches because it seems like the quarterback can trust him and he does good things with the ball in his hands, so all around tough player, whether it's blocking, running the ball, catching the check downs or screens. Really respect Austin and what he's done for himself in this league. He's a really good player."
The only running back who's had any receiving success is RB Christian McCaffrey against you guys. How can he help you guys, as far as inside the building, slow down one of those versatile kind of running backs?
"Well I think every guy is his own guy, so I don't put Austin in that category with Christian. We're happy he's on our side now. We don't have to deal with him anymore, but Austin poses a different set of problems, both good players."
How are Azeez and Dre progressing back and how much can they help stop Austin?
"Yeah, we would love to have those guys back. When you're able to get two of our top players back in the middle of our defense. There's so many things that they can stop with their speed, their athleticism, their physicality that they bring to our defense. They are our defense. They symbolize everything I ask for in our defense, whether we talk about speed, physicality, like those two guys show up and make plays for us all over the field, so I'm hoping we can get those guys back because they can help the passing game, run game. They play sideline-to-sideline, so Azeez and Dre are really two good players that we'd love to have back."
Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator Chris Foerster
TE George Kittle was saying last week that having a tailback with speed like RB Christian McCaffrey, especially on the outside zone, really helps him out as a blocker because it gets his opponent, that edge defender moving and George can take advantage of that. Is that true for the offensive linemen as well? Does that speed sort of get everybody going on the hook?
"Yeah, it definitely helps and then all the backs have good speed. It does, if you can press the edge, obviously the more you threaten the defense, the more the defense moves. George talked about it a lot that that threat of getting outside that guy that George is blocking for a minute, thinks maybe this ball's going outside of me. So he moves a little more, which allows George then to move him that extra little bit, which may open up a running lane for the runner. But I think everybody in general, when the speed of the back pressing his landmark, doing what he's supposed to do in our run game, whatever the run is, it does make the defense have to react and do what they have to do a little bit faster, which then maybe we can get them to move and we can do what we want to do from that point. So it does help."
Have you been impressed with the way Christian's been able to run that play? I don't know how much he did it prior to coming here and how is he and RB Elijah Mitchell at kind of pressing the edge?
"Those guys are outstanding. Christian and Elijah both do a great job of understanding the run, understanding what they need to do to affect the defense in the run, what their read is, what landmark they're supposed to press, understanding the defense in front of them and how this play is going to play out versus the defense as well, and helping the blockers and set up the blocks. Both these guys are outstanding. The other guys were good as well. They just really have a knack for it. Christian is a natural runner in every way, shape or form. He's run some of this. I don't think he's ever been in an offense that emphasized maybe some of the plays that we do, but he's run all of them and understands all of them and really is a real student and sets up blocks excellently and does some really good things. On our touchdown run there was a little bit of a communication thing and it was very congested on the short one-yard run, and he just had the patience to wait it out and then the hole showed up and he got in the end zone. So, it was a nice run by him."
How does RB Elijah Moore look this week?
"So far, so good. Everything looks good. He's out there working and seems to be in good shape."
In general, with the zone blocking, I'm sure it's something that the longer you're in the league and the longer you practice it, the better you are at it, like everything else. But how has your inexperienced line done with that? Have you seen progress over the first eight games?
"We have. And I think we've talked about it in here before, how the game reps are so valuable and when you start running them in the game, then they start seeing the value of what you talk about in practice. When you get a full speed rep and you're like, 'Oh, now I see coach has been emphasizing this point, but maybe you haven't felt it quite because the practice just doesn't play out like that.' So, I think with each week if we continue to be able to run it, the guys do understand it a little better and there's a point of reference for young players that haven't been through it before. When you have the veteran players like [T] Mike [McGlinchey] and [T] Trent [Williams] who have done it before, you can reference, or even [OL] Dan Brunskill, you can reference things, 'Hey, remember last year remember this? Hey, we've talked about this before.' Oh yeah, jogs their memory and they're right back into it. The young guys haven't experienced this before, so continuing to practice the same things over and over, give them the reps and practice and then getting them called in the games, which Kyle's done a great job of, it allows these guys to make those improvements in every area. And so we've been able to see gradual improvement as we've gone through the year with those guys."
The Chargers have given up a lot of big plays. Teams have been able to run on them for a lot of yards and a lot of big plays. Is there a danger in looking too hard at that and seeing that's the target right there?
"Yeah, as always, you study a defense and you look at what you can do against that defense and you look at your matchups and things that you think will be good. It's always a danger to think anything is that big of a strength or that big of a weakness just as like we've talked about and before we've talked about a great player like [Los Angeles Rams DT] Aaron Donald. You have to be aware of them, but you can't be paralyzed, but you have to be aware, right? You see that they do certain things that they've maybe struggled with. Maybe that's the point of emphasis this week that they shore up. And so you can't count on that still being that. You have to always, I think I know as a, as an offensive coach, if you have a weak spot, you know that everybody's going see it and they're going to try to exploit it, and so you have to do everything you can to fix that so it doesn't stay a weak spot. There's always a danger in thinking anything's going to continue to be any certain way, but you have to evaluate the defense, evaluate what they do, see what you want to do, how you want to attack it, and what that looks like every week is always a little bit different. What they've given up, what they haven't given up, obviously that's something that we study, but yet we're going to do what we need to do to have success and win the game."
Does Los Angeles Chargers OLB Khalil Mack still look as good as he has in the past?
"He's a good player, man. He has still got really good rush skills. He's really good at setting the edge. They move him everywhere. It's hard to know where he is going to line up left and right side. He's very productive on both sides. Still a very, very good player and somebody you have to deal with."
For someone like Elijah Mitchell who had so much success as a rookie, what's the conversation about integrating the best way possible after a trade for a Christian?
"I don't know what that conversation has been between he and [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] and the running back coaches. I know I haven't had it with them. I think that most guys, they really just compete and Elijah knows he has a role. [Miami Dolphins RB] Jeff [Wilson Jr.] knew he had a role. I mean, every guy has a role here and if you play well and you and are productive, we're going to find a way to get you to the football and get you in the game. It's a long season, we need everybody, so I don't think anybody feels pigeonholed or feels like, oh, well this was my job, now it's his job. It's a long year. A lot can happen. I think these guys are just working together. I think it's really cool to see how, I think Christian talked about it with Jeff, it's the same now with Elijah coming back, is that how well these guys just help each other out and work together as teammates with the common goal to win. Yeah, everybody has individual goals of trying to be the starter and hit your bonuses and make money and do all that stuff. But I think at the end of the day, these guys all work really hard together to do what's best for the team and realizing that in the end there will be enough touches for everybody."
I don't know how you judge the outside zone runs, but have they been as efficient this year as they have been in the past or as you want them to be?
"I think there's always room for improvement. I don't think it's been where we've needed it to be. I think we've really missed some stuff. I don't think it's been as productive as it should have been. I really think that we should be, I'm not saying, 'Oh, we're going to be the greatest.' I'm really just saying that we've left some stuff out there and part of it's been because the defense has done a good job. They've done a good job. They've defended us well and we probably haven't executed as well as we need to. But there have been opportunities, there have been things that we've had, whether it be the line, whether it be the runner, whatever it is, it hasn't played out quite to our liking, which is good. I mean, we've had some success, but yet we've still got a lot of room to grow and you can always point to things through the BYE week, which we did. We pulled some tape and said, Hey guys, look, this is why this isn't going, this is what we need to fix. And it's fixable. It's like, we're just not very good at this stuff or we're not very good at this position. That's not it. It's fixable things and things that I can do better as a coach and presenting opportunities for the players as well."
For OL Aaron Banks as a first year full time starter and OL Spencer Burford as a rookie starter, how big was the BYE week for those guys? Could you see that when they came back that they needed it?
"Yeah, I think for Spencer, it was good for him. He got away, got home, which was good for him. He came back refreshed and ready to go. I think those young guys really do need the break. I think Banksy probably a little bit better. He went through it last year, even though he wasn't playing, I didn't notice as much of a sigh of relief. And Spencer's good. Spencer really has been one of the better rookies as far as coming in, doing the deal every day, having a routine, preparing. But no matter what you say, it is the second week of November and normally these guys are winding down to the end of their season these rookies and this year they've still got this as we're now just really starting our season to see where we end up at the end of this thing. But it was good for both those guys. I think more probably for Spencer than Aaron."
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