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Transcripts provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
Opening comments:
"For the game we've got [LB] Oren Burks will be questionable and [DL] Kalia Davis will be questionable."
So that's pretty good news on WR Deebo Samuel. What does it mean to have him not be a factor as far as the injury report?
What are the injuries with Burks?
"Burks had a collision yesterday. So, he's got a shoulder."
What do you see in Detroit Lions RB Jahmyr Gibbs? Are there any similarities to RB Christian McCaffrey just with the traits and size and all those things?
"They're both really good backs. He's a rookie in this league. But everyone knew seeing him coming out of college how good he was going to be. He's just getting started. He's going to have a hell of a career. The speed he has is as good as anyone's. But he also runs hard. He can make the cuts. He's got another good back to pair with him."
"Yes."
What did you learn from QB Brock Purdy on Saturday?
"Nothing that we don't already know. I thought he did enough to win us that game. He was a stud at the end, especially on that final drive. Same guy he's been every day."
In December you said about Brock and other players that you'd rather have a player that's hard on themselves than the other way around. I'm curious, how do you assess yourself and how hard are you on yourself?
Have you had people that know you say that they think you're too hard on yourself?
"Yeah. I think if you're not hard on yourself, it's kind of hard to put in the work and stuff that it takes I think to be an NFL coach. I think most of us are pretty hard on ourself. We're kind of perfectionist because you know how hard it is to win games for everybody. So you demand a lot out of everybody, just like you demand a lot out of yourself. It's a very fine line of winning and losing so you question every single thing, every single moment and that always starts with yourself."
We won't talk to you until the end of the game. What are the final 48 hours before the game like for you?
"Usually the final 48 hours are a lot better than the first 48 hours. It gets more relaxing as the week goes. You feel more prepared. You always start out the week stressed out. You pull out tape. There's a lot to absorb in. I think always when you can do the best is you start out a week with a fear to fail. That's always what gets you to work and put in the stuff. You want that to be natural that you can make that go away. Usually by the work you put in, the plan you put together, watching the players do it, going through the practice, getting to know another team, usually by the time you get to this time, which after this we consider kind of our weekend because we get out of here about three hours. It's a lot more relaxing. You catch up on sleep. You get ready for a Saturday night meeting tomorrow. Usually watch a movie Saturday night before I go to bed. You wake up and it's on. It's something you've been getting ready for and you're ready for it by Sunday."
"I don't know. We haven't thought about that yet."
Have you considered that?
"He might."
Does he have any sort of limitations at all?
Does he risk further damaging the shoulder if he plays?
"No."
Is it a shoulder bruise?
"I don't know. I don't ask questions like that."
"Not at all. Then I'd have to be lying now. It's real easy for me when I don't know."
You said on Wednesday that you were feeling better about potentially his status. Were you able to kind of treat the game plan normally?
"Yeah, you've always got to have contingencies. But just talking to him how he felt Monday compared to Saturday. He had shoulder stuff earlier in the year and comparing it to then and the difference and by the time how he felt on Wednesday. We were real worried right after the game because he couldn't go back in and couldn't finish that, which is always a concern. But you get the medical reports and you know that it is possible, just depends on the pain tolerance and how it heals. He had a great practice yesterday and then by today he's full-go and stuff. So kind of out of sight out of mind right now."
Having gone through this game three years in a row, four times in the last five years, are there notes you write yourself during the week to maybe to remind yourself on game day not to forget whether it's plays or just a message you want to convey to your team?
What are your thoughts on OL Alfredo Gutierrez?
"Yeah, well I love Alfredo. He's been awesome. You never know how it's going to be when you get that extra player, but to get a guy of Alfredo's size and stuff like that, it's been great to be able to use him and things. I think he's got a lot of better since he has been here. He's an awesome dude. Guys love him. For Christmas he got me a Mexican bottle of tequila with a real scorpion in it. So, I thought that was pretty cool."
What are your thoughts of OL Isaac Alarcon coming to the team?
"I don't know yet. So I'm looking forward to getting to know him."
"Oh, it's way past due. Raheem's one of the best coaches I've been with. I got to work with him earlier in my career in Tampa. When I was young I was trying to get my dad to hire him as a D-Coordinator. He ended up becoming a head coach so fast. Then I got a chance to work with him in Washington. Then Atlanta, he actually was on defense. He got to come work with me on offense for a year. The fact that he was on defense his whole career and can came to be our receiver coach, it was unbelievable how cool he was. How good he did. Always tried to get him here every single year. But Raheem's been one of the best. He's going to hell of an organization, a good situation with good people. I'm really happy for Atlanta that they got him and more than happy for Raheem."
What happened with DL Clelin Ferrell? We didn't have a chance to ask you about that when you put him on IR, but you thought at first he might be able to come back?
"Yeah, we were trying to and there's always a risk with it. But, you've got to weigh in those percentages and stuff. We tried to give him as long to wait as we could before we went through and got a surgery for him. He wanted to wait at first because everybody wants a chance if we can win this game and him have a chance to be ready in two weeks if that happens. But when we just looked into it and all the scenarios it wasn't the best thing for him and would've been too much risk. It really wasn't worth that risk. So we had to go through with the surgery."
How would you assess his contributions and was he missed in the playoff game?
What's your final message to the team?
"I'll tell them that tomorrow night. But, won't be anything magical. Our guys are ready for the moment. We'll say a few things tomorrow night, which is always extremely overrated. We'll get to bed and we'll get up ready to go."
QB Brock Purdy
When it comes to trying to diagnose when the Lions are going to bring pressure, what kind of distinguishes them and how they do it as opposed to some other teams you might face?
"They do a good job of sort of holding it and disguising it. There's a lot of looks where it looks like it's just a base coverage and all of a sudden they're bringing guys from different directions. And when they do blitz, they have certain coverages that are behind their blitzes, but like I said, they do a good job with bringing different guys and sort of holding their water and not showing it. So, I think that's the difference. Across the year, other teams will sort of have some tips and clues and stuff, but I think these guys do a pretty good job of switching it up and making it hard for the quarterback to recognize it. So, it'll be a good challenge."
"I feel like we usually go into it having a good plan. And so the minute they do it, and if we're on it I think it's sort of like a high-risk, high-reward kind of thing for both sides. If we're ready and have a good plan for it, all it takes is a five-yard throw or something and we can turn it into a big gain. They're a couple guys short. So, we've gone into games where defenses that blitz a lot, we usually have a good plan for it, but that's just the receivers and myself being on top of it. And when they give us those opportunities, we have to be ready for it and if we're not ready for it, then we can get exposed."
This is your first year as a starter. You led this team to two NFC Championship Games. You're a finalist for the MVP. What does that tell you about yourself?
"I've just been taking it one day at a time. Since last year, once I stepped into the role, for me it's never been about all the hype and the glory and all that kind of stuff. It's been about how can I help this team win. I have a really good squad around me and they've helped me get to where I'm at with my game and helped me get better. And so, here we are, second year in a row in the NFC Championship, very thankful for it, but obviously we have a bigger goal in mind and we have to handle business this Sunday. So, that's where my mind is at with that."
What kind of emotional boost does it give the team that WR Deebo Samuel is good to go?
What kind of emotions or confidence did you get from rewatching the film of the last drive?
"Like I said before, the season, it's on the line. That was probably our last drive that we were going to have in that game. And so all of us, when you're watching the film, you could just tell everyone's on top of their stuff, everyone's detailed in every move from the O-Line in their pass sets to the receivers running to their landmarks and getting to where they need to be. And then obviously making smart decisions and not forcing anything. So, you could just tell there was a lot on the line and I think we played our best ball in that moment. So, it was encouraging watching for all of us and just have to keep building and carry that into this game."
You talked on Wednesday about not getting to the check downs the way you wanted to early in that game and then in that last drive you did. What caused that kind of realization for you to actually execute that?
"I feel like there's times in the game where you're aggressive and you can think that there's a window there and make a play. Where in that moment it was okay, obviously every decision is on the line here, so just go through what the coaches have taught all the quarterbacks and be smart. Not that you're going to be timid and conservative, but if the defense isn't running what we're looking for, then take the check down. And I feel like during the game it was sort of looking for a big play periodically. So definitely was playing with some conviction on that last drive and I think it obviously went well if I had that same mindset, so something that I looked at in the film and learned from it. So, it was good."
"I think, just obviously in that moment it's everyone makes it a big deal. Like, okay, this could be it, but for me it was like, man, it's football, it's 11 on 11, I've got dudes around me that are really good, they're going to do their job well, I have to do my job and let's go execute and put a drive together. So, keeping it simple in a sense is what I took away from it."
What do the next 48 hours look like for you?
"The same as really this whole year, just in terms of going through my process on a Friday night, Saturday morning, come here for a walk-through Saturday and continue to study the plays and everything, but at the same time, keep it simple. All year I've had a process in how I handle my stuff and how I get ready for a game and I try not to overcomplicate things and so other than that I'm going to just go into this game just like I have all year, so I'm excited for it."
Are you superstitious at all? Do you eat the same food every Friday or anything like that?
Hearing you talk about making those decisions in the moment, you could say the same about the play calling and what that is like. Do you ever talk with coach about that, the similarities between him calling plays and making those decisions and trying to use his preparation? Do you talk about the similarities between coaching and quarterbacking in that way at all?
"I think throughout the week he does a really good job with just explaining why he's calling plays, what we're trying to attack, how we feel about plays. He always asks us how we're feeling about it and if we're confident in running it. So, he does a good job with that. And then honestly when he asks me what I'm thinking in certain situations and stuff, I tell him and I tell him exactly what I was thinking in the game and moving forward how I'm feeling about stuff. So, we're on the same page a lot of the times about a lot of things. And for him, he does a good job, like I said, making sure that we're all comfortable with running what he's calling. All of us, not just the quarterbacks, but players in general. So we all want to play for him. He does a great job with staying on the same level as us and explaining what we're attacking and what we're trying to do. So he's done a good job with that. I think he's one of the best in the league at doing it, and we've seen it for a while."
How much do you think your experience in college playing four years and some big games on the road being asked to carry an offense prepared you for coming into this and playing in games and circumstances like this?
"Yeah, I think it was good to play four years of college ball and go and play in different environments and stages and levels, the games being on a higher level. So, for me I took a lot away from those kind of games. I think it helped sort of build me into who I am just in terms of finding out what I do good and what I don't and how it can be better. So, I definitely remember a lot of games where I feel like it was a high-stakes game and how I performed and so I can sort of go back to those experiences and remember, man, I should have done this better or I remember I did do that well. So, for this game, NFC Championship, I want to keep it simple, not blowing it out of proportion in my mind or anything, but at the same time, sort of have some juice because this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. So have to be excited about that more than anything too."
"Yeah. I mean, I feel like all year, they've been the same guys in the locker room. They've believed in me since I've stepped in since last year. And throughout the year I feel like I've grown and we've all grown together, so definitely blessed to have these guys in the locker room with me and they've definitely had my back through the good and the bad. We've been through some stuff this year and it hasn't all been pretty. There's been some good times, there's been some tough times, but through it all, these guys have continued to have my back and show love and we go to war together, so very thankful for them."
What do you remember from Detroit Lions RB David Montgomery back in college and did you give any input to the defense at all about what kind of guy he is?
"David was one of the hardest workers I've ever been around. That's the kind of guy that just doesn't go down easy. He's always moving his feet, explosive, great quick cuts. And this week I haven't really been able to talk to my defense about that. I mean, they've seen him, I think a lot just the last couple years when he was in Chicago, so they know who he is. But yeah, I have nothing but love and respect for David and what he's done and it's a tough dude to get to. He's mentally strong, he's tough, he's physical and it's going to be a good challenge to go up against him again."
