San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen addressed reporters on Wednesday as the team prepared for its first practice of the week. With the 49ers at 5-6 and sitting in last place in the NFC West, both coaches faced questions about their performances this season.
Shanahan, who serves as the team's offensive play-caller, chuckled when asked to assess his performance amid team struggles.
"That's up to you guys to grade me," Shanahan said. "I worked as hard as I can to get a win that week, and we haven't won as much as I believe we should have. We've lost three games that I feel we were capable of winning and should have won. Those are the ones that are the toughest."
The head coach declined to offer a personal evaluation, emphasizing his commitment to overcoming the adversity of this challenging season.
"In terms of grading myself, I'm not going to grade myself," Shanahan said. "I'm going to work as hard as I can. And I'm the same guy I am right now that I've always been.
"We've got to overcome some things that we're in right now, and I believe we can overcome them. But we put ourselves in a tough bind, and that's why we gotta be extremely good and successful here going forward to be able to overcome that stuff."
Sorensen echoed a similar sentiment, emphasizing his dedication to remaining focused on the task at hand.
"I'm just focused on each week. Honestly, that's the truth," Sorensen said. "If we don't win, I feel like it was not good enough. That's the truth. That's all I care about. I don't know all the numbers, whatever. I'm not here to assess where I'm at. I'm about are we winning, and then, are we getting better? Are we working hard to get better, and are we winning the game? If we don't win, it's not good enough. It's never going to be perfect, so we can always coach it and get better.
"I feel like our guys have gotten better, because we've had some new guys, and I like to see the development of them. But it's not about moral victories in that way. It's good to see our guys grow. I'm really proud of them in that they battle and they get better. And, I think, as a unit, we are getting better. You want to see it applied and win the game."
The 49ers will need both sides of the ball firing on all cylinders as they face the surging 9-2 Buffalo Bills on Sunday in a critical game that could be key to keeping their diminishing playoff hopes alive.