San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters after Saturday's practice as the team prepares for its Week 17 matchup against the Detroit Lions. Here's everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"Alright, injuries for the game: [OL] Spencer Burford will be out, [LB Dre] Greenlaw will be out, [OL] Aaron Banks, out, [DL] Robert Beal [Jr.], out, [S] Ji'Ayir Brown, questionable, [OL] Colton McKivitz, questionable, [LB] Tatum Bethune, questionable, [CB] Charvarius Ward, questionable. Go ahead."
Is Charvarius Ward personal?
"Yes."
Any good news?
"Yeah. Stuff I can't totally share. I haven't talked to him about it, so we'll keep it personal. But, nothing bad happened."
Do you expect Banks and Greenlaw to be on IR before the game starts?
"Banks will."
What's the biggest challenge the Lions pose to your team?
"Just how good they are in all phases. Their offense, everyone is well aware of how good they've been these last couple years. Anytime you have an O-Line as good as them, the running back as good as them, you can control the ball which takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback and on pass protections. And then when you have a quarterback as good as him with how accurate he is, with that O-Line and those receivers, they're pretty lethal there. And then the defense, I know they've battled through a lot of injuries, but their secondary is as good as there is. They've been able to stay healthy there. They've lost one big one, but they have some depth there. And what they can create with their pressures and things like that because of their man coverage makes them very tough to be consistent with. They put a lot of pressure on you where they know how to stop the run with their scheme. And then you're never going to get really many freebies. You've got to beat man coverage, you've got to beat pressures, which is going to always be hit or miss. But when you do that with an offense that's so automatic it puts pressure on both sides of the ball to not let them lap you. So, you've got to be consistent, got to get turnovers."
Is there anything you can point to for the dearth of takeaways over the last several games?
"Yeah. Usually when you're flying around you're eventually going to get some more takeaways than we have. I think one thing that's been bad is we've dropped some that have been given to us, so we've missed a couple opportunities. In games when you don't stop the run very well and you don't make guys throw the ball a lot, 80-percent of the turnovers in the league come on pass plays. So, you need to stop the run and get guys to throw the ball a lot more and then you'll get more opportunities at that. And so, I think when we have had our opportunities, we've missed them. And anytime teams can stay balanced versus us you're going to get less of those opportunities."
RB Isaac Guerendo is not on the injury report. How did he kind of get through the week?
"Yeah, it was good to have him back. We had a full-speed practice yesterday and he looked good. So, no holdbacks, he's good to go."
What's your biggest challenge with putting together this offensive line with all the new pieces in there?
"Just that. Having three guys up who were on other team's practice squads last week. The continuity's obviously not there and just them not being in the building with verbiage and things like that, it's a big challenge. They've done a good job of working, getting in here the day before Christmas, working on Christmas, trying to catch up and do that stuff. And they've had a solid week of practice. Still got more time until the game and those guys will be working as much mentally to get ready, but anytime you're new and you haven't been out there much, it's always a challenge."
Is this your biggest turnover on offensive line that you've dealt with in your coaching career?
"Probably. Biggest one I can remember."
Does that fall on OL Jake Brendel or QB Brock Purdy to kind of help these guys line up, I guess, in the midst of the game rather?
"The good thing is, if O-Linemen mess up lining up, then we have issues. Because they don't move, at least until the snap starts. But no, that's, helping communicate is a big deal, but sometimes you communicate and that language doesn't always come right away. You try to keep it simple for them, try to categorize stuff in groups, and the guys next to them just, they try to communicate as much as possible and you try to help him out."
OL Charlie Heck having worked with Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, does that help you a bit?
"Yeah. He has the most familiarity with some terminology. So anytime there's some crossover, different O-Line coaches, you go to different places, you change your words and stuff, but a lot, when it comes from the same foundation you have some familiarity and so it's not completely starting a new language. That always helps."
What's your assessment of Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as an offensive coordinator?
"I don't know him, but I've really respected what he's done here the last few years. I know people who've worked with him. I know [run game coordinator/offensive line coach] Chris [Foerster], [tight ends coach Brian] Fleury, those guys worked with him down in Miami, talked about him as a dude, which he seems like an awesome guy. But I really love how he's ran the ball and the stuff he's done off of it and really taken advantage of his personnel really well."
When you were watching replays of the NFC Championship Game this week, were there feel-good vibes or were there mixed feelings that you wish you had those players available this week?
"No. It was, when you watch a game like that, it was feel-good vibes to a degree. You watch the first half and you get frustrated, but you know how it's going to end so you don't get too frustrated. There were good things to coach off of. You can see some mistakes, big mistakes there in the first half and it's cool to show guys overcome them and how you do it. So, there were a lot of really good drives in that game. There were some big plays in the game, but just kind of the toughness that we played with in the second half, really showing guys truly what it takes to win when it's not just a guy making a, there were some really unbelievable plays like [WR Brandon Aiyuk] B.A. on the tip down the field and stuff like that. But besides that, some big scrambles by Brock, but it was some real hard-nosed football that got us back in that game and doing it the old-fashioned way. And it was cool to watch that. We watched a lot of it yesterday, just talking about run game and things like that."
We've seen B.A. around here a little bit. How is he doing? Everything on progress?
"Yeah, he's plugging along with that. The rehab guys I don't see too much of. They come in early in the morning and they're usually out of here before we get off the practice field. But he went to L.A. for surgery, did the rehab there for a while, but he's been back here like the last month or so going through his process, working hard. It's a long process, but he's on track."
You've talked a lot about the year TE George Kittle has had, but in a year like this when you have so many young guys playing, how important is it to have someone who is kind of consistently maintaining the standard to show those guys what it looks like even if the season isn't where you want it?
"Oh, I think it's always important. You don't just say a standard. It takes a while to be that standard. And that's from work we've put in here over the years and having the right guys who've done that and guys who have battled throughout this year they get to see every day. Especially when you go through a long season like this, seeing guys like Kittle [LB], Fred [Warner], [DL Nick] Bosa getting back and [WR] Deebo [Samuel Sr.] like those guys, working through all this, still practicing hard and doing everything they can. That's extremely important. All you are, is your life experiences and this is a lot of people's first year and you need to see things done the right way no matter how your season's going."
Has Detroit Lions QB Jared Goff improved since his days with the Rams or is he the same quarterback in a good situation?
"I think it's hard for any quarterback to be successful if they're not in a good situation. But I think Goff was unbelievable with the Rams. Their Super Bowl year, I thought he was a borderline MVP player. I know not every year was like that for him just statistically and stuff. I think the following years weren't quite as good, but when his team's real good around him, he is as good as any quarterback in this league. So, he was a real hard guy to beat in L.A. and the way he's been playing with Detroit, I almost want to say better, but that's how good he was earlier too. So, it was a hell of a rebound for him and I'm happy to see him doing it."
Former 49ers RB Ricky Watters didn't make the cut to 15 in the Hall of Fame. You were around the team in '94. What do you remember about him, specifically about what impressed you about him?
"How good he was out of the backfield in the pass game. I was only in middle school, so I can't act like I really knew strategically what was going on. But he was a really cool player. I loved talking to him and hanging out with him up in Rockland at training camp. I think when I got here, he hadn't played yet, so I didn't know who he was, just only knew guys who had played and stuff as a sixth grader. But I remember always asking, who the hell is this guy? He is cool, he seems really good on the practice field. And then he became the starter that year and had a hell of a year and ended up having a hell of a career."
I realize the season's not done, but your overall assessment of defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen? Obviously there have been challenges with the personnel and what he has to work with. But with his first year, how do you think he's fared?
"No different than how I've answered that the last few weeks. I think Nick has done a good job as a coach. No one's happy with our results by any means. I think he's been thrown in a number of situations that I think will make him better going forward. I've watched him adjust to a bunch of different situations, kind of be in a couple situations on a couple games when there wasn't much of an answer, and he still had to try to find one. So, I think this year was good for him. I know he is going to be a good coach and better for it going forward."
The Lions have had 19 guys on Injured Reserve, similar to the injury level here. How have they been able to kind of stay up to the standards of winning games?
"Just me going off these five days of watching them, I know all the injuries, you see it on the reports and especially losing their pass rushers and their D-Linemen. But I think the biggest thing is it's hit them the most in certain areas on defense. But when you play as much man coverage as they do and blitz as much, that's going to be predicated on your secondary. I think they improved that a ton this year with their draft picks, with some free agents they brought in, even their draft picks from two years ago, their safety getting healthy, also. So, the areas that they excel in they've been able to maintain the top of their talent there and it does give them some weaknesses in other places, but that combined with their offensive horsepower and things like that, it's made it hard for a lot of teams to expose it. They've done a hell of a job with it, so huge credit to them for it."