San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh addressed reporters following the team's final practice of mandatory minicamp. Here's everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
How important is it for you to have assistant head coach of defense Gus Bradley here?
"Oh, man, I've been with Gus for a long time just so much respect for him. While our philosophies are the same, I should say we look at it differently, if that makes sense. And it's kind of a good yin and yang. He sees my blind spots and I can see his. I think we just complement each other really well. But just the overall trust and working relationship that he and I have and just overall philosophy, I think he's as trustworthy as it gets."
Is there an example of the yin and yang that you're talking about?
"I'm more liberal in terms from a player-assignment standpoint. I want our players to play more reactionary. I'm not sure if that's the word I'm looking for. Where he grew up in a system where every single technique has a word, every movement has a word. So he can see blind spots where I'm liberal to the point where he goes, 'well, shoot, we need to' and it's and then vice versa. So, it's a good working dynamic in that regard."
What does DL Bryce Huff add to this defense?
"Speed off the edge. I think highly of him as a pass rusher. I thought he was very productive, obviously with the Jets. He wins at such a high rate. A lot of times we look at pass rushers, we look at sacks, and sacks are important. They end drives, and it's what ultimately gets these guys paid. But his disruption rate and getting the quarterback off the spot and the way he can do it now. He is a second effort pass rusher, but he wins so quickly so often that coordinators have to account for his presence on the field."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said yesterday that there's only a handful of guys that were here when you were here last, but because of their trust in you and them reiterating that to all the younger guys, it seems like there's just a trust in what you can do to the system. How much easier has that made your job so far in getting the defense to buy into what you're trying to get them to do and seeing it, come and materialize out there on the field?
"I'm not sure about that one. I always look at it whether we know each other or not. The players all want to be coached. They all want to know why they're being coached a certain way. They want results like all of us. It's been good from a benefit of the doubt, if you will, but you guys know how this profession is, it's first game, have a bad day, and all the benefit of the doubt goes out the window. It's been great working with these guys. They're like everybody else, like I said, they want to be coached. They want to know why and they want it done the right way. And it's been a good first couple of months."
T Trent Williams said yesterday that it was his first time meeting a lot of these guys, and he said that you would just never know that this was a six and 11 team last year. Do you kind of get that vibe too?
"I can answer that one in training camp once we get pads on."
With QB Brock Purdy, what's your first impression of him now that you're like on the same team with him?
"I think highly of him. I really do. He is really good. You get jaded sometimes I think when you're looking at certain players for a certain amount of time, like as a new face coming in and seeing Brock, I'm like, this sun of a gun's pretty good. Where I could see where you get so used to seeing it, it becomes a standard and you're always trying to elevate it. Not every head coach or not every organization is able to look at their quarterback and compare it to Brock. Brock is a damn good quarterback. So I'm trying not to talk poorly on other quarterbacks around the league, but he is one of the better ones."
You coached Bryce through his early years. What steps did he take that prompted that 10-sack season? How did his progression go?
"He stuck to it. I think his first year, he is undrafted, came in as a linebacker. He was with the first regime, so credit to [former New York Jets defensive coordinator] Greg Williams and [former New York Jets offensive coordinator] Adam Gase and those guys, they're the ones who found him. When we got into the building of the Jets, we kind of let him know that if he was going to make it, it was going to be as a defensive end. And so, he put on God, I want to say 20-plus pounds of muscle, probably more. He really reshaped his body and he just kept plugging away. Our first year he was having a really productive year. He got hurt. And then the second year we drafted a couple of guys. We got some free agents, but he kept showing up again. And our third year, which was the '23 year, he really came onto the scene. And to his credit, he was the D-End in the fourth quarter of the preseason games, if you go back and look at it, but it didn't discourage him. He just kept going and going and going, and really just kicked the door down and took over that spot."
How has DL Nick Bosa changed over the years? He said he wants to get back to his bread and butter moves from 2022. How has he drifted away from that? What do you see from him?
"We'll see again, once pads get on, but he's so deliberate in everything he does. He's always been that way. The way he takes care of his body, he's meticulous in that regard. Anytime, I think the great ones can always self-scout and self-evaluate and be critical of themselves. I think over film study over the last year, I think he's pinpointed where he can improve and I think he'll do that."
What was it about S Jason Pinnock that you wanted to get him a second time? What was it like when you had to deliver the bad news back in 2022?
"We drafted J.P. as a corner and halfway through his rookie year we moved him over to safety. Credit some of the guys at the Jets that are still there, just kind of beat him out in that second year. But I've always been a fan of his athleticism, his length, his football IQ. He's a really good football player and just being with him over the course of the first couple of months, he's grown significantly from a maturity standpoint and he's attacked the heck out of it. He's going for it. So, with Jason, you're getting a guy that's going to add athleticism and speed and football IQ to your football team. And now that's just a matter of him competing and holding onto it."
When people are talking about Shanahan and his leadership style, a lot of players, people were talking about he's honest with them, which they appreciate. Sometimes it can be hard to hear. Is the same hold true with the staff? And if so, do you have a story that you could share publicly?
"It's one thing that going back to Gus, he's just been in awe of Kyle in terms of his communication and his teaching style, his presentation in front of the room, and just our dialogue back and forth and trying to make each other better and help our schemes out. He's elite in that regard. He doesn't just close his door and he's very transparent with everybody on the coaching staff. He expects things done a certain way like everyone else does. And just working with him for so long now, I can I guess differentiate the tone, if that makes sense, when he gets upset, which is expected. And having been in the chair, I could see why he can get annoyed every once in a while, but he's elite in that regard. He's elite with the players, he's elite with the coaching staff. He just does a really good job of letting you know why he wants things done. It's just not barking and having you do things. Everybody in the building knows what their role is. They know why their role is what it is and they know exactly why they're doing things. So you'd be hard pressed to find somebody as good as him."
With the Jets, you had on the corner you had real dudes, you had New York Jets CB Sauce Gardner and you had Detroit Lions DB D.J. Reed, and you have DB Deommodore Lenoir and you have CB Renardo Green but you brought in seven corners. Are any of those guys opening your eyes at all?
"I feel like from a communication, the whole goal into this OTAs was just to see our guys improve from a communication standpoint, execution standpoint and all that. And once we get pads on and it gets real and you can get a little bit more physical with the receivers, you've got crack replace rules, they're going to be a little bit more involved, we'll have a better idea of who's going to stick and who's not."
What have been your impressions of LB Dee Winters in this spring period?
"He's been impressive. Again, it's easy when it's OTAs and you're not having to deal with run-pass reads and everything's a little bit slower, but he's got something to him. I don't want to jinx him or anything, but if he stays on his trajectory and he attacks these next 40 days and he does things the right way, I think he's due for a heck of a season."
You've seen a lot of rookie classes come in and how they react in the classroom, but how has this rookie class been in classroom work and just being attentive and doing what they're supposed to be as now NFL players?
"It's been good. I've always said half of what a rookie does in his first season is he's just playing. Doesn't know what the heck's going on. He is just using all his athleticism. But there's been a couple of guys, not to name names, who have stood out from an assignment standpoint. They're always going to make mistakes. You just don't want to see them make the same mistake twice. So from that regard, it's been impressive to watch some of those guys. They've been, I'm thinking of one on top of my head I'm just not going to name his name, he will make the adjustment before we ever get to them. So it's a pretty cool group."