San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh spoke to reporters Wednesday, following the team's 17th practice of training camp. The 49ers are preparing for their preseason finale—a home matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. Here's everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
What have you seen from CB Chase Lucas as camp has progressed?
"With all the injuries we've had in the secondary, he's gotten a lot of opportunity and to his credit, he's taken advantage of it."
What's his background on the outside? Has he done that in the past?
"Yeah, he has. He came out of college as a corner. So, you know, hopefully we get a good look at him at corner this week."
With the loss of practice time, how much of a setback is that for CB Upton Stout? He seemed to be playing on a high level.
"Any time, especially for these young rookies, these reps are gold. Especially these game reps from all the different situations because you could even see it from Chase who's a veteran, who is playing much better football than he was when he first got into camp. You know, just recognizing runs, formations and indicators, and you can't get better without reps. That stands for rookies and veterans."
I noticed you used five-man fronts in the games and practice. What are you looking to accomplish with those?
"Just trying to create single blocks. Trying to take advantage of some of the, you know we've done five-man for a long time around here, but it's really just to create single blocks to give our D-Line one-on-one in the run game, so they can't double team, reach and get all the push that can happen out of just a standard four-down front."
What did you see on film of LB Nick Martin on Saturday?
"Much better. Nick's got all the talent in the world. He's got the speed. He's got tremendous violence. His reactionary skills are incredible. The game's got to slow down for him. And again, that's reps for him. He can regurgitate the information like a lot of rookies can, but when you're on the field and the ball snaps and it's moving as fast as it does, it's going to take him some time from a repetition standpoint. But, what was encouraging is that he maintained his confidence. He came out last week, had a very productive day and the expectation for him is to continue to get better in that regard."
What'd you think of DL Trevis Gipson? He flashed a couple times and he drew a couple penalties on them as well.
"Yeah, he's another guy who he got here really late and out of necessity and he's taking advantage of his opportunity. You always love stories. [Assistant head coach of defense Gus] Coach Bradley always says it, no matter how doom and gloom it might seem, there's going to be a story that comes out of this, a positive story. He's one of them that's been taking advantage of his ops."
Is LB Tatum Bethune versatile enough to play all three spots?
"He is. That MIKE Linebacker spot we're trying to make sure that we solidify that behind [LB] Fred [Warner] to make sure that we have a guy who can still run the defense, God forbid if something happens. But, Tatum has all the ability to play all three spots."
His 40-time coming out of the Draft, I don't think was that high, and he was a seventh-round pick. Does he play faster than that?
"He plays much faster than that. It was kind of like [Denver Broncos LB Dre] Greenlaw. Greenlaw ran a molasses 40, but his GPS suggests differently."
Nick Martin mentioned the other day, what a patient coach you are and that it helps to learn from you in that way. Has it always been your style? Did someone teach you that or is that just who you are?
"I'm not sure, you know, it's been my style in terms of they're kids, it's going a hundred miles an hour and you trust, I guess just through time, you just trust that they're going to figure it out. They just need reps. And you try to put yourself in their shoes on what they're going through and the different things that are going on. It's not just football. I mean, think about all of us, what we were doing when we were 23-years old, but not even close to the distractions they had. I know where I was (laughter). Thank God I didn't have Instagram or a phone back then. You've got to be patient with them. Back in the day, there'd be yelling and screaming if a kid, they're trying, they're not trying to make mistakes. So, the most important thing we can do is just teach in those moments. As long as the kid, the young man, has the wherewithal or the internal drive to continually try to get better, which you can see, then as a coach you always have patience because guys like them will always figure it out."
With CB Dallis Flowers, who at one point in his career was on an upward trajectory, injuries derailed him a little bit in Indy. This is almost like a second chance for him. Have you noticed a sense of urgency from him in camp and really trying to take advantage?
"It'd probably be more of a question for Gus. He had him out in Indianapolis. I see a young man who's going for it. Again, another guy who's trying to do his best to take advantage of every opportunity he gets. It's what I've appreciated about this organization since the day I walked in here. I just feel like all these guys, every player, the sense of urgency and the way everyone attacks every day is always on high, Dallas without exception. He's definitely been going for it."
When you were the Jets head coach and you've got all sorts of other responsibilities, which I'm sure you loved some and maybe didn't love others, was it always like when you got to go and do your defense, is that still the favorite part of the job for you?
"Any time, I've said it before, you get to that chair because of your football acumen and then all of a sudden you are a firefighter. And so, when you get to go in the film room and watch tape, it's like, 'oh God, I'm back in my comfort zone.' It's what got us there, so of course you always want to get back to that."
Given some of the time constraints and everything, how did you improve to feel like a better defensive coordinator?
"That's a good question. I felt like I was able to spend a lot more time with their offense, just trying to be a head coach and just making sure that we're all focused on one goal to accomplish what we were trying to accomplish from a goal standpoint. So you learn a lot of offense and you learn what they're looking at and you start to see the windows that they see, I guess. So, it gave us the opportunity to watch defense from a different light. So, you can see what they're trying to attack, you can see how they game plan, you can see what they're looking for. So, it just gives you a different angle as to how to approach it from a coordinator standpoint."
Does some of this happen by osmosis or at some point are you like this is actually really helpful?
"[Head coach] Kyle [Shanahan], and I've said it before, his team meetings are as good as anybody in football. I'm not going to speak for anyone else. I'm just speaking for Kyle Shanahan and all the coaches that have been around. His team meetings are the most educational. If you are any kind of a person, you write down everything he says, you're going to get better leaving his team meetings. It's like stealing, the information he gives. So, if you're a student of the game, you're going to look for every single edge you can. So, when you're in different areas where you can learn and apply it to multiple facets of football and all the different things that you know, it only helps."
After missing so much time, how is DL Alfred Collins coming along especially conditioning-wise?
"His legs are getting under him. I know he didn't love the game he had against Vegas but love the way he's bounced back this week. He's done a really nice job this week, especially in the run game, you could just see the violence and the strain we saw in college is starting to show up little by little. I know he wants some of those plays back from the Vegas game, but his trajectory is still going in the right direction."
Is he at the right weight where you want him?
"Yeah, I always tell guys for him it's going to be as light as he can get without losing his power because that's what he is and right now he's in a good fighting weight."
It's a one game at a time deal and you get the Chargers, but with Seattle and just looking at them a little bit statistically, they are really running it well. I think they ran it almost 50 times at the Chiefs the other night for like five yards a pop. Do you let yourself peak ahead to Week 1 or is it just Chargers?
"No, you're always trying to stay ahead. Week 1 is the most important, but the Chargers game is obviously very important for a lot of people, especially a lot of the decisions that we've got to make from a roster standpoint. Our first objective as a staff is to make sure these young men are prepared to attack the Chargers in the best way they can because we owe it to them to try to make a 53-man roster whether it's here or somewhere else. So, we're going to obviously give them every tool they can for the Chargers. With that said though, when things slow down and you feel like you've checked your boxes, absolutely, you're always going to look ahead and especially to your Week 1 opponent, just to start gathering thoughts because it's happening quick."