San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters during a conference call on Monday, the day after the team's 16-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Here's everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"Injuries from the game. [DL] C.J. West, thumb, he'll have surgery tomorrow. We'll update later in the week on him. [QB] Mac Jones with his knee, he will be day-to-day. [DL] Mykel Williams with his wrist, he'll be day-to-day. [CB] Renardo Green with his neck, day-to-day. I know you guys heard, but [DL] Nick Bosa ACL, out for the year."
What was the injury to C.J. West and his thumb? How did he hurt that?
"I don't know exactly how he did it, but he broke his thumb. That's why he is needing surgery. He'll have a chance, they say. We'll see how it goes this week, but he'll have a chance at the end of the week with a cast, and if not, he should be good the following week. But, we've got to see how this week goes with him."
Have you talked to Nick Bosa since he got the news? How's he doing? Also, DL Yetur Gross-Matos, any update on how soon or how long it'll be before he returns back to the field?
"I talked to Nick last night. You know, it wasn't confirmed until this morning. I haven't been able to see him yet today, but talked to him last night, he had a pretty good idea of what we were going to find out today. But obviously he is bummed out and down, but Nick can handle anything and he is going to handle it like he always does, which will be great. But obviously he was bummed out from it not being able to finish out this year, and especially how good of a year he was having so far. And Yetur has been out there the last three weeks, so hopefully as he keeps going and doesn't have any setbacks, hopefully he can continue to progress with that and handle more reps. But, we've got to see how that goes."
What goes into picking up the pieces and moving on after something like this with Bosa?
"Nothing in particular. You don't just replace a guy like Nick. It just puts, you know, everyone's got to continue to get better at everything. It's the same thing I'd be preaching if we did have Nick too. When you lose your better players, it gets harder, but I also expect throughout this year all of our players to get better as it goes. That's stressed even that much more when you lose a great one like Nick. Lots of guys obviously will have to step it up as it goes, but I believe that'll be more by committee than any individual."
Will you be looking at trade options?
"We'll look at trades like we always do. But, there's got to be trade options that make sense for you and another team, but you can't just do that stuff just to do it."
Did Nick explain to you how the injury happened? Whether the knee actually was impacted? It looked like he was double teamed, but like the leg just swayed out wide.
"No, he didn't explain it to me. It's just how those things happen a lot, especially with ACLs. They happen on air the majority of the time. I know it was his right leg, and he just got it caught right there and went right away. A guy who's done it two times before, he was pretty confident that he did it. You could tell walking on the field, seeing his face and I could tell talking to him last night just how sure he was of it and knowing his body, then an MRI confirmed it this morning."
What are your expectations for QB Brock Purdy this week?
"Expect him to get back in practice this week. So hopefully, we'll see how it is on Wednesday. I don't know whether he'll have limitations or not, but I expect him to get back out there and get some stuff in and we'll see on Wednesday how much he's able to do."
Was there anything else with Bosa's knee? Like meniscus, MCL, any other additional factors?
"I was told it's as clean as it gets, so in terms of if you have an ACL, I was told that it's the kind that you want."
You can't replace Nick Bosa, but does it give you some hope with the progress that Mykel Williams has been making and the rest of the young defensive linemen?
"Yeah, I mean I thought that was crucial with Nick. We needed guys to step it up to play along with Nick, and now that he's out, you need them that much more. But I had definitely been happy with those guys. I think they've done better each week. I thought Mykel had a really good game yesterday. I think [DL Bryce] Huff's done some real good things, [DL] Sam O [Okuayinonu], all our edge players I think have been contributing and hopefully they continue to get better throughout this year."
What did you see from the young offensive linemen? Your guards seemed to have struggled a little bit, especially with OL Dominick Puni on the safety.
"I thought that there was definitely a number of plays in the game that we needed to hold up longer. The backed up one especially, it happened too fast and number one wasn't open and when that happens that fast that is an issue. There were times that we did protect well in the game, but it definitely came up a few too many times, especially in some tough spots. They had some challenges there on the inside, but ones that I think we can do better with."
I saw that CB Upton Stout was able to address the locker room after the game. How impressed have you been through just three weeks of his rookie season?
"Real impressed. I've been impressed with the guy since really he has gotten here. Just that play that he made to give the offense a chance to get that ball back for that final drive was just huge. And it was so similar to so many things that have happened in practice, to where he was beat a little bit on the play where the guy had a couple yards on him, but I can't tell you how many times this happened in practice where I think we have him beat and I think we for sure have a completion and I'm kind of moving on to the next play and then at the end of the play I see the ball's on the ground. It's just kind of how he's been since he's gotten here. The guy never stops, he's always going so hard, never hesitates, never flinches and doesn't stop until the whistle blows. I think that was a perfect example of something that really doesn't surprise us because of how many times we've seen it in practice."
How do you feel OL Connor Colby did in his first career start?
"I thought the fact that Connor was able to battle and do some of the stuff that he did, especially with the injury that he had on Thursday just had a ton of respect for him getting through that game. It wasn't perfect. There was definitely protection, there was a few that he missed. But overall, I thought he played good enough for us to win and just earned a lot of respect with the guys actually just being able to play with what happened to him earlier in the week."
With WR Demarcus Robinson coming off the Suspension List, what's your plan for him this week and also how is WR Jauan Jennings?
"Demarcus, I'm pumped to get him back. I know it was a long three weeks for him, so we're real excited to have him back working with us. We'll kind of see where he is at when we get out on the practice field Wednesday, physically at least. And then J.J. same boat as last week. We'll evaluate him as this week goes. So, I guess we'd call that day-to-day with J.J."
It's only been a few times since you've been here that you've had the ball for that little amount of time and won a game. What are the problems that go into play- calling and rhythm when you don't have the ball?
"That's tough. We were struggling to run the ball what it felt like, but then you realize, man, you've only had four runs. You're struggling to get plays going, but then you realize it's halfway through the second quarter, you've only had six plays. So, it is tough. It was an unusual time. There was one time where I thought they held onto the ball for like 20 minutes, but they'd only gone 20 yards. So, it was just kind of unusual how it all panned out. But when you do that, when that's the case, it becomes such a big deal on third-down. Then for them to be controlling the ball that well and then for us to go two-of-10 on third-down is not a very good recipe. You're not going to have the ball that much. I thought we recovered in the second half and balanced it out a lot more, but usually when it's like that it's going to come down to the wire. That's why I was so proud of our guys because for us to have the ball at 13-13 with five-and-a-half minutes left, I feel like we kind of just kind of created the momentum where we went down there and scored the first touchdown in the fourth and then they went in and answered with their first touchdown in the fourth. But 13-13 we're driving five-and-a-half minutes left and we get our first turnover with that interception and then the next time we're up we basically get a turnover because we have a safety. Anytime you have two turnovers like that and a tie game with under five-and-a-half minutes is extremely rare to find a way to win. Usually that has to do with something kind of out of the ordinary, like a blocked kick returned for a touchdown or something like that. And for nothing really unusual to happen, just normal football and executing stuff, our defense getting it back ending that play on third-down and the offense to just be able to go down there and kick it on a final play with the field goal, I just thought it just showed our guys didn't waiver, kept going and found a way to get it on the last play of the game."