San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters during a conference call on Friday, the day after the team's 26-23 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams. Here's everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"Injuries from yesterday. [CB] Upton Stout has an ankle, it's not a high ankle. We'll see how he is later this week. [DL] Kalia Davis did break his hand. He is having surgery this afternoon. We'll see how that goes with the cast and everything. Similar to what happened with [DL] C.J. West. [DL] Yetur [Gross-Matos] did pull his hamstring. He's going to miss a little time. And [DL] Alfred Collins ended up having a knee sprain. We will have to evaluate him earlier in the week when we get back. That's it with those guys."
What about the guys who are either on, TE George Kittle on IR and the PUP guys, S Malik Mustafa and WR Brandon Aiyuk? Is there any plan to be able to open their windows on Monday?
"Malik is the one who we're hoping to open up here on Monday. The other guys, most likely not."
How is Kittle doing? How's he progressing from the hammy?
"He is doing good. But, I think it'd be a long shot for this week. Just talking to the doctors a second ago probably looking more like the following week."
You've coached a lot of regular season games and keep it pretty even keel, win or lose. But, was that one special to you yesterday? Maybe more so than other ones you've had?
"There have been a lot of special ones. It is just the fifth game of the season, so as far as ramifications and stuff, you never know how that plays out. But, it was unusually exhausting, I think, just the competitive stamina that you needed for that game. Just as probably a player, a coach, a fan, everyone. I mean, just 84 plays or whatever it was and every one seemed like it mattered. Struggling to run the ball, but still knowing that you needed to to try to control that D-Line a little bit. All the things that went into it and just the injuries and stuff and overcoming so many things and guys making those plays at the end which were unbelievable. I think all that added up and made it one of the more special ones that you'll definitely remember for a long time."
In Week 3, Upton made the pass breakup to kind of set you guys up to win that game. And then last night you had Alfred with the fumble and S Marques Sigle even on the last play. How much does it help those young guys to kind of get proof that the work that they're putting in is paying off? And how can that be beneficial for you guys moving forward?
"I mean, we knew since end of free agency that we would have to depend on a lot of draft picks to come in and play. So, we knew we had to hit on the right guys with that and we really felt good about these guys. As soon as we got them in the Draft we felt good. And they've been this way since OTAs when they came in right away. For them to get out there, and we knew we were going to be in this position, but the fact that they're out there and they've worked to stay in this position, they've worked to be healthy. Even though you know you have to play the rookies, if they're not ready, you're still going to play someone behind them. You're still going to put someone ahead of them. They do need to earn that spot. And they did. That's kind of allowed them just to be out there and get this experience and go through all this stuff because when you're made of the right stuff as a football player, the more you play, the better you get. So, for those guys to be in this situation, to be able to stay healthy, to be able to work through all these ups and downs is very beneficial to them and it'll be beneficial to our team as a year goes and into the future."
With Kittle out perhaps another week, how above and beyond the call has TE Jake Tonges gone since the beginning of the season to sort of fill in?
"He has been unbelievable. I mean, you just said it right there. How reliable he has been to make that unbelievable catch in the first game for the game-winner to beat Seattle, to how he has been every week since. I know he gets a lot more confidence. I know I get a lot more confidence just going through games, just knowing plays that I can call for him and stuff like that. He's been really good. His hands have been awesome. He's been good in the run game too and really happy for him."
Was OL Colton McKivitz bothered by the calf injury in the game? He committed a couple of penalties, gave up a couple of pressures. It didn't seem like a normal game for him.
"I don't know. I didn't ask him. You'd have to ask him on that, but I thought the O-Line played very well. I thought Colton was a big part of that. I can't tell you the challenge of their rushers and how good of players they are. I thought our protection plan and what they did with it, I thought they were very good. I expected there to be a lot more pressure on the quarterback than there was. I thought we needed to do a little better in the run game, obviously, but that was a big challenge too blocking those guys in the run game and the pass game was tough. I thought we definitely excelled more in our pass protection."
With QB Mac Jones, he went down at one point, he seemed to be dry heaving on the sideline. In the day after, what can you say about the gutsiness of that performance?
"I didn't know about the dry heaving until later in the night, but just watching him hang in there, watching him battle, just how he's been through these last two weeks, trying to come back from his knee injury and having to work through that. He's been unbelievably tough. It was crazy when he was starting to cramp at the end of the game. His arm just out of nowhere cramping and having to eat those bananas and everything to get back in there. I was told that he was cramping too hard and [QB] Adrian [Martinez] was going in, so we were calling the play for Adrian and then I looked up and Mac was in the huddle, so he just sprinted out there and kept it going. And I was like, 'alright, we'll see how long this lasts.' And he lasted the whole game and obviously it was a big part of why we won."
How many bananas did Mac consume on the sideline?
"I don't know. I definitely wasn't aware of that he was eating bananas, but I was aware that they said they wanted to take him in for an IV, but there was only like seven minutes left so we didn't have time for it. So, I guess that was the next best plan and to have some pickle juice, also."
In overtime, did you start thinking along the lines of what a tie would mean as opposed to a loss? Did that ever creep into your mind about just how to manage that game to ensure you guys at least got the tie?
"You don't think that until the end. You don't want to manage it to get the tie. You're thinking of all how to win the game. At the end, to me, that's where it comes down to it. That's probably why [Los Angeles Rams head coach] Sean [McVay] made the decision he did, which I would've done the exact same one. He's sitting there at fourth-and-one and with the amount on the clock at that time by kicking a field goal you're basically deciding that you're going to tie or give them a chance to win. And I think that's where it comes into play, not until the end. They had that with the ball in their hand and so I totally got why they went for it. You don't want to tie if there's a reasonable way not to."
Los Angeles Rams WR Puka Nacua had 10 catches, but for only 85 yards. How happy are the way you about the way you defended him?
"I was happy. It's a challenge. He got through a few times, but the fact that he didn't get the big ones and the explosive touchdowns or anything definitely was big. But I mean, whether it's [Los Angeles Rams WR] Tutu [Atwell] or Nacua or [Los Angeles Rams WR] Davante [Adams] and especially paired up there with [Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew] Stafford, you know that it's only a matter of time that they're going to get big ones. So, to keep them contained all day was a huge challenge and I was proud of the guys for it."