San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters following Friday's practice, providing final updates ahead of the team's Week 7 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Here's everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"All right guys. For the game, so much shorter when I don't have to say limited. [DL] Yetur is [Gross-Matos] out. [WR] Ricky, [Pearsall] out. [QB] Brock [Purdy], out. [DL] Kevin Givens, [CB] Renardo Green and [CB] Upton Stout are the three questionable. Go ahead."
What progress have you seen from Brock this week in practice?
"He was able to get out there, throw more. Thought it was definitely a step further ahead than it was last week. So, going in the right direction."
What's the plan for TE George Kittle and Kevin Givens on Sunday?
"George is playing and Kevin most likely is. We've got to talk about that as staff later today."
How limited might George be in the scheme of things? Is he available for all plays? Do you have a pitch count for him?
"No pitch count. George has rehabbed really well, came back 100-percent, had a good week of practice. We'll space it out throughout the game, but yeah, no pitch count."
How big is it to get George's leadership back right now after you lose LB Fred Warner?
"I think that's big, but I think the bigger part's getting him on the field. I mean, it's always good to have good leaders around and stuff, but it starts with being on the field."
What has WR Jordan Watkins looked this week and is there a chance that teams will defend you differently if you put that kind of speed on the field?
"It depends on what they do. You know, he hasn't been out there yet in an NFL game, so I don't think people really care until you make a play like that. I thought he's come back from his injury well, had a real good week of practice, looks like he's healed, he's gotten in shape and had a good week. So, we'll see if he's up."
Do you have to meter George in at all like you did with S Malik Mustapha? Or is he just full?
"No, Malik had no training camp, hadn't had a practice in a year with his ACL, so that's different than someone who had a full training camp, full offseason. Had a hamstring so he's been out the last five or six weeks, but he's been preparing the last two weeks to play football. So, it's a little different story."
Do you expect to see LB Nick Martin up this week?
"Yeah, I do."
What do the Falcons do to create pressure defensively?
"They call pressures. They do it a lot. I think they have probably as much of a five-man rush as anyone we've seen this year. Just the percentage of it. So, they're doing it a lot, changing their coverage up behind it. Sometimes they bring more than that, but usually it's five. They're doing it first, second down and third down it even gets more aggressive. Whether it's four guys, five guys coming, or six, they're all good rushers. They're very active, they've very aggressive, play very hard and have some speed."
Do you envision at all Brock being active but not starting as he comes off the injury? Or once he's good to go, he's starting?
"If Brock's good to go, I picture him starting. But there are ways that he could be, we talked even I think Week 2 or 3 about a possible emergency quarterback and things like that. We'll always do what's best for him and best for the team depending on what that situation is that week."
Does running backs coach Robert Turner Jr. still determine the running back rotation during games? Is that up to him?
"Ultimately, I'm the head coach, so I don't put anything on anyone else like that. But, there's a lot going on in games, so position coaches are usually rotating their guys and things like that. There are certain times I'll ask for specific people, but their main job is to keep their guys going, keep them fresh and also to let me know when they are in and out so I have an idea so I'm not surprised with what I'm calling."
When you look at the Falcons offense, I assume most teams pinpoint Atlanta Falcons RB Bijan Robinson as a guy you've got to contain and yet he still seems to go off every week. What makes him so tough to stop? What makes him so good?
"Real talented running back. I mean, he is one of the faster guys in the League. He's got real good balance. Just pure talent as a runner, how good he is in the pass game. I mean, when you can do both like that, it's you're going to get touches. It always starts with touches with running backs, but when you can do it in the pass game too, it goes up. He's got a lot of good guys around him, which makes it even easier for him."
With a couple cornerbacks questionable, what have you seen out of CB Darrell Luter Jr. this week and is CB Deommodore Lenoir going into the slot an option?
"Dmo going into the slot is always an option. We know he has done that at a high level. And I think Luter had a really good week of practice. I think Luter had a real good game, I believe versus Jacksonville and just continues to keep getting better."
What happened to Upton Stout?
"He hurt his ankle on the last play of practice yesterday."
General question about linebackers. There's a sentiment out there that with a couple of prominent exceptions, linebacking play isn't as good as it was say in the last decade and earlier phases. Do you agree with that? And if so, what do you think is behind that?
"I think the League's a little bit different now, like what's required out of linebackers. I always think the best linebackers, just my whole career going against them, are the guys whose instincts are so good. For a lack of better way to say it, their Madden awareness rating is really high, not actually on Madden, but in real life. You know, the guy's like, that's why we wanted to hire [defensive quality control coach] K.J. Wright. He was so hard to go against because just his feel and his anticipation of what you were trying to do to him. [Washington Commanders LB] Bobby Wagner is the same way. That's what, to me, makes Fred elite. Guys like [former Carolina Panthers LB] Luke Kuechly, [former Dallas Cowboys LB] Sean Lee, some of the toughest guys to go against. Back in the day you also had guys that weren't necessarily that way, but they could run and hit so much that they also had such a huge impact. I think now with all the things that offenses do to people and stuff, it's really hard to be successful if you're not both. Almost like the quarterback position. There's a lot of real talented quarterbacks who don't necessarily always play at a high level of quarterback in the NFL and it's because of all that goes into it. Just with truly having to play the position. I kind of look at linebacker very similar."
Do you expect WR Skyy Moore to retain punt return duties?
"Yeah, I think he's done a hell of a job, so we'll see."
What can you tell us about QB Adrian Martinez now that you've watched him a few weeks in practice? How would you describe him?
"I'm excited that we got him here. I didn't know a lot about him before he got here. He impressed us right away and I think he's gotten better each week with him having these opportunities. You know, being the two for a few weeks now, he's gotten himself a chance to show more, last week taking so many of the one reps with [QB] Mac [Jones] not being able to get through a lot of practice last week. So, I think he's gotten more used to what we're doing. We noticed right away he was talented, but he's been able to handle the offense so far and we've enjoyed him as a person too."
Offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak was saying yesterday he feels like explosive plays are a lot harder to come by just across the League in general. I'm assuming you agree with that. What are you seeing that's making that more difficult?
"I think the style of defense that people play. I mean, every team's different, but just on a whole, it's a lot more top down. Back in the day you used to get a six-yard run and a defensive staff would be like the world's ending. But, if you completed a six-yard check down on a pass, you'd see them all chest bumping each other and celebrating how good their coverage is. That used to be back in the day, which made a lot of people a lot more aggressive to me to stop the run, which it does, but it allows explosives in the run and pass game. I feel like now people don't worry as much about that. Like, take your six-yard run, take your six-yard pass, just do whatever you want to do, but we're going to find a way to get off on third down or we don't think you can do it 14 plays in a row to get seven. So, I'd say it's more of that. Defenses are more conservative as a whole which makes it hard to get explosives."
You guys obviously had high expectations for DL Mykel Williams when you guys drafted him. Once DL Nick Bosa went down, did that ramp up the pressure on him at all? And if so, how do you feel he's handled it?
"I don't think it ramps the pressure up on him at all. I think it does from a perception standpoint from outside of here. It's how the world works and how it should, I guess. Your number one pass rusher goes down, everyone expects your top-10 pick to replace him, or 11, whatever we were. When Fred Warner goes down everyone wants to know how's [LB] Tatum [Bethune] going to step it up? It's not really like that. Guys need to try to be the best that they can. I think Mykel has had a very good rookie year so far, six games in or whatever it is. My biggest thing with Mykel, whether Nick's here, whether anyone's here, is that he gets better each week and focuses on that stuff. I feel that he has. He's doing it in a lot of different ways, whether it's pass rush, whether it's run game, whether it's outside or whether it's inside. Just how to work each day and how to be a good teammate and be a good leader for a rookie. I'm really pumped he's here and I know we'd do the exact same thing over if we had that opportunity again."
Mac has rebuilt chemistry with WR Kendrick Bourne. How have he and George been working in practice so far?
"Good. I always get thrown off with the chemistry question because George is good at getting open and Mac is good at throwing to the guy in progression who's open. So, it doesn't matter really that they're new or anything like that. You know, Mac's going to focus on getting the ball to the right spot based off of the defense and George is going to try to get open and beat the guy in front of him every time. Whether guys connect or a lot, I don't always think that's necessarily about chemistry. It has to do with just how the game went out and whether both of those guys were prepared and doing their job right so when it did go to them, what's the percentage of them making the play? George has done this for a long time and I think Mac will be excited that he's out there."
How's WR Jacob Cowing coming along in his return?
"I think he's getting close. I'm not sure if it's exactly next week or not, but I know it's getting soon."
How is Mac doing physically? I know he has some dents and dings in the previous games.
"Yeah, like everybody, no one feels 100-percent great. I know he is a lot farther ahead this week than he was last week. He didn't have to miss as much, Adrian didn't have to take as many reps for him and he's improved."