San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan addressed reporters ahead of Wednesday's practice as the team gears up for its Week 9 matchup against the New York Giants. Here's everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"Injuries for today. [OL Jake] Brendel, hamstring, will not practice. [LB] Dee Winters, knee, will not practice. [DL] Alfred Collins, shoulder, won't practice. [DL] Yetur [Gross-Matos], knee/hamstring, won't practice. [WR] Ricky Pearsall, knee, won't practice. [DL] Bryce Huff, hamstring, won't practice. [QB Brock] Purdy, toe, limited. [OL Ben] Bartch, ankle, limited. [DL] Sam O [Okuayinonu], ankle, limited. [DL] Jordan Elliott, ankle, limited. Go ahead."
Will Purdy get any first-team reps today?
"He'll get some reps. I don't know which team, but he'll get some reps today."
Did you not place Ricky Pearsall, Yetur Gross-Matos and Brock Purdy on IR because of numbers and because you thought they would be back earlier?
"Yeah, because all of them were kind of week-to-week, so hoping that it could be faster."
What did you all like about DL Keion White? How do you envision his fit along the line?
"I mean, we need D-Linemen with all our guys injured. Regardless, he would have helped any team. I thought he was a problem when we played against him last year. Really liked what he does on film, too. He can play D-End and he can rush inside. So, versatile guy."
What strides have you seen DL Mykel Williams make this year?
"I think Mykel's just playing a lot of football. He's doing stuff outside. He is doing stuff inside. I would love for us to be able to take some plays off of him. We tried too hard last week. With all those guys going down I think he still end up getting 40. But, just going through this League and all the experience he is doing and fighting through some injuries and fighting through a lot of playing time, I think he's growing a lot."
The New York Giants are the third-worst when it comes to defending the run. How are you guys preparing to go against that defense and do you expect this to be a better week in the run game for RB Christian McCaffrey and your offense?
"We'll see what happens on Sunday. We're preparing like we always do. I know they gave up like 275 yards last week which will skew anything pretty bad. I think they gave up 75 to the same team two weeks before that in rushing. They generated a bunch of big ones. I think they got an 80-yarder, a 60-yarder. But, obviously if guys get out of a gap and we've got a chance to make them pay, we'd love to get those big ones, but challenging the hell out of our guys to run the ball. Got an opportunity every week to do it and hopefully we can do a better this week."
Does Bartch have a possibility to play this week or do you think he might need a week or two?
"We'll see how he practices. We'll decide that when he goes, but the fact that he can get out there, it's definitely a possibility. I think it's been six weeks with an ankle, so we'll see how he looks on the field today."
He hasn't been able to really get rolling ever because he keeps getting hurt. Has he shown frustration with that? Do you like the way he works?
"Oh, yeah. I love how Bartch works. He works really hard. He has had some real unfortunate deals with injuries. All of them have been real serious ones. They don't just happen on air. He has been rolled up a couple times. Some real bad ones that look like he's gone for the year and fortunately it's ended up only being an ankle. Last year he had a bad one. I think it was like our third play into him starting after his second game after Buffalo and lost him for the year getting rolled up on then too. So, he's had some bad luck. He's close to getting right though and hopefully he'll have better luck when he gets back out there."
What can you expect from DL Clelin Ferrell?
"We'll see at practice, but I love the chance to get Cle back. Having a guy like that being available, we'll see him out there today when we go, but we loved having Cle here back in '23 and glad he got back here last night."
You mentioned with Mykel you wish you could take some reps off him. With the rookie class as a whole, a lot of those guys are obviously forced into playing more than maybe you'd like them to. How do you think they've held up so far and how do you make sure that they're continuing to ascend?
"I think they've kind of exceeded expectations to tell you the truth. We knew we were going to throw them out there a lot, but we thought we'd have more other guys to help bring him along. Just losing some of those guys has been tough. I think Mykel's hardest thing is that he missed training camp too with an injury. So, for him to battle throughout this whole year and missing training camp has been really impressive. Guys like Alfred got the whole training camp, so I think he was a little bit more prepared going into the season because he wasn't hurt all of training camp. But, it's been awesome for those guys to battle each week and be able to show up and play because It'd be really hard without them."
Why did S Marques Sigle fall out of the safety rotation last week? Is there a chance he could get back into it? What are you seeing from him?
"It was just because [S Malik] Mustapha, we went 20 plays first game, 40 plays second game and then we thought he could start the third game. So, that was just about Mustapha."
How have those rookies bonded together? With a draft class that big, does it help that there are more of them figuring out some of the same things?
"I don't know. You could ask them that. I think each group is different. I don't hang out with them too much outside of here. But I mean, we've loved the class. They all have got real good energy. They're all pretty similar in terms of just how they work and everything. They've had real similar traits in that way, like personality-wise, so seems like a close class but that stuff you usually see over the course of a couple years."
You didn't mention T Trent Williams among the injured, but there were a couple times Sunday where he was really slow to get off the field, got rolled up a little. Is he dealing with anything more than bumps and bruises at this point in the year?
"Sorry, there's a lot on here, trying to find Trent. He's just got a vet day."
Are you seeing some of the same thing from WR Jauan Jennings that you've always seen in terms of blocking downfield or is he compromised enough physically that he's still not all the way there?
"Jauan has been really hurt all year. I think he's getting better. I think last week was a step in the right direction, but hopefully he'll be better this week. Jauan has been compromised on a lot of things."
When you guys put OL Andre Dillard on IR back in the summer, was that due to the ankle? And obviously, that's better now. Where is he in sort of the scheme of things medically?
"He's healthy. Yeah, we've been waiting for him to get healthy and I feel like he's been that way, we've heard, for a couple weeks, did good in the workout. We'll see him out at practice today, but he looked healthy in the workout and checked out with our doctors, so now we're excited to get him back in football."
Is he a swing tackle type of guy? Could he play on either side?
"I hope so. Anyone who's after our starting two tackles needs to be able to play on both sides regardless. So, everyone has a preference, but you've got to be able to go to all the spots just like all the backup guards. You've got to be able to go everywhere. There are only so many people you can get up."
Jauan requested a trade before the season. Is there a possibility he could get traded before the deadline or is that off the table?
"I'd be very surprised if Jauan wasn't on our team throughout this year."
What challenges do the three edges for New York present and how did they maybe compare and contrast what you guys saw last week in Houston?
"Similar in the fact they have an elite defensive line, as good as there is from the five rushers that they get on the field at the same time and the depth they have behind them. They've got a young rookie who plays well and hasn't been active for all the games just because of how good they are. But their starters, rookies, veterans, [New York Giants DL Dexter] Lawrence has been there forever. So, as good as it gets from a pass rush standpoint."
Did you guys like New York Giants QB Jaxson Dart during the Draft process and have they done a good job doing some of the things he did in Mississippi with Mississippi head football coach Lane Kiffin that he's doing now?
"Yeah, I've watched more of him in his NFL film than college film. But, I've been really impressed with him. You know, they're mixing a lot of RPOs and stuff, which I think is really good for him. He has got a good feel for them and he's been really impressive watching the tape. He's got a very good knack for off-schedule plays, attacking while scrambling. If you drop any of your players in coverage, he finds them. His vision is pretty elite when it comes to seeing holes in the defense when he gets outside that pocket. Just watching him even play in the pocket, too. He knows how to play quarterback and he's been extremely impressive so far."
On day two of the Draft, did you guys have conversations in your war room at all about possibly drafting New York Giants RB Cam Skattebo? What did you think of him when you saw him on film at ASU?
"Yes, we did and we loved him. He was awesome."
What do you need to see from Brock this week to make a decision and feel confident that he's ready to go?
"That he feels confident and he is ready to go based off how his toe feels. He's going to look that way most likely from getting out there. If he gets out there and is hobbling around and stuff, he won't be out there. So, he's got to go out there and go through the practices and stuff and really let us know how good he feels. It's hard to know what's going on with the toe and they're really iffy things. Last time we felt like he was feeling pretty good, looked pretty good in practice, and then in the game, one hit and set him back four weeks. So, it's kind of a sensitive situation and hopefully getting some reps in practice and stuff will give him that confidence that it's better than it was last time."
So, he'll essentially tell you by the end of the week whether he feels well enough to play?
"I mean, I didn't give him a deadline (laughter). It's not as black and white as you guys want it to be."