San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters during a conference call on Monday, the day after the team's 42-26 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Here's everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"There are still no injuries from the game. Guys who missed the game, [WR] Ricky Pearsall, knee, we're hoping to get him back in practice Wednesday. [QB] Brock [Purdy] with his toe, we will continue to progress him, should get more here this week. And then [DL] Alfred Collins with his hip, we'll continue to evaluate him, see how he is when he comes in Wednesday. Go ahead guys."
Is there any possibility of opening up WR Brandon Aiyuk's practice window this week?
"No, not this week."
Was there any chance that Alfred Collins was going to be able to go Sunday or was that not even close?
"No, it was close. We were hoping he could. It was really a game-time decision. He came in and tried to go and then just didn't improve as much as we were hoping. So, should have better luck and a better chance with that this week."
It seemed like the defense struggled a little bit getting on and off the field in different situations, especially in the dime package. What happened there, communication-wise?
"Yeah, it was twice in the dime package. We just had a dime player come on and we need to communicate to one of the linebackers that they need to come off and we didn't do it until it was too late."
How did you feel the overall performance of the defense was yesterday?
"Struggled. I mean, they put up 42 points and I think we only stopped them twice, so didn't have a very good day."
With all his time off, do you want to see Wednesday, Thursday, Friday practices from Brock with pretty much no limitations before you start him?
"Yes. Yeah, that's kind of what we want to see it, want to hear it from him, want three aggressive practices and want to make sure he feels good after all of them each day too."
You guys had former Los Angeles Chargers CB Asante Samuel Jr. in for a tryout today. What's your level of interest there and what did you hear about or see from him on his visit?
"I didn't get a chance to meet with him or was part of the workout. I've been dealing with our team and putting the Rams game to bed, so haven't gotten a chance to talk to anyone about it yet. But, I'm sure just to check him out and see where he is at. We know he has been a hell of a player, so it's probably just to see where he is at right now."
I realize that LB Nick Martin has been practicing at weakside linebacker and that he's behind LB Dee Winters there. Has there been any discussion about giving him practice reps at strongside just to be able to get him on the field?
"Yeah, there are discussions about it, and if we think that's the best thing to do for the team, we'll do it, but we don't think that it is."
It seemed like there was a lot of instances of blitzing, particularly from defensive backs who simply couldn't get to Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford. They weren't able to get around one-on-one blocks. Was that a persistent issue in the game you thought that your blitzers couldn't get there?
"No, I thought our blitzers got there alright actually. I thought we hit him a number of times. He's just good at getting rid of it and we've got to make sure that when we blitz, we cover better, the holes during the hot routes. We made him hot a number of times, but a good quarterback when they're hot they know how to get rid of it so they don't just sit there and take a sack. Pretty much all the good ones are like that. We've got to do better at covering, to me, to get some better results on those blitzes."
When you submit anything to the League in terms of officiating, are you aware of how many plays you submit? Because it seemed like there were at least a couple pass interference calls that went uncalled since the Rams had no penalties.
"Yeah our coaches, we get that to one of our QCs, and they always type it all up and send it in and then we get their answers at the end of the week. But yeah, we'll have a number that we send in."
When you say you hope to get Ricky back Wednesday, does that mean he's hit his numbers that you expect him back there or are there still some things you have to check in with him on Wednesday?
"No, the trainers just give me a list of where all the guys are in the injury room, and my note here says Ricky with his knee should be back in at practice on Wednesday. So, hopefully the next two days go good and if they do then he'll be back out there. I think he had a good weekend, that's what that means."
With some of the veterans that you depend on no longer ready to play right now and with a predominantly young team, is a loss like the Rams game where it was fairly one-sided against a division rival and kind of a test to see whether you could play with the elite teams, do they look at it that way or is just another loss and another game to come back from?
"I hope they don't look at it that way. That's what we talk about in our team meeting and stuff. We break up and watch it as individual groups. There are a lot of bad things about that game. I look at the defense, I thought the offense, they stopped them twice in the second quarter and we only took advantage of one of them. Not to mention on two other drives that we have a fourth-and-one that we don't convert on the 11-yard line and we have a fumble going into the red zone. Then I look at that whole second half. I mean, that wasn't much different than when we played them in the second half a month ago, where I felt they scored on every drive in the second half. We just gave them a headstart with our offense starting slower. I felt the defense could have found a way to get off the field twice in that game in the second half, just like they did in the second quarter. We're right in that game and, to me, finding a way to win it on that last possession. But, we didn't get that done. You don't want to underreact to that, but you definitely can't overreact to that. You've got to look at it individually on each play and figure out how to find a way to get off the field. There were plenty of opportunities that we could have found a way to get off the field versus a very good quarterback and a good offense. But, we didn't get that done and that's why we've got to live with that result. That's also why we want to get back to work fast starting on Wednesday, get to Arizona and get this taste out of our mouth."
You got OL Ben Bartch back at least for 28 snaps. How did he fare?
"I thought he did alright. I thought it was good to just get him in there. He hasn't played in a while, so it was good to get him in some. Twenty-eight reps, I thought him and [OL Spencer Burford] Spence rotated well. Overall, I thought our O-Line did a pretty good job."
Was it strange to go into the postgame interview and say the words 'no injuries' and then do it again today for this follow up? The way it's gone all season, did you catch yourself thinking, 'I can't believe I'm saying these words?'
"Yes, definitely. I'm still not totally believing it, so I'm going to wait until Wednesday to make sure nothing creeps up. But, it's looking that way two days in a row, so hopefully that'll be the case."
LB Tatum Bethune went off briefly and he said after the game he was fine. So, I'm guessing that injury there's not one there. He's done well. Where is LB Fred Warner really missed the most when you're looking at that defense because Tatum's tackle numbers are fine. Overall, what's missing without Fred?
"You're missing a Hall-of-Fame player, so I don't like to say anything to take away from Tatum. I think Tatum's doing a really good job, but you're missing a Hall-of-Fame player. Fred is elite when it comes to just how intelligent he is, how he communicates, how he can get us in and out of every single thing, how he can handle every single motion. He's also elite in covering things from numbers to numbers. Usually if you're going to throw over the middle, you've got to throw it over Fred Warner which allows our safeties to play deeper, it allows our corners to just stay on top. But, when you're missing a Hall-of-Fame player like that, it unlocks a lot of things which affects all three levels of the defense."
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh talked about finding the balance between getting too exotic on defense with your young players versus not being too simple. Where do you think that balance was last night?
"I think results-wise not good because I think we made too many mistakes and that's the fine line. Like, if you just sit back and do some really simple things versus a quarterback like Stafford and their offense it's not going to give you a very good chance either. But, when you try to get a lot of stuff done and we mess up too much then you have no chance. So, we've got to continue to work to find that balance, what we do in the week and carry it over to Sunday. But, definitely made too many mistakes there on Sunday."
Without Fred and DL Nick Bosa, obviously two great players, but two huge leaders for the defensive group. When they went down 21-0, how much was it important for other guys to step up vocally to try to help that side of the ball regroup?
"I think vocally is one of the most overrated things in the world. It all depends on what you do physically after that. So sometimes, I think very rarely are words by someone going to change something. Sometimes it looks like someone's being a leader and that's all good, but results are based off what you do out on the field and that doesn't have to do with a motivational speech. Guys are extremely motivated, it's their livelihood, it's their job. I think guys are doing all they can in that area. But, like thinking that, if someone giving some speech is going to change how a whole defense or a whole team plays, then that usually means you've got the wrong guys."
It seemed like this week was the week that all the injuries caught up to you guys. Did you feel like that?
"Yeah, I think when we know what our issue's been for a while now, I think a lot of those guys got banged up during the practice week which I think made it tough. Especially losing Alfred before the game, both of our linebackers being extremely limited throughout the week. I think that stuff does catch up. But, when you play against a good team, a really good offense like that, and you are in this situation we're in, you better play at your best. And we didn't do that at all. We also didn't do that versus Houston which wasn't quite the same offense as the Rams, but it was very similar results in terms of them going up and down the field. Now, we held them to more field goals then touchdowns, but if you don't play at a high level when you are banged up and in the situation that we're in, I don't really care who you're playing, those will most likely be the results. So, we need to make sure that we play as good as we can each week and when we do I know this is a team that can win a lot of games regardless of who we play. Whether it's a team that's looking to try to have a real high seat in the playoffs or whether it's a team that's not going to the playoffs, I don't see much difference. I see every game very similar and that we're capable of beating anyone in this League in this situation we're in. But, if you don't play good, we're also capable of losing to any team in this League too. And that's what we've got to make sure that we do a really good job over these next seven weeks that we play as good as we can. And if we do, I really like our chances."