San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak, and quarterback Brock Purdy spoke to reporters after Thursday's practice as the team gets ready for its Week 15 game against the Tennessee Titans. Here's everything they said.
Transcripts provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh
What does LB Eric Kendricks bring to the table and how's he doing so far in the transition?
"He's doing a good job. Obviously, he's a veteran leader. He has picked up the playbook pretty quick with a lot of the recall he's had throughout his career, so we're slowly moving him along and hopefully he gets on the field soon."
When you spend the Bye Week self-scouting and stuff, I'd imagine the last couple games, obviously impressive, holding opponents under 10 points. So, what's your state of the defense going into the final four here?
"Same thing. We've got to continue getting better. You never want to sacrifice your style of play, the effort, the violence, the technique that we preach, and I think our guys have done a really good job of that. I think the Bye Week came at a perfect time. I think our guys were getting a little tired, which probably led to the, you know we had a lot of missed tackles, for example, against Cleveland. And a lot of missed tackles towards the end of the year, there's a direct correlation between being tired and missed tackles for football teams throughout the course of the year. So, this Bye Week came at a perfect time. But overall, I'm going long answer short, it's been good. We've got to continue getting better. We've still got a long way to go."
How did DL Yetur Gross-Matos look today out there in practice?
"He did good. You know, for his first time out in a few weeks, obviously we just had him go through individual and we'll continue to build him up as we go."
For the rookies, it was their first Bye Week and learning how to handle that. How do you think that they did handle the Bye and how have they come out of it?
"I think they did a good job. We'll find out on Sunday overall, but I think a lot of them felt refreshed. It's not easy for a rookie when you go 14 straight or whatever, how many weeks we went, 13. Not to speak for [DL] Alfred [Collins], he was one of the guys I had a candid conversation with, and you could tell that he just feels rejuvenated. But, hopefully the results show on Sunday."
What have you thought about Tennessee Titans QB Cam Ward's game and in scouting him, have you seen improvement throughout the year with what he's been able to do?
"For sure. He's improved significantly throughout the year. Earlier in the year, obviously his numbers weren't great, but I think his numbers have improved week-in and week-out. Uber talented, can make every throw. They do a really nice job. They've been in a lot of football games and they've kind of let it slip away there in the fourth quarter, but overall I think offensively they've been moving in the right direction. They do a lot of really good things. The quarterback, just speaking of him, he's got a lot to him."
What did you think about Tennessee Titans RB Tony Pollard and Tennessee Titans RB Tyjae Spears and how they pair together?
"Well, both of them, 20 and 2 are two very good backs, two very different backs, both physical, elusive, they can break tackles. They've got great vision and body-contact balance. So, really impressed with both those backs. And they do a good job getting them the football in a variety of ways. But, definitely something that has our attention."
DL Clelin Farrell mentioned postgame after the Browns that even as a new addition he was impressed that the team was able to block out the noise. How validating is it for you to hear that a veteran like him can kind of come in mid-to-early season and notice that?
"He'd been here before, so he kind of knows what the standard is. I think it is good, but at the end of the day, you go out there, and I think Cle broke the team down the day and he just talked about having that confidence that when you take the field, you're one of the best in the world. You suit up, you're an NFL player. And that's the truth. And to ride with that confidence. I think our locker room does that. I think our locker room believes that it's the best in the world, which I think it is, and they approach every single game that way."
Was Clelin a late bloomer? How do you explain this run that he's on right now?
"I don't know (laughter). He's doing a heck of a job, and it's not fake either. He's winning one-on-ones, he's getting to the quarterback, he's playing with great effort and violence. You could say that. There's a lot of pass rushers who came on late. I don't want to misspeak, but I think one of the best ones of all time, [former New York Giants DL] Michael Strahan came on really late, so with all these players, you just never know. You just stick to the grind with them and you keep developing them and you keep giving them opportunities. And guys like him who play relentlessly the way he does, are always going to be given opportunities just because of his play style and what you can count on. So, credit to him. What he's been doing isn't fake, and hopefully it continues for the last four weeks."
The games that you guys play up front, is it more about the quarterback you're facing or is it about the personnel that you have on your line?
"You're game planning the offensive line at that point, more than anything. You know who you can take advantage of and who you think you can crease. You're trying to find space in the protection. So, we do a variety of different looks, whether it's an eight-up pressure look or different types of show looks, just to get the O-Line to see where we can create space in there. And that's where the games come from. So, it's more of game planning the offensive line than it is a quarterback."
Some people have watched Clelin and thought he looked slimmer this year than he did two years ago. That may be due to the different jersey number he was wearing. What do you see as far as quickness and could it be related to fresh legs, just him coming in when he did?
"It could be fresh. I don't have any recall or any personal interaction with Cle. What I do know is that the guy plays like it's the last play of his life, which is what you want everyone to play with. I think when guys have the mentality that he has with regard to effort and play style, you're always going to give yourself a chance to succeed. Like I said, whether he lost weight and that's kind of been the edge to give him that extra step, that'd probably be more of a question for [defensive line coach Kris] Kocurek, but what he's been doing is not fake. Hopefully it continues for the last four weeks."
How has Yetur handled this year? He hasn't been fully healthy.
"Yeah, he's been in good spirits. It could get frustrating. He missed OTAs and training camp trying to rehab and he came back, and I thought he was progressing well. Again, it'd be a good question for him. But, as far as I can tell, he's been in good spirits, he's been positive, he's working his tail off, he's trying to get back to the team."
When you do the self-scout, is there an area that kind of stands out where you want to improve on, one you really circle, like, this is what I really want to hit on last four games?
"From a self-scout standpoint, you're really just trying to find the things that you do really, really well and you're trying to eliminate some of the things you don't. That's from a coaching standpoint. Let's continue putting players in positions that we're excelling at versus stop doing the things or asking them to do things that we clearly just can't get done. And not to get into those details, but that's really what you're looking for is more, you're not changing your scheme, nothing dramatic is happening, you're just trying to emphasize the things that you do well, especially in this last stretch."
Sometimes head coach Kyle Shanahan has talked about, not necessarily the defensive line going for the kill, but maybe just kind of containing the quarterback in the pocket. How unique is it to have a defensive line group that wants to play selflessly like that as opposed to just going forward the stats and the numbers?
"That's a good question. I think that's a credit to Kris and the way he coaches those guys. I always talk about our D-Line. It's relentless chaos, but it's organized in a way. He's got those guys tied together. They understand what they can and can't do. I always say in coaching, you always get what you emphasize, and Kris does a really good job of emphasizing the things that they need to get done where you can still rush the quarterback relentlessly in the way you need to, to win a one-on-one, but also within the within the confines of the scheme and keeping the quarterback in the pocket."
LB Curtis Robinson's got a couple starts now. What's his style as opposed to what you've seen out of, LB Fred Warner is different, but him and LB Tatum Bethune to Curtis, how has that transpired?
"I don't know if there's a different style. There is, but I think all of our linebackers have the same mentality. Curtis is really smart. He is sidelined-to-sideline, he's relentless in that regard. They play with great effort. A while ago, when I first got here in 2017, we were still kind of, a SAM linebacker needs to be 240 and a MIKE linebacker needs to be this, and the WILL linebacker needs to be athletic. I find it hard to imagine that anyone else is doing that anymore in the League. And we kind of shifted really in 2018 where it was just, give us three linebackers. All of them are the same and whoever can communicate the best would be the MIKE linebacker. And Curtis is no different than all of them in terms of size, length, foot speed, all that stuff. He just happens to be really good at calling the defense and he creates a calm in there."
Offensive Coordinator Klay Kubiak
WR Ricky Pearsall has five receptions for 20 yards in three games. Is that more on him or is it on you guys and how you're going to him? What's going on there? He's not producing very much.
"It's circumstantial. I think every game's different. I think you go back, the Arizona game, I think was his first game back and we targeted him a lot and there was coverages that dictated where the ball went. I think Carolina, we did target him a handful of times and [QB] Brock [Purdy] missed a few throws on a couple and we got into a situation where we were trying to run the ball in the fourth quarter. Then the Cleveland game, there weren't many ops and he did take advantage of some of his ops in that game where he beat man-coverage a few times and he made some big plays. So it's situational. Ricky's not doing a thing wrong. He's practicing his butt off, he's competing, he looks good. And that's football sometimes. That's the life of a receiver. Sometimes the ball comes your way, sometimes it doesn't. And just keep your head down, keep playing and good things tend to happen. So that's the plan."
Has anything jumped out at you just looking back at QB Brock Purdy's couple games since he's been back?
"I thought the Cleveland game was awesome. I mean for him to bounce back from Carolina where he just missed some throws in that game, whether it was timing or just missed something and ended up throwing three picks. But then you bounce back against Cleveland in a really challenging environment against a really good defense that was going to play man and he was going to have to make throws and stay in the pocket. And he did. And he did what he needed to do to win. So I was super proud of Brock. Every game's been different. Every defense has presented different challenges and I'm just proud of how he played against Cleveland. I think he's playing with confidence now coming off the week, coming off the Bye week. So expect him to keep playing well."
He threw away the ball seven times in that game as opposed to seven times the whole season previous. Was that something you emphasized to make sure he didn't put the ball in danger?
"Yeah, I think one thing we really emphasized in that game was we can't hold the ball against that pass rush. If you're gonna sit there and take a couple hitches, the ball's got to go or you got to run or you got to get the ball out of your hands because those guys, that pocket was collapsing. We knew the challenge, so it was a point of emphasis for sure. We just didn't want him holding the ball and a turnover to cost us in that game."
Most of Brock's interceptions this season have come when he's holding the ball longer. How much of a point of emphasis it to just be decisive?
"It's always the emphasis. We want every play to be decisive as we can, but Brock's made a living on holding the ball and making plays too and you don't wanna take away that skill of his. I'd have to go through and look at all the interceptions and tell you why, but I think some of it's just missing the throws. Some of it's not the best play design. That happened earlier in the year against Seattle where we put him in a position that wasn't a great call, but you got to balance those two things. You want him to be decisive as he can be, but you also want him to be the playmaker he tends to be when he can get outside the pocket and hold the ball. So just constantly weighing those things and balancing it out."
He's had a larger percentage of his interceptions on first downs. What's the sort of risk/reward balance on first down of maybe taking chances as opposed to you later?
"I mean you want to be aggressive. Those are situations – I mean, first down, you get an earned first down, you want to stay aggressive, you want to get explosives. That's where that happens in football games, usually. You're taking advantage of the defense not knowing what you're doing. Are they running it? Are we play action? Those are situations we like to be aggressive. Again, that's football sometimes. You miss a throw, sometimes they make a play but you got to turn the page. Brock keeps his mindset, which I'm going to stay aggressive. And he's made those plays more often than not. So we're not going to take that away from him."
Do you or your staff use Pro Football Focus data/numbers for pre-scouting teams, things like that?
"I know we've used it. I couldn't tell you specifically. In my world right now, I get numbers sometimes from our analytics department. We look at numbers and can't always tell you where they come from, but I know we do use that and especially in the offseason too."
QB Brock Purdy
From the beginning of the Browns game, maybe the first or second play, they were doing some bootlegs and Cleveland Browns DE Isaiah McGuire got some penetration and you kind of spurted away from him. It looked to me that looked like you. Does the toe feel pretty good?
"Yeah, it feels really good. And like I said, once I get moving and warmed up and everything and in the game, for me, I just focus on playing ball and in that case, escaping, not getting caught on keepers and busting my butt to get outside the edge and all that just like I have in the past. So, that's just where I'm at now."
Did you watch yourself during the Bye Week? How do you assess how you played so far this season and what do you want to emphasize moving forward?
"I think there's been moments where I've got to in the past where, like I've said, drive the ball. Mechanically I want to continue to strive for just my accuracy and stuff. I feel like there's been moments where I can be better with that. You know, as a whole, this whole year it's really just been about my toe and getting healthy and feeling like myself again. So, having a week to rest up and then coming back this week and having a couple practices under my belt just feels good and it feels fresh. But, more than anything, it's continuing to play with the chip on my shoulder and going back and watching the situational football moments that we were in and the games that I've been in so far. And I think for me it's in the end of the stretch here, four games, regular season, how can I be better? And I thought the last game in Cleveland was a pretty good test for me to take care of the ball, be smart with it, throw it away, and then stay on the field when we can. So, I don't know. That's what I watched and that's what I saw."
Do you think there was anything subconscious when you were just coming back from the toe about digging your feet into the ground and just planting yourself and kind of generating the power that you usually do considering where that injury is?
"Yeah, I mean, that's my position. Obviously It's my right toe and so driving off that, like all that, that really does impact everything with my mechanics and all that. So, coming back it was about getting that right and getting back to how I've played ball before. And so, when I did come back against Arizona, like I felt great in terms of this is how I feel in the past and I feel really good. So, it's just continuing to build on that and finding little things every single week to continue to get better and feel like myself but keep pushing myself past where I was before. So, I feel like that's just where I'm at right now and I've got to finish out strong."
I know you guys don't like looking past the next opponent, but when you have a Bye Week as late as this one, do you allow yourself at all to look at scenarios or what lays in front of you knowing that there is still so much that you could gain over the next four weeks of the season?
"Definitely. I mean, that's the business that we're a part of in terms of we want to win our division and we want to win every single game and get into the playoffs and that's our job, that's why we're here. So, to have a week off and sort of see where we're at, I'm sure everybody on our team did look at that, but being back now, it's like all we have our eyes and sight on is the Tennessee Titans and this week and this Sunday. So, that's where we're at. Really good team and we respect the heck out of this defense. So, my job this Sunday is to come in and do our job and execute, put up points and find a way to win. So, that's where we're at. We've got to take it one at a time and strictly go from there."
There's been a lot of discussion about WR Brandon Aiyuk recently about off-the-field stuff. What are you missing without him? What makes him special and kind of special to this offense?
"Aiyuk is, he's a baller, he makes plays. In man-to-man matchups, he does a great job of creating separation and he's an explosive player. You get the ball in his hands and he can go get YAC and bring juice to the offense when he is in and run blocking. Aiyuk has so many clips of getting in and blocking linebackers and safeties and corners and running down field with a running back and blocking guys. Like, he did it all at receiver. So, he did a great job with that. And obviously I wish he was healthy to be able to be with us and play and roll, but like I said before, and I've said in the past, all the things off the field, that's not my place to say anything. All I can say is I'd love to play with him and in the past we've had such great times together and so that's all I can really say about it."
As far as the process of pro football, the fans see Sunday, but you guys work Monday through Saturday to prepare. Do you have a favorite day in the week where either you're getting the game plan or you're going through certain things? Is there a favorite day in the process of the game that you like?
"I think Friday's nice just in terms of having just about everything in when it comes to like our game plan. Obviously, we'll have first, second down, third down, red zone, everything. And so, Friday being able to compartmentalize everything and go over everything mentally and it's a day for me in the evening where it's like, all right, I can breathe a little bit to sort of see the big picture and then dial back into my little details from there. So, Friday is probably one of my favorite days."
You mentioned the throwaways. How do you find balance between throwing away the ball and then also being able to make plays like you do when you hold the ball?
"It's in the moment, you know? Can I make a play? Can I be aggressive? Where are we at in the game? Situationally. I've made plays in the past where I'm aggressive and it works out. I've made plays poorly where I try to be aggressive and it costs us. I think it's just watching film and understanding my experiences and learning from it. But, that's why you get paid a lot as a quarterback to make those kinds of decisions. Can you be aggressive? And it works out for the whole team and you win games or can you not do that and manage the game, throw the ball away and stay on the field? Those are the decisions that we have to make at quarterback. But, that's what's fun about our position, and for me, I'm continuing to grow in that. I love that challenge as a whole."
Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said that DL Clelin Ferrell broke down the team reminding everybody that as NFL players, you guys are the best in the world. How does that resonate with you guys, especially just coming down the stretch here?
"It's just one game at a time and understanding that if it was easy, everybody in the whole world would do what we're doing. So, it was a pretty cool reminder just for all of us to hear that from Cle. What we do is hard and it's a challenge, but we love it and we're up for it. We've done this our whole life, so we can't forget and take this for granted. Like, we're end of the season, NFL ball in December, this is an exciting time and we've got to seize the moment and not take it for granted. So, it was a great reminder by him to our whole team for all of us to hear it. And a lot of guys really, I think took that and it sort of fired everyone up. So, we're excited."