San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke to reporters following Thursday's practice, providing final updates ahead of the team's Week 18 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. Here's everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"The injuries for the game: DL Keion White, questionable, [T] Trent Williams, questionable, [CB Upton] Stout, questionable, [TE George] Kittle, questionable, [WR] Ricky [Pearsall], questionable. Go ahead."
Stout was out there without a blue jersey. Has he been cleared through the protocol?
"Not officially yet."
How would you assess Trent's progress?
"I think he's made good progress."
He was not moving very well walking in the locker room on Sunday, which indicates a bad hamstring injury. But, has he been able to test it out in any way?
"Yeah. Yep. In a limited way."
Obviously, Kittle wants to get back out there. He said he expects to play. Up against a defense like the Seattle Seahawks who are pretty good at disrupting the pass game and the run game, how valuable is it to get a guy like Kittle back in the mix for this game specifically?
"The more good players you have out there, everyone knows Kittle's a great player. We're going against a great defense, a great team. So, it's definitely huge to have everyone on board who is capable of it."
When Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold was here, he didn't get the opportunity QB Mac Jones got because Brock stayed healthy. But, did you feel the same way about Sam as you did about Mac, if you would've needed him, that he could have come in and done what Mac has done essentially?
"Yeah. I mean, not to compare Mac and Sam, but Sam was a guy we loved coming out of college just like Mac. Sam was the third pick in the Draft and from a talent standpoint you could always see that. We got him and you could see exactly why he was that. I mean, he was one of the more talented guys I've been around and from a guy standpoint, he was unbelievable in the room. True leader. Guys loved being around him and Sam's one of my favorite guys I've been able to coach and be around."
He said that his time here really benefited him. Did you see from the time when he first got here to when he left, that he had improved a lot even though he never played in a game?
"Yeah, I think the most through like OTAs and training camp, definitely, because it was cool when he got here similar to Mac, they had been through a lot and anytime you go through a number of systems, a number of teams, you can get watered down a little bit and what people are asking you to do, what you like doing. Eventually you have to do too much stuff and you kind of just block everyone out and just do what you think can get it done. And he came in with such an open mind and stuff we asked him to do that he hadn't done, he didn't mind looking bad at it at first. Very similar to how Mac has been too. Just trying different footwork and things like that. And to watch someone kind of, who could succeed without that stuff, just to kind of be an open book to letting you coach him, trying things, doing out through OTAs, watching him in training camp, then watching him throughout scout team throughout the whole year. Even getting to play with him in week 17, I thought he improved a ton and I thought it was good for him to also sit back and watch for a year too with what he had been through and watch how [QB] Brock [Purdy] did it and things that made him successful and turned it kind of into his own style, which he's done a great job at."
When you have a game of this magnitude, with Trent, how do you decide between, obviously you want everybody all hands on deck for a big game, but also there's do or die games that could be coming beyond that. Like how do you kind of thread the needle in that situation?
"I mean, it needs to be possible based off the doctors and then it's got to be more on what Trent tells me. I definitely don't want to lose any players for the following week knowing we're in the playoffs, but I also look at when you're playing to play one less playoff game, you can look at that as a playoff game. I know the season's not over if we lose, but you've still got to go play a game the next week on the road if you lose. And you can completely avoid that by winning. So, I see this as a playoff game too. I don't look at is as maybe that you'd lose him, you won't have him next week. I look at it as simple as if the doctor's okay it and Trent believes he can do it and get through it, then there's no decision on my part, we'll definitely have him up."
When you build your game plan at the beginning of the week, do you start by scribbling a rough draft on a piece of paper? How do you actually put the game plan together?
"I used to be on paper. Now, I have probably 200 of those saved in our garages that make every move that my wife asks if she can throw away and I tell her, 'No, I'll look at them someday' and I never do. And about five years ago I switched to an iPad. So, it's just a bunch of scribbles on stuff that we have and I scribble on it, all the other coaches scribble on it, we send them to each other, we start to build stuff. Then we get together, usually at the end of the night, to kind of formalize it."
Does your dad have a big file of game plans he wrote out back in the day?
"No, he doesn't. Yeah. They lost most of my baby pictures and stuff in the 100 moves we've made. So, I don't think they have the game plans still."
Have you seen the Elway documentary?
"I saw about 20 minutes of it. I was actually watching it whether it was Friday or Saturday afternoon, and it was hitting home on a lot of things. It seemed so cool that I actually shut it off because I wanted to wait until I could watch it with my family."
How beneficial has it been for OL Austen Pleasants to be able to practice with the first team every Wednesday through the entire season?
"I think it's really beneficial. The next guy up, you always do get some reps in. I mean, not as much for the quarterback, but the O-Linemen, they don't go every play so we always mix them in some. But, when you can get that whole day for yourself, especially a Wednesday throughout the year, it is huge. I thought that was huge for [Kansas City Chiefs] Jaylon Moore last year and I think it's been big for Austen this year."
On WR Jauan Jennings' game-winning touchdown a few days ago, Ricky Pearsall made a really key block on that play. Is he sort of asserting himself as a blocker?
"I think Ricky, like all our guys, but I think Ricky's been the same. They don't take a down off. So, he's not going to turn anything down. I definitely like pumping our guys up for making good blocks. But, I don't think it's acceptable for receivers not to also, so that's what they're supposed to do. But, he does it at high level and he works and that was a huge effort play at the end to make sure we got in and scored."
How did you see Jauan weather that storm earlier in the year? It seemed like he was picking up a new injury every week.
"It was tough. It was a battle for him. I watched him grind through a number of practices just trying to see if he could go. I know he had to miss a few games just where he couldn't make it, and then every time he would go it kind of happened again. So, I think Wednesdays and Thursdays were really rough. He'd always find a way to get out there Friday. When you miss time like that because you can't go and to still be able to get himself for the game to where he's not making mistakes and everything and just being patient. You always want those numbers too. You want the ball. And it can't always go that way. Jauan never got too frustrated, always kept his focus, and I think he made it through all that and it's really come full circle here towards the end of the year."
What do you think of the helmet and uniforms you guys will be wearing on Saturday night?
"I didn't think much of it until I saw them wear it out two days ago. I thought it looked cool. My favorite uniforms are the ones we wore Sunday. I look at it as the '94 throwbacks because when we won the Super Bowl last, but I think that was a 75-year anniversary to where those were throwbacks to old ones. But, I like the white pants and the white numbers."
With Jauan, things are going so well. Can you now tell us what you guys were saying when you were screaming at each other?
"That's just what people who are close do. He was competitive. He was frustrated he didn't get the ball, and I was frustrated that he was frustrated. We've been with each other long enough to know that it'll work out, let's quit making a big deal about it. We got into a little heated argument on the sidelines, got a lot better at halftime and then we really made up the next day. We haven't had any arguments since. I actually think that was a good argument where sometimes you've got to blow things up a little bit for things to get better. I think that was a really good interaction that has only led to positives ever since then."
It seems like something has been simmering, not necessarily with you, but for him to get whatever it was off his chest was healthy?
"It ended up being healthy. You don't always know. I mean, all you guys got to do is watch how Jauan plays. You guys know how competitive he is. And that takes a certain mindset to get to that type of level. Jauan wants the ball every play. Jauan's never been a tough guy to deal with in that way. That's where he gets his mind to play. He wanted to help us win and he hadn't got it in the first half. I probably could have done a better job of ignoring it and staying away instead of joining in and fighting with him. It was a little immature of myself, but there were things that were bothering me. But, when you know someone and they know you too, you can usually get through that stuff. I think we both after it realized that that was so unnecessary. We were both just worked up and competitive. I think intentions are a big thing and I think we both know each other and we realized that after it. I think it helped us."
Did offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak's job change this year with the addition of offensive coordinator? I think you said he was pretty much doing that anyway. Did his job change this year at all?
"Klay's been doing the exact same thing since '23. Klay does not get enough recognition. Klay is, nothing against anyone else, but as good as anyone I've had and is responsible for just as much, if not more, of the game plan than myself. So, Klay's a stud."
With RB Christian McCaffrey and FB Kyle Juszczyk, how did you monitor them this week?
"We monitored our whole team. Except on a Thursday game, it's the first time we haven't had a full-speed rep this week. This was just something we needed to do for a number of those guys. But, just also being three games in 13 days we just had that to do that as a whole for our team."
Comments