San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters during a conference call on Monday, two days after the team's 13-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, and as the team prepares for its Wild Card playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Here's everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"Injuries from the game. [LB] Dee Winters with his ankle, we'll evaluate throughout this week. [LB] Luke Gifford with his quad, we'll evaluate throughout the week. [DL] Keion White, hamstring, we'll evaluate throughout the week. [S] Ji'Ayir Brown, rib, he's day-to-day. [DL] Kalia Davis, knee tendonitis, day-to-day. [LB] Tatum Bethune, groin, he will be out for the rest of the season. And updates on players who missed the game. [T] Trent Williams and [WR] Ricky [Pearsall], both with hamstring and knee/ankle, we'll evaluate them throughout this week. And that's it."
Did Bethune have a groin tear?
"Yes."
Will that require surgery?
"Possibly. They haven't decided yet."
Obviously, LB Eric Kendricks has to step in. How do you feel about his readiness with the defense to be able to play at a high level that he's shown in the past?
"I'm real confident in Eric. He's been here long enough. These games he hast gotten in the last couple weeks he's done a good job, and I'm glad that we've got him for this situation."
Who's the next guy up at that weakside spot if Dee Winters wouldn't be able to play?
"It could be [LB Garret] Wallow, it could be [LB] Curtis Robinson."
I'm sure it's not this week, but are you reaching a point with LB Fred Warner at all or any update on him where maybe he could start practicing or at least start looking at that? Or is that still too far off?
"I think it's too far off right now. I think it is a possibility as we got closer to a possible third game here, Championship Game, but it's not something we're thinking about right now."
QB Brock Purdy came out of the game fine after that sack at the end?
"Yeah. Brock checked out good."
What was the coaching staff's process yesterday for starting game planning on the potential of the three opponents?
"We came in and we spent a lot of time as a staff on the Saturday night game. Just really evaluating that and going through all three sides of the ball with the staff. And then we watched those other games to do a little of our own scouting, but not making it officially Philly until after the afternoon and finding out after the night game what day we'd play them on. And we were excited that it was on a Sunday so we can have a normal seven-day week. So, came in this morning treating it like a true Monday, just finished with the players and put Seattle game all to bed with them and now we're getting going on Philly."
When you look at Philadelphia, what stands out to you as far as the challenge that they offer your team?
"We're still really early into it, but we know how good Philly is and how good they've been. We know they have a great defense. They've got a very talented and good offense in terms of how well they run the ball and some of the playmakers they have and the issue that their quarterback presents. They've had a Super Bowl defense for a few years now, so we know those will be the biggest challenges."
Does their defense pose similar challenges as the Seattle defense schematically and in terms of their strengths and weaknesses?
"Yeah, I mean they've got a really good pass rush and then they've got tight coverage, so that is a similar part of it."
I know you guys look at the GPS on guys. Do you also look at it at the game, and with the 18 missed tackles, was part of it just the fatigue from playing three games in 13 days?
"Yeah, that definitely doesn't make it easier. I think that stuff adds up. I think it does with injuries and stuff too, but that can't be your excuse for it. I mean, that's just stuff that doesn't make it easier. You've got to find a way to do it. We said it during the game and it's only more evident after, 18 missed tackles were way too much."
But, did the GPS reports show that that was an issue? Did the energy levels show on those reports?
"GPS doesn't really show with missed tackles or anything. That just tracks their top speed and how much yardage they cover in a game. Our guys were, speed-wise, fine. They were same as the week before."
Okay, thank you.
"Sure."
How would you differentiate "evaluate throughout the week" as opposed to "day-to-day?" Does day-to-day mean they're closer to playing?
"Yes. I mean, it's Monday and there's a chance that they might be good by Wednesday or there's a chance they might be good by tomorrow. The other ones, we see as more evaluating throughout the week."
I know that LB Nick Martin has to spend at least one more week on IR before he could come back. But, is he out of the protocol at this point, the concussion protocol?
"I didn't check today since we have another week anyway, so I'm not sure about that."
Did Ricky Pearsall have some sort of setback or is it just the same thing that he just keeps reaggravating?
"I mean, he reaggravated it, which whether that looks like a setback, I guess it's not a setback, it was just he reaggravated it, which is usually what happens with PCLs."
Are there any plans to open the windows for anybody? I mean, specifically we talked about WR Jacob Cowing for a while.
"Yeah, Cowing's window will open this week. He'll start practicing here on Wednesday."
It appeared like it was a tough game for your offensive line, particularly the tackles. What was your assessment of their performance?
"Yeah, it was a tough game, and we knew it would be going into it. There were a couple times, especially that last third down, there were a few times that they got edges on our tackles. The fourth-and-one was a big one and the last third down was a big one. But, I also think they had a number of plays where they did give us time, but we didn't take advantage of those, didn't score on those drives. Going against a defense like that, you are going to have some bad plays, which they did. But, by no means were they not up for the challenge on other plays, also."
Was there anything about the game tape that was different than what you expected to see?
"No, the game tape was very much what we expected to see. We knew we had a big challenge, and we thought we had to play at our best and we didn't play at our best. Give credit to them for that. I thought we made too many mistakes, which when you're in the situations we are, there's not much room for those mistakes. I thought we got some stuff going a little bit more later. You talk about the O-Line and stuff, that one drive that we got into the three before we turned it over, those are seven-step drops, really putting a lot of pressure on them to try to get those plays. We were able to get those all the way down there, but then have the turnover on the three. But, it just wasn't clean enough football to beat a good team like that. And we know we can play cleaner."
You said the message to the guys would be to embrace the hard road ahead and then you land at the reigning Super Bowl Champs in round one. How have they been receptive to that especially amid some of these injuries that seem to be piling up again?
"I think that's what our guys are ready for. I mean, to go all into that game, I don't think we cared who we played. The main thing was knowing that you've got to go to three on the road to get there to the last game of the season as opposed to two games at home to get there. So, that was the biggest thing in playing the hard way. Right now, you can't get picky about who you play, whether it's the defending champs or whether it's the seventh seed. This is the playoffs. Everyone's earned the right to be here. If you want to reach your ultimate goal, you've got to be good enough to beat anybody."
Going back to Philly, obviously it's a different team than '22 and '23, but going back to Philly in '23 and winning the way you did, for the guys that are still on the team now, do you think that helps them in terms of it's not all about getting revenge for the 2022 NFC Championship Game knowing that you've already been back?
"Yeah, I think those storylines and stuff are great for fans and for people to talk about throughout the week and stuff. But, I don't think the players think much about that. Especially how many years it is removed on both sides. The guys who were there in '23 or '22, I think the best deal is understand the atmosphere of Philly, what it's like to go there and play a big game and how it can be. It helps guys be more prepared for the moment, but I don't see much correlation into the previous meetings to this one."
How did you feel about how CB Upton Stout played in the last game?
"I thought Upton played really well. I thought might have been his best game of the year. I thought he had an awesome game."
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