San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters after Tuesday's training camp practice. Here's everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Was today the final day of training camp as you see it?
"No, it's our last practice. We've got to walk through tomorrow and then final preseason game."
How do you see it going at left guard right now? Does it feel like it's close to being decided or is there still a lot up in the air there?
"I mean, it's close to being decided, and it needs to be close. Today is the second to last day that we'll get to evaluate. We'll get it on the game. You've got [OL] Connor [Colby] and you've got [OL] Carver [Willis] who are both competing there. And we've got [OL Robert] Jones who's been hurt, so we've got to balance that off, not having him the last two weeks. But that's something we'll discuss and decide on who we want to play in Week One."
What's the long-term prognosis on Jones and OL Austen Pleasants? How long do you expect them out?
"We expect them back around Australia."
They'll get on the plane?
"Yes. Hopefully we'll get them for our three practices before we go."
Was QB Kurtis Rourke out with a broken rib?
"Yeah, he had three of them."
Is that similar to RB Jordan James' broken rib?
"No, it was different. Jordan James' was worse, just where it was. He's close this week, probably won't go tomorrow or Thursday, but should be good after that."
DL Romello Height, what is his injury?
"Romello, ankle."
Is WR Christian Kirk's situation something where he would be a candidate for IR to start the season?
"Yes, possibly. We've got a number of guys like that, so we've got to see how that pans out here over the next few days."
Would OL Vederian Lowe be one of those?
"Yes."
How hard or easy is it to make a final cut not knowing when several guys will be ready injury wise? Where is the mindset with this much in flux injury wise?
"It's tougher. That's why you want as long as possible. They're moving it up this year on Sunday with us leaving to Australia so soon, so it just makes it a little bit harder to guess where those guys are going to be at. There's a difference, though. I mean, most of our guys, besides [WR] Ricky [Pearsall] and everything, we know are going to be alright. How good are they going to be Week One? How good are they going to be Week Two? Those are things we've got to balance out. But when you know they're going to be healthy within those first four weeks, then it's not as complicated. It's frustrating because you'd like them to be there right away, but if they're not going to be healthy after four weeks, then you can decide about PUP and things like that."
Do the new PUP rules where guys can practice Weeks Three and Four if they start the season on PUP make it easier with DL Mykel Williams?
"Yeah. We're allowed two of them now, which is huge because it's always tough when you put guys on PUP that they're not allowed to practice. But it's really good to get two of those guys back earlier."
Do you have a timetable for DL Nick Bosa and how is he doing?
"He's doing good. I'm hoping that he can get into practice next week, and we'll see how those three days go after the mandatory three days off."
Do you have any kind of a pitch count or anything on TE George Kittle right now as far as practice reps?
"No, we've just been having them go with non-competitive periods. That's the first four periods, routes on air, things like that. Just working with the quarterbacks, working with the O-Line. Hoping next week when we get those three practices after the mandatory three days off, hopefully he can get in there a little bit more."
Do you have any update on WR Mike Evans?
"Yeah. Mike, his groin is tight. Hoping to get him back next week also."
What's the plan for the final preseason game as far as how much the starters will play if they play at all?
"I don't think you'll see many starters. We just don't have enough time as we usually do, so I'll be surprised if any of them are out there. There might be a couple, but it will be closer to how Week One was."
The news yesterday morning about principal owner Jed York, have you had an opportunity to talk to him or what's your view and where are things with the organization moving forward?
"Yeah, I got to talk to Jed the last two days and today. Obviously, it's a very tough situation. I mean, views for the organization going forward is the same as usual. There won't be any difference in that, but I know it's extremely fresh. I think it's a very, very personal situation. I've got a lot of respect for Jed. I got a lot of respect for Danielle [York]. Their family does mean a lot to me. So, with it being this personal, I'm trying as hard as I can to keep it that way."
What was your message to the guys today?
"I don't need much of a message to the guys. I think that's kind of irrelevant to our guys."
Is it possible that Jed will be away from the team for a while or just not as much of a presence?
"I mean, it's been like that this summer anyways with him being out in Ohio and things like that. So, it would be no difference right now. He hasn't been here for training camp."
How does that work? As decisions get made, does it go to somebody else, or does it still go to Jed?
"No, it's the same as always. Jed has been as good as it gets since I've been here on letting the football people make football decisions. Jed always wants to be informed and a part of things, but Jed has been exactly what he said he would be in letting us make those decisions. He always wants to know about them and stuff. Whether he's here in the building or a text away or on a phone call, that doesn't change anything."
I've noticed chief executive officer Al Guido on the field talking to you during camp. Is he picking up the slack on site while Jed's not here?
"No. No, there's no difference. I'm sure he does in other spots, but my answer is from a football standpoint. You don't see much from a football standpoint from Al or Jed."
Will you be calling plays Thursday?
"No."
But you will Week One, I imagine.
"Most likely."
Between your accident and the whole story with Jed, do you think there's any impact on football and on the team in any way?
"I don't get how my story has an impact on the team."
Some people say these are distractions. Does it impact the football in any way?
"No. Just the questions you've got to answer."
You were jogging for a bit. Are you 90% now, would you say? How close are you?
"As far as jogging? Yeah, I can probably run like a 5.2 40 right now, I hope. Actually, I probably couldn't. Still not that strong. But I wasn't before the injury. So, I'm the same as I've always been. I'm good."
You mentioned the questions that will be asked. Do you have to remind your players not to let it be a distraction because not only will they be asked here, but when they go to Australia, their media is going to ask about that?
"Yeah, you've got to always be smart when you have situations like that, just to not make yourself a part of it, but that's what these guys deal with their whole careers. I mean, they've got cameras on them all the time. They've got cameras in their face right after games when they're not feeling right or something very emotional could've happened. I feel something like this is actually easier for them than some of the stuff they have to deal with in the heat of battle with things more personal to themselves."
Do you have to reassure the young guys that this franchise stands for a specific thing and carries things out a specific way?
"Yeah, I think what people speak highly of and how this is ran, I think it's ran from a complete football standpoint. I think that's what's refreshing here. I've been a lot of places, but sometimes, there's a bad article and you got to answer to people who aren't involved in football about how you feel about your defensive coordinator. You get a punt blocked and there's bad articles and you got to answer to people about firing your special teams coach. Someone gives up something or they get a bad PFF grade and you got to answer to non-football people about who you're starting. I think that's what people love about this place. Jed's trusted the football to people who are involved in football, and players feel that. I've been in too many other buildings where things do trickle down and when they trickle down and things don't totally make sense, that wears on players also more than anything. I think here it's pretty black and white for them. They know it's always football decisions. Everything's always been football decisions and because they know Jed's put us in charge of making those."
Now that the Australia trip is about a week away, how excited are you to make that trip?
"Trying to get me in trouble? [Laughs] I'm just hoping our team's healthy enough and has the time to get there. Those are the challenges of it, just to get there to prepare for it. Guys still trying to recover to get there, the plane flight and things like that. But once you do get there and stuff, we're going to have fun playing in another country and it's going to be a cool atmosphere, things like that. That'll all be good. But right now, I'm just thinking of the challenges of getting our team ready for those three and a half hours."
You're going really early and the Rams are going pretty late. Was there an intention to get there super early to make sure you have a feel for the place? What was the thought process in that scheduling?
"I would love to just show up the day before and just play, but I'm not the best when it comes to the science and everything on that stuff. So, you ask people who've done it a number of times, you ask people who study it, you take all their opinions in. We've been strongly recommended to – when you've got a 19-hour flight and it's a 16-hour-something difference, I forgot because I haven't asked since we were making these decisions, but it's a big adjustment on the body. So, the recommendation for everybody has been to tell us when to go, and it's made a lot of sense. And I know how our players feel also. I was a little bit on the fence. Science wasn't and what I was reported on and our players weren't at all. So that helped me get off the fence."
Even though Jed is not involved in the football side of things, he is the face of this organization. When a situation like this arises, is it really your view that this has no effect on the team or on the organization as a whole?
"My view as the coach is does it have an effect on us as a team? And that's what I continue to answer on. From a football standpoint, it has no effect on us. As far as what we do day-to-day, what we talk about. It hasn't been mentioned in a meeting today, it doesn't have to do with what happens on the field. Everything outside of there, I think you guys can judge that better than me."
Any updates on OL Dominick Puni, WR Jacob Cowing and CB Upton Stout?
"Puni had some residual effects. He was in the protocol, got out. He complained of some residual things after practice today, so he's most likely back in it. Cowing has a groin. He's similar with Mike, hoping to get him back next week. Stout, hip flexor, expecting him back next week."
When you guys traded for DL Osa Odighizuwa, you know what kind of player you were getting. What have you seen in these four and a half weeks from him, especially since the pads went on?
"It's been how we were kind of expecting. We knew we were getting a good player. And so, we've seen that. I didn't know the type of guy he fully was until we started really hearing it from around the league and people from there, and that's been cool to go through this whole camp with him. He's exactly how he's advertised. He's a true leader. He goes hard as can be every day. That's why he gets really annoying for the O-Line just because of how hard he goes. They've been battling all camp. He's made us better. I think we've made him better, and I'm real excited to have him on our team."
Do you have a good idea of what your team can be this year, or are you still kind of waiting to see who gets back?
"Yeah, it's the same as always. You got a decent idea in camp, you got a decent idea before you go to camp, when you see what's on paper to know where you have a chance, but you want to see how it all comes together. I've had times where we've had a completely healthy camp and that's changed in the first two weeks, and then you have to adjust throughout the year. And I feel like we've done that. I've had times where we've been beat up in camp and you're worried about stuff and the season's gone really well in terms of injuries. So, I've been doing this a long enough time that I feel like you've almost been in every situation when it comes to those things, so I try not to get too high or low with this stuff. Yeah, it's frustrating when you only have so many days to prepare for Week One that you want everyone out there, but I've learned enough not to overreact on it too much. The things that I really struggle with is when you lose a guy for the year like we did Ricky. Those are the harder ones. I used to get upset with every little injury, but unless it's a long time, I've learned life's too short to get too upset about it. It can end up being alright."
Is it somewhat encouraging to see what WR De'Zhaun Stribling has been able to do through the first two preseason games? Is it more than you guys expected at this point in the preseason?
"No, the preseason games don't mean that much to me and the coverages just went that way. He happened to get targeted, he made those plays, but he's been doing that in practice too. He's where we expected him to be. We'd hoped to not have to use him quite as much early on with Ricky and stuff out there, but we believed he was talented enough and made of the right stuff that he could be if needed. And just losing Ricky just ups that a little bit. You have to use him a little sooner than you prepared, but that's stuff that happens all the time."
Can you talk about the team adversity and how they've been resilient through this? Has it been difficult at all just to really remain focused solely on football amid everything going on?
"Well, the one thing that went on yesterday, I don't think pertained to our players much. And if you guys talk about me getting in a car accident, I think that's kind of a joke that people think that's a distraction to our team. So, I think it's been training camp as usual."
It's winter in Australia, that means flu season. Any advice for the players that game?
"No, I don't think about those things. It's good to know it's winter. Won't be like playing in Tampa or anything in September, so that's good to know."
The LB Deion Jones trade went through. You don't have many days until that roster's got to be set. Is there going to be urgency to maybe trade for guys at positions where you have question marks right now?
"Yeah, there is always. Once the game's over on Thursday, that's what's nice about playing Thursday. We'll get to have three days before it has to be final on Sunday. So, it gives our personnel department, which they work on nonstop, so they have tons of guys at every position. That's why I always tell everyone the final 53, all that means is the final 53 that day. This is NFL, you're having to prove this every single day. And even if you feel comfortable because you beat everyone else on the roster, our personnel department is getting a list of people who don't make other rosters to see if they're better than our last guy. So that's something that they always look at. We'll have three days to catch up on that. And then you decide, 'Are those guys going to get cut? Is there a trade to make happen before the cut?' But that's why it's extremely fluid all the way up to the cutdown and after."
It's just a little different this time because they have to be on the plane with you on Wednesday after practice.
"Yeah, that's one of their bigger challenges, just having to get everyone, get our practice squad ready, all that stuff a lot sooner than other teams are going to have to."
More info on: Nick Bosa, Connor Colby, Jacob Cowing, Mike Evans, Romello Height, Jordan James, Christian Kirk, George Kittle, Vederian Lowe, Osa Odighizuwa, Ricky Pearsall, Austen Pleasants, Dominick Puni, Kurtis Rourke, Upton Stout, De'Zhaun Stribling, Mykel Williams, Carver Willis
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