Kyle Shanahan, Robert Saleh Analyze Key Challenges vs. Browns | 49ers

Kyle Shanahan, Robert Saleh Analyze Key Challenges vs. Browns | 49ers

Hey guys. All right. Um, for practice today, um, Tatum Bthun will not practice. Ankle Samo ankle won’t practice. Eddie Panero hamstring won’t practice. Uh, Luke Gford will be limited. Um, Christian McCaffrey vet rest. Go ahead. Back to back to normal. Yes. Is Sam O’s injury concern be longterm? Yeah, it’s going to be at least a couple weeks high ankle sprain. So, um, it’s going to be some time. Coach, what you think of Curtis Robinson getting out there? When I asked him about his, you know, coming in for Tatum, he said, you know, there were some things I needed to clean up this game. He said the same thing, but you, you know, congratulated the defense. What did you think of him out there? You know, as I thought he had a real good game. Um, was real clean. I thought he ran the defense real well. Um, got us in and out of a lot of things, made all the right calls, and, um, it was a real good first game for him. What were your draft thoughts on Shador Sanders and were you surprised he went in the fifth round and what did your call about that hole? Um I didn’t put a lot of time into him personally. Uh I knew our coaching staff thought he was a good player. Um the tapes that they showed me uh I thought he was a good player also. Um yeah it did surprise me um just going a little bit later when he did just um hearing what everyone was estimating and stuff but I’ve been in enough drafts to know that that much did surprise you. year had the uh the interception in the end zone. You guys have had a few plays down the goal line this year getting takeaways. Why why are you able to pull that off so successfully? Um I mean when they give you the opportunity, you got to catch it and he was given the opportunity. Uh you saw what the quarterback was trying to think going back to that tight end and um Jier just being free on that play, playing with vision, going and making that play and other places um on the field. We’ve had a few opportunities and dropped him. Um a few tips and things like that and down there um it stuck to us a little bit more. Talk about his progress this year. I mean it seems like he’s playing at a really high level. It’s been a little up and down previously for him. Yeah, Tig’s been awesome. I mean, just you know, when he first started over starting here, you know, he replaced Huff um when Huff got injured. Um I believe it was Huff’s ACL injury. Um and then Tig played a real high level all the way to the Super Bowl um and into the next year. and uh he was in and out a little bit when Huff came back. Um but this offseason went through a lot of rehab stuff, missed some time with camp, missed some time in the offseason, gave guys other opportunities, which um had him start off not in a safety role, which I can’t tell you guys how good he handled that. He um really became a very good player on special teams, which is how he started out. Uh he was unbelievable in our big nickel role. and um really just with how he was handled both those roles, we wanted to make sure we gave him an opportunity back at safety before um Malik came back. Um and when we did, he did well in that role and he’s kept the job and um is getting better and better each week. Is it about his play in particular that’s really improved? Um I mean, he’s he’s he’s played like this before, so I don’t want to say like he’s just overall proven. He you know, I thought he played at a high level when he came in as a rookie and played for us. Um, but I think just stringing together these weeks, uh, you know, when you’re in and out throughout the offseason with the surgery had and the injuries in training camp, um, it’s hard to just get better each week. And I think stringing together whatever these weeks are, six weeks or whatever it is, maybe more on the he’s been starting. You can just see him getting more consistent, getting more confident, um, doing his job great and and also knowing when to cheat his job and take some of the tips and knowing when to make some educated guesses and stuff. And that’s the way you make plays out there by doing that stuff. Can’t get carried away with it though because that’s the way you give plays to other team and I think he’s found a real good balance at that each week. What do you remember about watching Dion as a kid and now how full circles is that you’re facing his son? Um it is it is weird just because he was my hero growing up. He was probably my number one player just in terms of being a true fan of. Um I always talk about how he got his jersey in 94 and wore it for about six months straight till someone jacked it from me. I’m still looking for that guy. Um, but no, he was such a unique player. He was just different than everyone. His talent and everything. And now to watch him be a coach. And to watch um him raise I know he’s got I think he’s got three boys, but to watch the two boys in um sports has been really cool to watch. And I know I know my my wife, my daughter, they’re huge Colorado fans, too. And so I get to hear about Buffaloos all the time. What challenges do you see from Miles Garrett being that you guys are up against him this week? You know, him for the offense going into this week. How are you preparing for that? I’m just preparing to go against one of the best pass rushers ever. Um, so it’s a huge challenge. What will be your process to prepare for the potential inclement weather? Um, uh, we won’t go in the in the bubble this week. Um, hope that rains for us a little bit, get our mind right for it. I showed them a bunch of video this morning of what it looked a year ago. Um, I think this day there, um, versus Pittsburgh, just a blizzard and stuff and told them to expect it. um be surprised if it’s not that way and you just you expect it to be that way so you get your mind right and you don’t walk out out Sunday and be shocked by anything besides that. Um we’re working enough to sweat make the balls wet that way but we’re not going to water them down or anything. In the second half you guys didn’t take any shots down the field. Was that by design of how the first half goes or why was that? Um I mean I it’s not like it’s not like when we take a shot downfield the play isn’t called take a shot downfield. Um it depends on how they’re covering it, you know, and we had we had three plays in that first those three picks in the first half, you know, I think two of them he was number two in the progression, one he was number one. Um most of the plays later, um didn’t have as many deep plays, but we called a couple of those same plays again, just didn’t get the right read. Um it just plays out that way sometimes. What about a glove for for Brock Pury? I mean, does it make sense for him to practice with a glove if it’s, you know, going to be different temperature here in practice versus in in Cleveland? Yeah, I think I mean I always personally believe what you’re going to if you know you’re going to do something on Sunday and it’s going to be different, then you want to practice with it. Um, but uh I always feel that’s up to the individual. I mean, they’re the ones who go through it. They’re the pros. It’s not like me suggesting to a middle school kid on how to handle his first element game. you know, those guys have an idea what they’re comfortable with, what they want to do, and haven’t talked to him about that yet, but I’m sure that’s something I’ll be thinking about throughout the week. Some of some of the numbers show special teams wise, you guys have taken a big step forward. I know some of that is just making kicks versus not making them, but what what have you seen in that regard? And and how do you think that’s kind of been able to come together? Um, well, I mean, I think anytime you don’t um well, I mean, missing kicks is, you know, that that brings attention to everything. So when you when you miss a bunch of kicks, I mean, it’s it’s it’s tough for the whole special teams. Um, so it’s been nice with just u making those this year and our high percentage of it. Um, but also eliminating blocks. I think our returners um have gotten our whole return game, whether it’s punt return or kick return, I think has improved each week since week one. I think these last five weeks has kind of even taken off, especially in the kickoff return. Um, so I think everyone just being more consistent, continuing to work at it, and um, not allowing a bad play to happen that can kind of sour, you let one bad play happen, and it kind of sour all 15. So, I think it’s given those guys more confidence each week. With the kick return, is is anything particular that is working for Sky here, you mention the last five weeks that you seem to take. Uh, I mean, I just think the more reps guys get, the more confidence they get. You know, I think Skye’s always been a threat. Um, and I think I think Dro, I don’t know how many times Dro has done in his career. Uh, none that I know of. Um, so I know that was new for him. Um, but both of those guys just being the same guys back there. Sky since the beginning and Dro, I want to say since like week three or four. Um, but they just keep getting better at it and the better they get at it, the more confidence they get, the more confidence they get. I think the more confidence guys get blocking form, the more motivated guys do and you just collectively get better. You go up against the wide n in practice and all summer long. Is Schwarz’s version of it any different? What makes him such a challenge? Uh, not different with the front four and how they’re coached. Um, changes a little bit with how they play their linebackers and their secondary, that’s where it changes. Um, but I mean, uh, Jim’s as good of a coordinator as there is. Um, and when you’re as good of a coordinator as there is and you have the talent that they have, um, it’s a pretty lethal combination. KB’s snap count has tapered off a little bit the last few weeks. Is that just a case of too many mouths to feed or trying to get Drock more involved? No, it’s just Ricky was our starting Z and when he went down we moved um KB to our starting Z and when you’re a starter um usually um you get the ball a lot more and you get to play a lot more. Ricky has pretty good stamina so we don’t rotate him as much and um Drock’s done a good job owning our F ro. Um so it’s been nothing against KB. Um but I don’t like that. I’d love to get him out more there more than we have the last two weeks. Kek is the team’s army sportsmanship award nominee again. What are some of the intangibles he brings that we don’t get to see? Um, just how good of a football player he is. I mean, there’s nothing that you put in that I mean, guys could do stuff on paper. Um, they can do it when it’s all like set up and lined up exactly how you tell them it’s going to be. Um, but Kyle just almost everything’s slow motion for them. You get that for some quarterbacks and things like that. Some sometimes the game slows down for people, but to have a fullback like that is different. uh the way he can maneuver through fronts with a lot of stuff going on and um even when it isn’t the guy even when other people take the wrong guy and he can just naturally adjust and go take their guy like you wouldn’t even notice someone made a bust. Um so Kyle’s just I mean and when we throw the ball to him it doesn’t matter how big of a moment what the situation is he always comes down to it down with it. He gets up the field um after the catch as good as anyone on our team and just one of the better football players I’ve ever been around. Are you guys open the practice window for anyone this week? No. How is it Gross Montas doing with his recovery? Um he’s coming along. It’s been a tough year for him missing all training camp and um with his knee and then when you do that and you come back makes you so susceptible to other things and that’s kind of what’s been a story a little bit this year. Um but he’s got a chance to come back and he’s working real hard at it and I think we’ll have a chance here after the buy. What is it about Miles Garrett that makes him so difficult to scan for? um that I mean even coming out to college, he’s one of the most talented guys that I think anyone’s ever looked at just from height, weight, and speed, how long his arms are when you measure just get off. I mean, his helmet crosses uh the line of scrimmage faster from a analytic standpoint than anyone in the NFL. Um so that means that get off’s amazing. Um when you put that with amazing ability, that to me comes around very, you know, generationally. And then you got a guy who’s played in a similar system for a while, uh, who stayed healthy, who’s doing it over and over again and trying to be great. And, uh, when you have all that, how can you not be what he is? So, it’s it’s been extremely impressive. On practice windows, sorry, on practice windows, um, I assume that next week he wouldn’t open any practice window. No, not next week. Yeah. Is Miles just a guy who gets better and better as he keeps playing? Yeah, he does. I mean, he’s I mean, he’s that talented and he works at it that much. I mean, he he plays hard, he goes, he’s um always rushing the quarterback, yet being a real problem in the run game, too. Um so, he’s he’s like a number of those top guys. Um when you just look at his true ability, too, it he seems to separate himself from those top guys, also. All right. Thanks, guys. And what you saw on Sunday? Uh you know, he’s a good young quarterback. He’s mobile. Uh he’s got big arm, um tremendous confidence, and uh you know, he made a couple of really really good throws in the in the game against uh uh Vegas, extending plays, getting out of the pocket, delivering the ball where it needed to be delivered. Um obviously showed good command of the uh of the huddle and at the line of scrimmage. Uh you you anticipate someone like him who’s got that confidence, who has that skill set, he’s just going to get better and better every week. You talked a lot about Jire and kind of getting him back in progressing. Did did you expect him to to kind of have a breakthrough game at some point? And how how satisfying was it to to see it kind of happen? Um I I I don’t know about breakthrough or anything like that. I I do know what’s been great is he does get better every week. Um and this goes back to training camp. You know, he missed some time during OTAAS with the injury. Comes in training camp. Uh kind of gets bad news that he was going to be a uh that he wasn’t going to start, but we carved out a role for him so he could stay involved. and whether he liked it or not, you couldn’t tell. Attack the heck out of it. Um did everything that we asked and and really helped everybody around him. Was even helping the young kid uh at safety. Uh Seagull trying to get him uh squared away and and when he was given another opportunity to go back at safety, he’s improved every single week. Um definitely wanting to make sure that he can slam the door and make sure that he leaves no doubt that he’s a safety. So, long story short, I still think he’s going to continue improving. you know, he uh the the the biggest thing I would take away from the game for him last week is I felt like he was playing football, not football. And um you know, I always tell players, you know, you you can be a football player and do exactly what the book tells you to do, but you’re the one out there shooting bullets. You’re the one that’s playing football. And like the second interception was just him playing football. If he did it by the book, he wouldn’t have made that play. And so he’s uh he’s he’s he’s improving big time with regard to understanding the game and and being more of a football player. The book, what was he supposed to do? Supposed to be in the D middle coach, if he is out of position trying to anticipate something, are you having to talk with him? Like what? It seems like a pretty there’s balance, you know. Uh to whom much is given, much is required, right? uh you know it um if you if you study enough tape you know we we talk about in a game if you say there’s 60 plays there might be three or four times in a game where you just know what that play is going to be you know it and you’ve got to have the confidence through film study and the confidence in one another confidence in your teammates and coaches and we got to have confidence in our players that when they know they know they know they go take that shot because those are the plays when you when you look at a game and it’s like oh He had two interceptions. He had a TFL. Uh well, those were the I I knew plays. Um and I and I think that’s what he did a great job of on Monday night, taking advantage of those opportunities. How was Upton Stout developed maybe a a greater feel uh in pass coverage in this game? Same thing. Just it’s it’s reps. Um he’s he is he’s one of the more deliberate guys on this team. It’s super important to him. He puts in a lot of work and film study and he’s always asking questions and shoot on Friday or uh Friday night he sent me over a text uh of a a still shot of a video from Friday’s practice. Hey, if I was in a and he talked about a completely different coverage and a completely different concept than the one we gave him and was asking if they did this out of that look, what would it be? And which is a different level of thinking for a rookie. and um you know so he’s he’s watching things the right way and he’s and he’s growing and like I said he’s deliberate so he’s been getting better every week and again he’s another young man that fully expect him to get better and better and continue getting better uh and hopefully he’s hitting us right when we when we really need him to Curtis Robinson work to get into the spot that he’s in and then to come in and have two pretty strong performances having to go now against Cleveland Browns against a young quarterback but being able to kind of keep the defense in it what you make up his performance in this last game. What do you expect out of when he gets to play the Browns? Um, I I thought he did a really nice job. You know, like I I know that he didn’t fill the stat sheet up and I’m and I’m sure, you know, from his perspective, he he would love to have had that happen, but you know, just try to have, you know, just try to put yourself in a guy in his shoes. It’s he’s battled he’s had a lot of battles trying to find his way back into this to get this opportunity on that stage with those what the type of game it was playoff implications and all that on Monday night where you’re entire the entire football world’s watching. I thought he did an outstanding job keeping calm uh relaying uh communicating, taking care of the huddle on the sidelines, making the adjustments that needed to be made and um and and he’ll he’ll close the gap to allow him to make some of the plays that I know that he wishes he had back, but I thought he was outstanding in that regard. And again, I expect him to get a little bit better uh this week. Um uh and uh and same as everybody else, like he it means something to him. And because of that, he will get better. Jer Brown did an interview and he he cited your passion as something that he really loved and that you get, you know, you’re here early and you’re fired up and and does coach passion equal player passion? I mean, where where do you where did that philosophy of coaching come from? And do you do you show that passion to the players so that you get that back from them? Um I I don’t know. I think everyone’s different. my my um I try to stay calm during the week um because there’s a lot of teaching go uh going on and uh I I’ve tried to explain it before like my my passion on game day is because of the when like like uh Jaier makes the play he makes on the second interception and um the amount of work that you know he put in to for that one moment right like there there’s people look at it as one play but there’s probably 6 hours dedicated to that one moment and it happened. And so the the joy you’re seeing on the field is for him and the amount of work that you know that he went through and the amount of trial and error that he had to go through and there was actually a couple plays in the game where he was that close and it was like a just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s going to happen. Uh so it’s more jubilation for him than anything else and for the player when they’re having success and uh so you just can’t for me I just can’t help but let that out and um so whether it affects the guys I have no idea because I know that for them they’re already motivated and inspired to do the best they can and shoot Kyle always already does an unbelievable job with his messaging. So I I don’t know. I don’t think they need it from me. It’s just my personal deal. You guys could have a weather uh weather on on Sunday. Um, as far as the pass rush, can that hinder a, you know, a Miles Garrett um, a Bryce Huff as far as getting off the line and just getting an edge on the um, it could, you know, because you’re, if the footing’s not firm and, uh, it could be a little softer, grass giving way because it might be a little bit wetter. Um, it could it could affect their get off. Um, I don’t know if anything in the world can affect Miles. maybe if he wants to take a day off. But George Sanders present, how is the Browns offense different within the quarterback? Um, you know, we only have a game and a half to go off of, but um, you know, they’re they’re they’re going to run the ball. The the a lot No, no one’s really giving the young man attention, and that that’s the back. I mean, he’s he’s freaking good. U, I don’t want to mispronounce his name. I’ll number 10. He’s he’s really good. Jerry uh Judy’s really good. They’ve gotten Malachi Corley involved. the rookie tight ends doing a really nice job. So, um they’re they’re they’re they’re a really good offense. They’ve got a style to them. Uh Shador, he came in over the last week and a half like his off schedule stuff is going to be a problem. You could already tell that. Um you know, as he gets comfortable in what they’re asking him to do, he’s only going to get better because of you could tell how important it is to him and how much work he’s going to put into it. and a guy who’s as good as gifted as he is both physically and mentally and and with the confidence he has, you just know he’s going to get better. So, they’ll evolve as an offense. I wish I could tell you exactly what it’s going to be. We have an idea of what it’s going to be on uh Sunday, but um I’m sure there’s going to they’re going to keep adding little wrinkles to help him grow as a football player and we’re just going to have to be great in those moments and uh play good sound fundamental football. Do you watch any of his college team? Um, no. It’s I it for style of play, uh, which we’re already familiar with just going through the evaluation process. Our scouts do a phenomenal job just giving us a rundown of who he was as a college player. But, um, usually he’s he’s going to play within the structure. His style of play shows up, but um, what they’re asking him to do and and within the structure of the offense will be what Cleveland is. Yep. Appreciate you guys. [Music]

#49ers #nfl

Head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh detailed the team’s injury updates, praised the growth of their young defenders, and outlined the challenges of facing the Cleveland Browns and potential harsh weather conditions.

Chapters:
0:00 Head coach Kyle Shanahan
11:30 Defensive coordinator Robert Saleh

Tickets, news, roster, schedule, and more: https://www.49ers.com/
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/49ers/
Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@49ers
Follow us on X: https://twitter.com/49ers
Follow us on Threads: https://www.threads.com/@49ers
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SANFRANCISCO49ERS/
Download the App: https://itunes.apple.com/app/id395859078?mt=8

© 2025 Forty Niners Football Company LLC