San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak spoke to reporters on Tuesday, before the team's sixth practice of training camp. Here is everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
How have the connections between the new group of wide receivers and quarterbacks been?
"A consistent group out there. But it can be good for the quarterbacks too to have a revolving door because the quarterback's just has to play and they have to be tied into their, their footwork, their progressions. They have got to be tight, be tied into what they're supposed to do, okay, and the rest take care of itself. As long as their timing is good, it makes them more accurate when they're having to adjust to different receivers. So, I think it can be a good thing for QBs to sometimes have to work through different skill positioning groups. However, you also want to build continuity. So yeah, it's a challenge, right? But, you know, it's not new. We kind of go through it every year. I think most teams go through this, guys are going to be down for a few days, and you have to adjust. So, we just work through it. We let guys get more reps. You work through the ups and downs, and you just keep going day by day."
At that position, it seems like there's a good chance that a newcomer or a young guy could be in a fairly prominent role in week one. Do you see anybody making a move, taking a step either coming out of the spring or these first few days of camp, who isn't an incumbent? Who's new to the team?
"I think it's early. It's definitely too early to tell about who's going to be ready for a week run. I think at that position group, we probably have more competition than we've had in the past couple years, just based on kind of who's been out there, you know, with [WR Brandon Aiyuk] BA being out with his injury, with some of the young guys we have with [WR] Jordan [Watkins], with [TE] Jake [Tonges], who also hasn't been out there. It's given a lot of guys opportunities to show what they're made of. Guys we haven't seen a lot of. But as far as saying who's ready for week one, who's going to be out there, it's definitely too early to tell. We got to keep stacking days."
Speaking of guys that are rehabbing a serious injury. You don't see that much, but Aiyuk's been pretty conspicuous out there with the position group kind of talking to guys.
"Mhm."
And, you know, almost pantomiming what they're doing more than you usually see with a guy that's been hurt.
"Yeah."
How has his level of engagement been in meetings and in those situations to your view?
"It's been awesome. You know, he is out there every day. He's with those guys. He's very much a part of the position group. Meaning he is not just isolated doing his rehab and then being around the building. He's in the individual drills with them, and he's on the field. When we are in meetings, he's engaged. When we're at walkthroughs, he's with those guys. He's helping [wide receivers/passing game specialist Leonard Hankerson] Hank kind of coach on the side. I'm really happy with BA right now with where he is at. Obviously, he is doing his rehab, and he's doing what he has to do to be ready to go."
How quickly is [QB] Mac Jones picking up the offense in the meeting rooms, and how is he doing on the field?
"He's picking it up really well. He's been really impressive. Mac's a really smart guy. He got all these reps in OTAs for the first time, and now he's kind of getting the second time through it. Okay. You can see improvement. Yes, there's ups and downs. Yes, there's times when he needs to be more on it like anybody does, but Mac's really impressive picking up the offense, and I think he's executing really well. Like I keep saying, he needs to keep stacking days and getting better."
[WR] Russell Gage [Jr.] is a guy who's a couple years removed from a really serious knee injury. Since he's been in the building, what have you seen about him? Not, not just how he's picking things up, but also just physically how he's doing?
"Yeah, I mean, first of all, he is a pro. He's been around, and you can tell the way he prepares, the way he works, and the way he gets his body ready to practice every day. To me, he is a guy who has definitely taken a big step from OTAs. At OTAs he was learning. You might be a hair slower when you're still trying to figure it all out. You can tell he is really putting in the work in the classroom and mental part of it, and it's made him play faster. He's doing a great job. He's out there every day, you know, he is healthy. He's been stacking days, and he's a guy I've been pretty pleased with so far."
How do you feel like the rookies are picking up the offense thus far?
"Doing a good job. You know, it's a struggle. Fort the rookies, they got to learn it once in OTAs in the off season, then you take the break, and you come back and learn it again, right? There's always ups and downs, but those guys are doing a really good job. They're putting in the work, they're doing everything they can do."
When you look at it from a coach's perspective, like this time of camp, you got the pads on, you're going to have these young rookie running backs doing blitz pickup and pass protection for the first time. What do you look at as a coach in that drill, and does that excite you guys too at this point of camp to see if they're ready for that?
"Yeah, you're talking about the one-on-one periods?"
Yeah.
"You're just looking that they're on their technique, that they're, sticking their face in there, and being physical, being stout. You're looking for the technique too. So, you're coaching both of those things, and then when you get into the team drills, you're making sure that they're on their protection rules and ready for pick up those blitzes. So, this guy's been awesome so far. [running backs Robert Turner Jr,] Coach T and [offensive assistant Miguel Reveles] coach Reveles, they put in all the work to get those guys ready. So, they're doing a good job."
How has it been developing that over the last year?
"I think with any young back, it's seeing all the blitzes and learning our rules. That's the first part of it, is the mental part of it. Then you really just get your first full speed NFL blitzes and it can be a shock, and you kind of get that in the preseason. He made tremendous strides as the year went on and he's a guy who's been good so far in camp."
Going back to Aiyuk, I don't know if this would be your area, but do you have to watch him to make sure he's not doing anything he can't be doing, being on PUP when he gets on the field?
"It's definitely not my area, I know there's rules, he's out there just in gym shorts, and he's engaged with the guys on the side. So, I don't think he's doing anything physical that he is not supposed to do. Yeah."
How do you see the tight end room shaping up?
"Yeah, obviously [TE] George [Kittle] had a good camp so far and real happy with where he's at. And then when we brought [TE] Luke [Farrell] in the offseason and Luke's been doing a good job. Luke's a big physical guy who's going to do a lot for us in the run game and pass protection. Luke's shown us what he can do in the pass game too. He's done a good job so far in camp and then everyone kind of behind them. We're talking about [TE] Brayden [Willis], Jake and then [TE] Ross [Dwelley]. There's a good competition there. I think for those last couple spots. Those guys are doing a good job. They're very consistent. They show up every day, they're on it, and those guys are going to push each other all throughout camp. So, we're just kind of tracking that as we go through it."
What have you seen from WR Jordan Watkins? Obviously, his speed is noticeable, but just cerebrally, like how he picks up on things?
"Another guy we're impressed with mentally. He did a good job in the spring, obviously he had a good OTAs, but coming back and just starting to stack days and stack in the mental, that's the strain on a rookie. Obviously, the strain on your body, but then the mental strain of come showing up to practice every day and being on it. And he does that, right? He has shown that he can handle the mental load. He does a really good job and he's just got to keep getting better and keep showing up to practice and getting after it.
WR Ricky Pearsall is in the second year now, and obviously he's only had a couple of practices, but where is he in terms of just his knowledge of the playbook and being able to kind of seamlessly fit back in?
"Very knowledgeable. Ricky's a really sharp guy. He learns really quickly, never really been much of an issue for him. He's just got to keep getting his body in shape, he has missed some time. And Ricky's got to show up every day and just keep getting in shape and get his legs back, like the rest of these guys, get to that point we need him to in the preseason where they're just stacking days and getting ready for Week One."
With WR Jacob Cowing coming out of the spring to now, he's obviously injured. What do you see him doing to do what he can so he doesn't fall too far behind?
"Same things, we talked about with BA but just meeting rooms, being attentive, being dialed in, like you're going out there to practice. Just preparing mentally, being on the side and watching from the side and being engaged with the group. That's all you can do. And then taking care of your rehab and getting your body ready to go from when the time comes."
Do you expect to get Jennings back soon or is that a longer-term thing?
"I think. I'm not really sure. His calf's bothering him and we're going to kind of take it day-by-day and see where he is at."
Back in the spring, Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Chris Foerster talked very highly about OL Austen Pleasants. You kind of described him as a nice surprise. He's been playing strictly right tackle and OL Spencer Burford left tackle. Any thought of kind of switching them around so that the guy could be a true swing tackle on game days?
"Yeah, to echo Chris, Austen has done a really good job. We try to put guys in their one spot in camp and let things be consistent. But I think between Austen and Spencer, both guys are going to hope to potentially be able to swing, just seeing how it goes. But they're both doing really good job. Spencer's working more on the left right now, Austen on the right, and we'll just kind of take it day-by-day."
You have a sense when OL Andre Dillard would come in and be part of that competition?
"I don't have an update on Andre, no."
Going back to Pearsall, what excites you about his upside?
"I just think the more Ricky's out there, the more you see him, his route running, how polished it's become. I think as the year went on last year, he just got so much better versus man-to-man coverage. The more man coverage you see, the more physical DB play you see. Ricky gets better and that excites me a lot. He's a guy who's going to rise to the occasion with more physical, defensive back play but he's got to be out there. He's got to be consistent. So, I think Ricky just gets better and better the more he is out there. He's just got to stay out there and stay healthy and take care of his body. I think the sky's the limit for him."
Are RB Christian McCaffrey and QB Brock Purdy looking sleep deprived at all with their new status as fathers?
"Not so much. I think they got pretty good support systems around them to kind of balance it out, but pretty cool what those guys are experiencing. As a dad, I became a dad a couple years ago. You guys know it's an amazing experience I'm really happy for them. And it's really cool."
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