San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters after Saturday's training camp practice. It was the first time he spoke publicly since suffering injuries during a July 14 car accident. Here's everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
How are you feeling? What kind of improvements have you noticed?
"I'm doing really good. My body feels good. Just got to get this annoying cast off. My ribs feel good, except when I sneeze, and my head feels so much better. Concussions do linger a little bit. The only things I really deal with now are just headaches and fatigue. That's why I'm not always exactly on the same routine, but pretty damn close."
First day out there without shades?
"Yeah, but it's not lights that bother me. I had to wear shades to protect scars and stuff, but I got all my stitches out so I can put tape over it now. So, the tape protects it."
Do you have a percentage of what you're able to do, as opposed to when you're all the way back?
"How much percentage do you guys give media?"
Oh, 100-percent. That's a big percentage.
"Well, then 0-percent. As far as the important stuff, I feel it's about 100-percent. The biggest thing I've learned with this stuff is, just when you deal with fatigue and headaches and stuff, is if I kind of do everything I kind of pay for it in some ways later. That's the routine I've found out. I've really tried to eliminate stuff that I would say is just the fake work stuff, which is a big important thing, but like talking to the media, having to break down the team every day. Doing stuff like that I've kind of taken it a little bit easier on. One thing I haven't missed anything of is film. I watch every single play with the coaches after, with the players. I have had a few team meetings. Normally, I do it every day, but I do lose a little when I do stuff like that, so I've just picked and choosed a little bit more. As far as the film and everything, being out there for all the practice periods of going against each other, those are, to me, the most important things in my job and I've been able to do those every day."
Is it your intention to coach the first preseason game next week or is that still to be determined?
"Oh, yeah. I'm doing the same stuff, guys. I just try not to come in here every single day because I want to be able to pull off my normal routine, which is watching hours and hours of tape and getting to the walk-through at night, being able to watch stuff after that. Eventually, I will get there. I would've told you I was there seven days ago and they're like, 'Just chill. Wait to see how you feel tomorrow.' Then I wake up the next morning and I'm like, 'Damn, I'm glad I didn't say that.' Because sometimes it's a good day and sometimes the next day's a little bit harder. As far as the stuff that I think is the most important parts of my job, I've been doing that since day one."
What is your impression, two weeks in, of the team overall from your perspective on the field?
"I like our team. I feel like we came into this camp better on paper than we did last year. Just with the number of rookies we were dependent on last year, got to play more, and I love the guys we've added this year. By no means do I see how we are come week one. We've still got a lot of work to do. Some days we take a step forward, the next day we take two steps back, but that's training camp. A number of the guys that we really want to push to work with, those guys aren't always out there. So, just fighting through those things."
You've been such a grinder for so long. Is it weird having a bit of an abbreviated schedule for yourself?
"It is. I was a little insecure about it at first. I mean, I've been a guy, like all of us are, that we could be deathly sick, and we're still insecure to go home. That's kind of just how we are, so it was hard on me. But, when I saw kind of the results of some of it, it became easier. What people tell you is kind of right. I was like, 'Yeah, all right, I'll be able to tough through that.' You kind of can tough through anything, but then when you pay for it the next day, you're not as good at something else, you start to be like, 'Alright, I didn't have to tough through that because it made me worse the next day.' Those are things I've had to learn a little bit to be better at."
You watch practice now from the deep middle. It's a different perspective. Do you enjoy it? Do you like it? Is there anything that you see in the deep middle next to president of football operations/general manager John Lynch that maybe you didn't see when you're up behind the quarterback?
"A little bit. I mean, sometimes it's harder to find the quarterback. Sometimes it's harder to find the running back. They just pop. But you can see the holes now, everything develops. That's where I watch it throughout games all the time. Wherever I am on the field, I'm always about 30 yards away from the line of scrimmage, so I can see it. I got to stand on both sides during games, so I'm used to that. Things look backwards a lot to me when I'm sitting right in the middle there. I like to be more on the offensive side. That's the perspective I like. I always like to talk to the quarterbacks and things like that, which you can do more. It's been good to be able to communicate with [defensive coordinator] Raheem [Morris] back there and see it from a little different angle."
How long is the mustache going to be with you?
"It's day-to-day. It's probably not going to stick, eventually. Too many questions about it I'll probably get rid of it pretty fast. It's something I always have in the summer. My friends have been trying to challenge me to keep it for like the last four years, and I always shave it the first day back. But once they all started joking that it saved my life in the crash, I felt like I owed it a little bit longer, so I'm just going to keep it a little bit longer."
As far as DL Nick Bosa taking off the last few days due to soreness, is there any reason for concern there?
"No. He was doing great, and then he got sore just going through some of the individual. You wish that didn't happen, but no, there's no concern to where something's happened that is a big setback or anything. We'll wait until the soreness goes away and evaluate why the soreness has happened, but I still feel pretty good about that."
Are you mad at yourself for getting in the situation?
"Yeah. I mean, anytime you cause an accident that can be avoided, you'd feel pretty stupid. Especially when you have a chance to hurt someone else. You get mad when you get a ticket at yourself, so it's kind of the same. I think everyone's done, to a degree, what I've done. Dropping a phone, it falling all the way to my back seat to where I have to fully take my eyes off the road. It's something that I normally wouldn't do. I've had autopilot for nine years, so I'm pretty comfortable with it. Who knows what happened when I turned around. Whether it malfunctioned or whether I knocked it off, that's something I don't know yet. But regardless, it is always your fault, whether you're on autopilot or not. You can't take your eyes off the road. It's a partnership driving. You don't just turn it over to a computer. It's a good lesson, no matter how comfortable I am with that, that I believe someday could save my life or someone else's. It's really helped me have perspective on that stuff."
You're the leader of this team. Obviously, you're asking your players and your coaches to be responsible. Have you had to speak to that at all to them? Like, learn from what I did or don't make this mistake?
"Yeah, I mean, I didn't sit there and feel like I had to. I didn't have a ton of guilt over it or anything. The word's an accident and it truly was that way. You realize how quick and close that stuff can happen. When you're going at 20 miles an hour and you're on autopilot, I honestly have zero worries. I have so much trust in that stuff. That was a good lesson that you can't ever have zero worries. I think it definitely could be an example for a lot of people."
Returning to coaching in games and noise tolerance, will you still be on the sidelines?
"Like I answered all the questions earlier, the first couple of days out at practice, depending on what side I was standing on, AC/DC hurt a lot more than some smoother hip-hop, but I think those days are over. Noise doesn't bother me like it was. I actually have two symptoms, I feel like, and that's headaches and fatigue. That's all I'm feeling right now."
Can you speak a little bit about the support that you received from Raheem and offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak and assistant head coach/offensive line coach Chris Foerster throughout this process, and some of the veterans that stood up?
"That's actually been the easiest thing for me. When I had it, I would have been shocked if I wasn't able to come here and be able to do everything. It's my first concussion. I didn't really realize how long they would last. They gave me dates, and I kind of laughed. They don't give you dates, but they tell you how long to prepare. I'm like, 'Yeah, there's no way that'll last that long.' So, I was actually surprised. It's what they told me from the beginning, so I won't be surprised again. Each day, just watching our building, all our coaches, starting with Chris to Klay to Raheem to [special teams coordinator] Brant [Boyer] to everybody. Everyone upstairs, our players, it made it really easy for me not to worry about me having to do something. Our guys are awesome. We have a pretty well-oiled machine. We've been here for this is our 10th year. Those guys made it very easy for me to not do anything stupid."
Will you change your perspective at all on when players are dealing with concussions having gone through it?
"Yeah, no doubt. I've been told so much by these guys, don't compare a sports concussion to an accident like this. I'm starting to realize that now. Just little things, like when they label things, like whether it's severe or mild. You hear someone has a mild one, I'm like, 'Oh, alright. It might be one game, but usually that's two.' Then you kind of learn those are just words. Each one's a little bit different. I definitely can relate to how scary it is when you don't know if you will feel right again. It's definitely made me more educated on it. Usually I just listen, and like, 'Tell me when, okay,' and I move on, but I understand it a lot better and what guys got to go through and the protocol to get back. There's not a protocol for me on paper, but it's really cool to be in a profession that knows what to do with those things. All the people that I need help from, it was already built in here. They've got a lot of experience with it, and it's been really good for me."
Does WR Ricky Pearsall's injury, perhaps in combination with what you've seen from WR De'Zhaun Stribling in practices, change the plan for Stribling at all, make you think that he could do maybe a little bit more this season than perhaps when you drafted him?
"Losing Ricky was a real big deal. We've had a number of injuries in camp, but that's really the only one that's actually been not just a camp injury. Losing a player like Ricky is a huge deal. It ties to everybody. You hope for Stribling, you hope for [WR] Mike [Evans], you hope for that whole group. A lot of people have to step up, but no one here is wired exactly how Ricky is. They're all a little bit different. So, you do lose a big part of what we were planning on. That's where guys do have to step up. That's what gets frustrating when guys like Stribling tweak a muscle and stuff, because, yeah you want guys to step up, but you've got to train them to do it. They've got to work to do it. They've got to be out there to be able to do it at an NFL level, which is coming real fast."
Is there a certain thing that you knew you had to do that proved that you were back or were very close? The team meeting maybe we heard about?
"The team meeting was a big step for me. The concussion stuff just was weird. You feel just more emotional and stuff. Don't take this the wrong way, but I joke with my wife, I'm like, 'It feels like you're in menopause.' It's different and you're emotional and things. So, it was different to like get in front of groups and things like that. But, once you do that and you get past the hard parts of it, it becomes pretty easy. You've just got to get back to getting used to it. After my first team meeting, I was like, 'Perfect, I'm out of the woods, I'm good,' and felt good most of that day. Then it hit me real bad that night, and then the next day. And I was like, 'Alright, maybe I don't want to do that every day yet.' That's kind of how everything's gone on this. I can't tell you guys how close it is. I'm getting there. There's no doubt I will be there. From what I do with the team, I kind of already feel there."
John Lynch was talking about how you were in talks with WR Deebo Samuel Sr. for about a month before it all worked out. Does losing Ricky Pearsall change how you are going to use Deebo Samuel, and maybe how much he could do for you?
"Not really. They're just two completely different types of players. Deebo was someone that we were hoping it would work out, depending on Deebo's other opportunities and what it could be here. That was something that we were hoping for a long time could work out and it ended up working out for both of us. The Ricky thing changed nothing."
Is this session that you're having with us now part of your goal to push yourself as much as you can?
"Definitely. That's why they tell me not to plan anything. Like a week ago, I'm like, 'Guys, I'm doing media tomorrow.' Then I was so glad they didn't tell you guys, because I woke up the next morning, I'm like, 'There's no way I can do it right now.' Then I didn't tell anyone today, but then I just felt like doing it. I want to do it. I want to get back to fully, 100-percent being normal. Unfortunately, this is part of 100-percent being normal."
You said that this morning or was it during practice?
"No, it was more during practice. It was actually more when I was trying to talk to Klay about practice and he was ignoring me, getting ready to talk to you guys. I was like, 'Oh, I'll go do it. I got it right now.'"
Are there things that you realize that you can delegate, that you haven't been able to do, maybe it's worth delegating in the future so you don't have to do so many things?
"Yes, but I've also done a lot more of that in the last few years than people realize. Last year, I didn't call one play in preseason. I don't always call plays out on the field. I've started most of that since Klay's gotten here. It's been nice to not have to go to staff meetings. We've had some staff meetings where we just go over injuries and stuff and things like that, which I'm always at. I've missed those so I could actually focus on a few more film things, so that's been good. Just knowing that if you didn't even come, and you just watched a practice, that it's going to go pretty much the same as if you were there. You don't know that until you see it. That's why I can't speak highly enough about all the guys around here."
Was there any reconciliation you had to do with Deebo after he asked to be traded and how you guys are together now?
"Deebo's always been one of the closest guys we've been to, just relationship-wise. When Deebo went through his contract negotiations, try not to put words in his mouth, but I think he thought it'd be advantageous to make it look like there was a little bit of a battle. Sometimes that helps, sometimes it doesn't. People forget that Deebo. Those OTAs, I was at Deebo's house on the eighth OTA day, and I was talking about how all that was just BS. He came to minicamp. We had a great summer together. I think he signed the first day back at training camp. We got over that in OTAs. That was just stuff from the negotiating periods back in April and stuff. There were stuff, definitely, that made me like, 'What the hell is going on?' We're not around Deebo. Then we see him in OTAs and we got to talk man-to-man and it was fine as soon as we got with each other."
LB Dre Greenlaw said he reached out to Deebo during that process saying, 'There's no place like San Fran.' Obviously those guys are tone setters. Obviously, you wouldn't bring them back if they couldn't play still, but what does it mean in terms of influence and energy in the locker room and things like that?
"It's huge. Energy in the locker room and stuff, that all comes off of what players see off the field. I feel like our fans could almost answer that question. They know what Deebo looks like when he has the ball in his hands. I bet Washington fans, just from the year they had with him, know what he looks like when he has the ball in his hands. I think everyone here knows what Dre looks like and how he plays, and that's exactly how he looked on tape. He didn't get to play a ton last year, coming back from his stuff about half the year, but he looks exactly like the guy that we all know. To be able to bring back some enforcers like that who play exactly how we want everybody to play, those are two special dudes. I haven't been around two people like that in my career, really, who play that way. That stuff's huge. Just knowing they're in here gets guys pumped up. They've been away for a year, but to see them out there, they look exactly like the guys I remember."
Coaches watch a lot of film. Does the concussion impact your ability to watch film? Does it bother you after a lot of film watching?
"It did more at first. I've never had vision issues and stuff. I'm usually a guy who doesn't get that overstimulated. I can handle a lot of things. Now just when I do too much film at first, I kind of have to take a little more breaks. They make fun of me because I never get bathroom breaks, and now I kind of do. Halfway through, I tell the coaches to go out. I take like 10 minutes and just relax my eyes a little bit and made it easier, but I haven't done that probably in the last five film sessions. It just shows how much better I'm getting. That's why I believe that, whenever you use words it can be way off, but I feel like the concussion part to me is almost gone, except just fatigue and headaches. Being overstimulated, things like that, I'm doing a lot better at."
You've had injuries in camp in a second straight year, at least. Has it felt like a lot to you or is it just in your mind camp injuries and you'll get through it?
"It feels pretty normal, give or take three. I think it does happen a number of times in camp. We also have a number of guys coming into camp that didn't go on PUP that we weren't trying to throw back in there right away. And that stuff's always frustrating in camp. That's why you sometimes want it a little bit longer, but the thing that frustrates you the most is when you lose a guy, and there's one guy like that right now, which we've had to grieve for a little bit. Then you've got to figure out how to adjust and move on from it."
What was the thought process with the jog-through?
"We used to go three days on and take one full day off and then go three days on again. We look into everything, and we thought that it would be better for us this year to never go three full days in a row. But, if you only go two full days in a row and then take a day off, you don't really build anything. So, we thought it'd be better to go two full days full speed, then have a kind of mental day where they're not totally off their feet. We're jogging through, no one's competing, we're not throwing a football, but they're still moving their body, which kind of is a little bit of a recovery. And then the fourth day you get our hardest practice of that set and then you get a day off. So, it ends up being about the same, just trying a different way on how you juggle it. It makes sense science-wise and everything, but there's a lot more that goes into it than just science."
What's the expectation of a 33-year-old Mike Evans? Do you have to expect him that same workload as his last healthy season in 2024 or are you kind of navigating that as he returns and gets back healthy?
"Yeah, it depends if he stays healthy. Mike to me is always, if you're a starting receiver, you're out there a ton which everyone is. I forget what it was last year, maybe hamstring, where he missed time and when that happens you miss games. But, Mike's going to be a starting receiver here and we don't like any of our guys to go every play. We want our guys going full speed and it's hard to go full speed every play. So, we're always going to spell guys. But hopefully, he's got a little quad right now, which I know Mike probably believes he could be back right now. We're being smart with him, but he's going to be good to go."
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