San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris spoke with reporters after Saturday's training camp practice. Here's everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Thursday night, that first drive, a lot of the young guys immediately were making plays. When you watched the film again, what stood out to you?
"Basically, what you just said. A lot of the young guys making plays. [LB Jaden] Dugger making a nice tackle on I think it was the third play. Right off the bat had a couple good plays. Left a couple things open, had to go correct some things, but the nerves got out of the way, the guys played fast. A lot of our young guys got a chance to go out there and really play well. I know you guys have seen a bunch of our draft picks, whether it be [DL Gracen] Halton, Dugger, [DL] Romello [Height], those guys did a couple good things. I was really fired up about those guys. [CB Ephesians] Prysock down in the red zone, and a couple other areas where you see him play sticky. A bunch of guys that got a chance to go out there and really show their first time playing professional football. I was very pleased with how they went out there and competed and went out there and played with their guys and really communicated with their guys."
How'd Prysock look on film?
"Just as good as he looked that night. Made a nice play in the red zone, being able to knock down a pass. Then there's other areas that you see when you're watching it from our view, watching how sticky he was on some of the other coverage that he could have been targeted on, but he was able to deny it or the play goes away and quarterback progressed. I was really pleased with how he played and it's been really encouraging to watch his steady development throughout the whole process. You start to see it in the joint practice and then you get a chance to get into the games and really watch it come out. That's been one of the nice things to see."
Gracen's sack that got negated. Was it eye-opening to see just how he went up against Tennessee Titans OL Peter Skoronski?
"I don't want to cut you off, but I didn't even really pay attention to who he was playing with. I was really looking for the execution of what he was doing and how he executed I was more pleased with. I just watched the guys. You call a game, they went out there and executed it. Romello being able to get up the field to pull a tackle for him to work back in. For Gracen to be able to cause the penetration, to be able to get through. Really pleased with the execution of all the things that they did that way. Unfortunately, we got the tug. It was there, but those things happen, that's football. They called it, came back, and the guys were able to stand up and they still go out there and get a stop. Very pleased with how they played. Very pleased with what he was able to do. I really wasn't in awe of who he was playing with. That was more about happy to see the execution of what the guys were able to do."
Speaking of Gracen, T Trent Williams was just saying that he has a youthful energy that helps Trent get going every day. Just personality-wise, what have been your impressions of him?
"I'm sure Trent gets more of the youthful personality than we get. We get the eager young man just trying to do the right thing, trying to listen to every little word that [defensive line coach Kris] Kocurek says. Hanging on to everything. Being able to deal with all the stuff that he deals with and being able to get all the signals and everything he's able to get done up front. I'm sure Trent gets more of that personality, but he definitely has a youthful personality that gives you automatic energy every single day. A lot of our guys do. A lot of guys that were brought in here have that demeanor. They have those leadership qualities that we covet. Those guys are brought in here to do the same things and they've been able to do those things really well."
When the 49ers played the Rams the second time last year, the Rams used a lot of three tight end sets and it was effective against the 49ers. Do you see that happening more across the league, more use of tight ends, and do defenses have to be better prepared for multiple tight end sets?
"Yes. Of course. Everybody does what [head coach] Kyle Shanahan and [Los Angeles Rams head coach] Sean McVay does. Everything that happens that has success. You watch Sean have it throughout the course of the season. We played him at the end of the season as well. We got a bunch of three tight end sets. These guys got a bunch of three tight end sets. We were able to prepare for it, probably a little bit more than you guys were. I'm not sure exactly when he started it, but by the time we saw it when I was in Atlanta, you had a bunch of tape of it, a lot of view of it. And now you've got a lot more of it. We actually went to it too when we were together in Atlanta doing it and doing some of the 13 sets and things of that nature. It's a copycat league, like anything else. Anything that has a little bit of success, people are going to do. You can certainly be able to go out there and stop it."
Are Dugger, LB Larry Worth III and LB Jalen Graham equipped to be in that role to cover tight ends?
"Definitely the guys that you mentioned have got great athleticism and that's what it requires to be able to cover some of these guys that come into this league to play tight end. All of those guys have those traits. Length, the ability to have ball skills, the ability to cover people, the ability to have short-space quickness. You just defined those three guys well and that's kind of what they do. So, I'm fired up to watch those guys keep developing and do some of those things for us. But, it certainly creates some challenges to kick those multi-positional type guys. I know we've been enamored with the fever-backer, but those guys that can run, hit, do all those different things, those all cover too for us."
Now that the first preseason game is behind you guys, what's the next step in the progression in making sure the defense is ready for Week One?
"I think it's just a day-by-day process, right? The next step for us is tomorrow's practice. I think how we planned it here, and how Kyle Shanahan and all the guys and all the coaches got together and kind of planned what we want to do, taking those progressional steps to get better and better every single day, I think is what's most important. Right now, we'll leave here, we'll watch today's practice, we'll be able to evaluate the things that we put in. We'll be able to go back and look at some things that we want to do better from the game. We'll be able to go in there and pretty much keep our similar game plans that we do when we get to the games, but we've got another practice coming up versus a joint practice. We'll see if we can go out there and have a more composed practice and play a little bit better and play faster and do some different things that we want to do. I think it's just a steady process to get to that first game. You don't ever want to skip over a thing to get to that first game. I know the excitement gets us all, but you really want to go through the process of preparing yourself."
For the most part the other night, you didn't have many of your starters or projected starters playing, but DL C.J. West wasn't playing. Where is he right now in terms of the role you envisioned for him this year?
"He's done some really good things. C.J. ultimately coming here, let's be honest, he came in, he's seen a big-time run stopper and a guy that can really hold up, particularly towards the end of the season to do some things in that nose tackle position, so to speak. And then when I got here, I seen he had more quickness than he had when he first got here, and he's gotten better and better throughout the process. To see him be able to spike and do different movements to get to the backfield and cause pass rush and cause disruption, whether it be our first team, second team, whatever team's out there, watching him do those things. Had his little, small setback, obviously missing a couple days, but he's been back out there in the mix. So, I'm really fired up to see where he goes from here and what he's able to do and how he can contribute to that line. All of those guys create such a competition right now, and that's what you want. You don't want it to be easy for us to be able to pick out a football team, and I just think they're making it harder and harder every day."
So, he didn't play the other night because you feel good about where he is?
"He did not play the other night. Obviously, we make all those decisions together, but ultimately the decider is Kyle Shanahan. We make those things. We got the guys out there that we need to play, get a chance to get some reps. Obviously, like we just mentioned, definitely takes into course that he missed a little bit of time the week before. Getting him ready, not putting too much on him to set him back any way. So, definitely have some factors in that as well."
There was a lot of after-whistle stuff with the joint practice with the Titans. Is there something you have to talk to those guys about trying to get rid of before Tuesday?
"No. I talk about it all the time. It's just something that we talk about just in general. And there's a certain part that you don't want to calm them down all the way. You want them to have their edge, but there's a certain amount of work that you want to be able to get done. What I learned from my guys is, they're going to take it to the tempo that you take it to. And when it goes to that tempo, you just don't know where it's going to go. But, at the same time, you want to have that composure to be able to stay out there and practice, right? We had to take two people out of practice the other day. You don't want to do those things, right? You want to have the ability to take it to that edge and walk that line but be able to play the game and be able to get the stuff they want to get done. Composure is about everything that we do in our game, so it's just one of those things. You're not worried about it at all. You just want to be able to take it to joint practices, right? We've seen these guys play a bunch of games, a lot of these guys. And so, I'm not worried about that one bit. But in practice, let's use that same demeanor, that same temperament."
How do you plan on using defensive assistant head coach Matt Eberflus? He's got a lot of experience, former head coach.
"Yeah, he does such a great job of being that subtle voice really in your ear throughout the course of the game, throughout the course of the week, throughout the course of the week for preparation. Just having a bunch of value and his ability to talk about tackling and tackling plan and being able to get us done the right way. To be able to contribute with us with his third down knowledge and some of the things that he can bring to us that way. He has a bunch of knowledge from other defenses. He brings different things to it, different ideas, different thoughts. He has a wealth of knowledge across the board that we have similar people in our background that we can cross ties and talk about and do different things that we like. He's been wonderful to work with. And, he's a different personality than me. That's always great. The more people you have, different people, the more ways you can connect with your team and your unit. And I just think that's really helpful for us all."
Can you go into a little more detail about what you saw from Dugger in the game?
"I saw a guy out there that looked like he belonged, number one, first and foremost. I saw a guy that showed great length. Saw a guy that showed great range and speed to be able to track tackle. Saw a guy out there that had a couple of learning things he needs to do and when he can take his risk, when he can absolutely let the trigger go. And I saw a guy that can really help himself by getting on and off blocks a little bit faster. Saw some good things. Saw some bad things. But overall, I was very pleased with the things that he was able to do and how he grew throughout the course of the game, just in his communication, coming to the sideline, whether it was a mistake or whether it was him explaining exactly what he did, if it was right. Those guys, I think all that stuff was important when you're learning players and you're learning new guys. And for me, it was important to learn from everybody. So it was like, it was great to see our young guys go out there and be able to do that and communicate at a high level."
How does it seem like he's absorbing the multiple roles that you're asking him to do?
"I think he's done such a wonderful job at that. I think it's being able to separate. One day, being able to practice with a D-Line, one day being able to practice at a stand-up linebacker. One day being able to practice from the moving around positions. I just think he's done such a great job. Him and Romello both. I've got to give those guys a lot of credit. I've got to give the coaches a lot of credit for the detail they've been able to pour into them, whether it's been [linebackers coach] K.J. [Wright], whether it's been [assistant defensive line coach] Greg Scruggs, whether it's been Kocurek. Whether it's been all of those guys, [defensive run game coordinator] Johnny Holland, all-hands-on-deck type mentality, [defensive quality control coach] Angel Matute. I can't say enough about what the guys have poured into these guys."
LB Garret Wallow got the start at MIKE. Do you want to see different guys throughout the preseason starting at MIKE and WILL and those?
"Certainly. You've kind of seen it in practice. We've had Wallow be able to go to MIKE. We've had [LB] Tatum [Bethune] be able to go to MIKE. We've seen Jalen Graham a little bit at MIKE, obviously [LB] Fred [Warner]. There's been a bunch of different guys that can go control the defense and handle it. I was really pleased with that from both of those guys the night before. I was really pleased with those guys and how they handled the huddle. Very few busts. The communication was great. The way those guys went out and executed and the way they took corrections is probably a bigger thing to leave out."
In your experience with younger linebackers, is over-pursuit or running themselves out of place, is that common from what you've seen?
"I don't know if it's younger linebackers. I think it's more excitement of the first game. We actually did that last night. We ran to the play and six people hit them and the other six hit the other guy off and let the guy bounce out and get a 35-yard gain. But, a lot of that is like the excitement of being out there. I know you guys were excited just like those guys and some of that stuff will happen as you calm down and you get to play and your pursuit cleans up and how you go about your business. But, I've been really pleased in how we've gone about our business throughout the course of the week and how we practice and how we pursue and how we close angles and do different things. So, I'm really fired up with that."
Is the coaching point basically calm down?
"Just do your job, first and foremost. They're excited. Let's get a bunch of coaches, get these guys riled up. Everybody wants an assist. We've got to get to the rock."
You've got a pretty good read on the secondary by now, but with Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert, what kind of challenges is that going to present on Tuesday?
"Justin's one of the better quarterbacks in this league, premier quarterback. I think that provides more fun for me than a challenge right now. Let's go up against the really good quarterbacks in this league. We get a chance to see two good ones that we know of in our own building, but it's nice to go see other guys and really put ourselves to the test to see how we're going to react to those guys as well."
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