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.
You guys are taking off for Australia a week from Wednesday.
"I'm going to be honest, I can't even think about that yet. I'm thinking about tomorrow."
I was going to ask whether that affects your preparation for this third game? Is it any different knowing that you have to have that Week 1 lineup pretty much set?
"I'm kind of in the evaluation period, for the most part anyways. For all these games, it's more about evaluation, running what we run, going out and executing the things that we do, that we've been doing in practice. I haven't really schemed up anything or done anything thing that way anyway, so it's kind of normal. Whether we're leaving for Australia or whether we're playing at home, it wouldn't have mattered."
What did you think of the performance of your defense on Thursday night?
"It was a great bounce-back performance for those guys. To be able to fit and be able to hit and to play with our style and our standard and all those things. We didn't have a great practice, so to watch those guys really respond to the meeting, to the preparation, to all the things that we had to do to go out there and play, was nice. Watching those guys go out there and play fast and play physical, I really enjoyed. There's always going to be things to clean up. We had a couple things to clean up that we went through the process, and we have to do those things, but you're really fired up about some of the statistical achievements and some of the things the guys were able to do from a physical standpoint."
What were some of the specifics that you think that did improve and had to improve from Tuesday to Thursday?
"No, everything. Just football. Some of the stuff was realistic, some of it was not, so you get a chance to go out there and play real football and tackle, it's awesome. When you're going through and doing some of the things that you see from a naked eye from practice, it always feels worse. So, it always feels better, but none of that really matters. It's all about getting better every single day. I think the most important thing is that the growth and steady improvement. Sometimes you need days like that. You heard a little adversity always helps you. And that was a little adverse moment for us. To be able to bounce back and do some real good things, I like how the guys responded. I think that was critical. I think that was key. I think that's a learning lesson that you can take from the preseason and apply that into the regular season."
Did you do more up front with your defensive line in terms of movement, stunts in the game to help out your overall defense compared to what you guys did in the practice?
"No, sir. We just called normal stuff. You're not trying to win, you just want guys to get better and that's what guys did and went out and were able to execute some things and able to go out there and communicate better, able to go out there and play better, able to go out there and work together better. The standard of play, the situational awareness on everything, I think, was at a higher level and it was better for whatever reason. You can sit here and make all kinds of excuses, but nobody really cares. But, I did like the fact we had to go to some adversity to bounce back."
We've seen a lot of LB Jaden Dugger out there, obviously played a lot. Where do you see his role right now? Is he is in the rotation maybe right off the bat?
"It's always in the making. The best players are going to be out there. And that's what you're going to do. You try to find ways and people who can help the football team. He's finding his role, he's finding his niche. He's doing some really good things, and there's a lot of guys doing really good things, [LB] Tatum Bethune, [LB] Nick Martin. Obviously the two guys that hadn't played yet. There are a lot of really good things on the football team. They're making really hard decisions for our management and for our coaches and for everybody involved. So, I'm excited to be able to get those guys to the situation that you can game plan and actually do the fun things that you were kind of talking about and alluding to. We're just not at that stage yet, but I'm really excited about these guys."
Is that position, possibly the SAM or Fever or whatever you're calling it, is that something--?
"I don't even think I gave it a name. I think you guys had like every other week. We kind of talk about it and kind of talk about the changing position. You've seen a bunch of different people be able to do it, so that's been kind of fun in itself. Really for me, and I didn't mean to cut you off, it's really like interchangeable parts. Guys that can do multiple things, serve multiple roles for a bunch of different reasons. Whether it be competitive advantage, whether it be to get through and deal with injury, whether it be to find out how far you can push a guy and take a guy to a different level. I think all those things come into play. So, I think it's been really nice to see a lot of those young guys and older guys be able to bounce around and do some of those things. I hope that answers your question."
Does Dugger have a skillset that seems to fit that position?
"Yeah, he was one of the guys we drafted kind of for those kind of super roles. He was one of the fortunate people that actually rushed the passer before in college. You've seen him off the ball cover in college. You've seen him on the ball before. You've seen him do a bunch of different things. You've seen him in the secondary. You've seen him do a bunch of different things in college that he was able to translate those skillsets over to what we're talking about."
With the Rams running as much stuff as they did last year with three tight ends, does that factor into sort of the evaluation of Dugger?
"I wouldn't give credit to the Rams for that, but a lot of the stuff that was built, I did a lot of the stuff at the Rams. And then we've been able to practice against each other. And then some of the things that the Rams kind of evolved into going from their natural 11 to the 13 that they did last year. Then they've got all different personnel groupings, but interchangeable pieces that we kind of utilized for a long time, whether it'd been Atlanta, whether it'd been just all over my different stops. But, being able to utilize those pieces definitely comes into play when you're talking about, like no different than what's been done here in the Bay with the athletic skillsets of the linebackers. All middle linebackers didn't run 4.4 and cover routes down the field like the way [LB] Fred [Warner] does. He's definitely one of those special players like that. You kind of surround yourself with those types of people."
Does S Jalen Stroman in any way stand out to you?
"He's a young man that's come in here and done a really nice job. Obviously, you see the flash plays, you see the things that happen in practice with him. You see how he's going out there and playing at a high level and doing a nice job for us. I think no different than that linebacker group. You see a bunch of different people flashing, whether it's been our starters and right now being, [S Ji'Ayir Brown] Tig and [S Marques Sigle] Sig, or whether that next group's going out there and done a really nice job, been able to do some different things. Whether you're talking about [S] Ashtyn [Davis], whether you're talking about at certain times when you get a chance to put [S] Siran Neal back there, there are a bunch of different guys that's flashing in a bunch of different ways and he's one of them. And that's a credit to the organization, that's a credit to the group, t hat's a credit to the standard from the defense and the coaching staff here."
What's going on with a backup MIKE? Is that a competition? We're seeing LB Garret Wallow get obviously started. Is he competing with LB Tatum Bethune? Is he ahead of Bethune right now?
"That is a great question. They've both played extremely well. It's hard to knock some of the stuff that they've both been able to do. Wallow went bananas this week, making a bunch of tackles, did a lot of really good things the week before and has been throughout the course of the offseason. Tatum obviously couldn't practice throughout the course of the offseason coming back off the injury. He's been able to bounce back into role. You've seen his feet get underneath him. You've seen him do some really physical things out there from a standpoint when we're talking about the games, when he's able to rush the passer last week and beat a back and do a bunch of different things there. They've both got the skillset to be able to go out there and play MIKE. Obviously as our backup MIKE because of who Fred is, but that gives you that overall comfort that we talked about having guys being able to play different positions and having those guys being able to move around like that is certainly something that you welcome."
What did you think of your young defensive linemen with DL Alfred Collins back out there?
"Alfred's just gotten back off the injury. You could tell the last couple of days he's starting to get better and better, getting his feet back underneath him. That's always the hardest thing when you're talking about a big man, being able to utilize his hands. And obviously hands for those guys come last, but you're starting to see him come back and do some really good things. Who else is young out there? [DL] Romello [Height] picked it up a little bit more this game. He's been showing flashes in practice and doing a lot of great things in practice. He showed a little bit of flash in the first game, showed a little bit more this game and he's still got more left out there. So, there's more meat in the bone, so to speak, to quote [defensive run game coordinator] Johnny Holland, but he's got some stuff out there for us that we really love. He's got a lot out there that we're liking right now. So, it's been fun to watch these guys grow, particularly with a bunch of the guys that have been out that haven't been able to practice. So, watching these guys get more and more reps for themselves."
Romello during the Draft process, it seemed like he was put into this box as like a designated pass rusher. He had the speed off the edge. In what you've learned about him over the last several months, how has he kind of grown into how you view him in this defense?
"I would say you're 100-percent right with the box that you mentioned, from the Draft evaluation standpoint, when it talks about filling that designated pass rusher role to really replace what they did last year with sort of like [former DL Bryce] Huff, right? And that was a box check for us. And then it was that other thing we talked about where he can potentially be this guy that can walk around, spin, do some different things as well. So that was a question mark box that he's been able to check and do a lot of things for us there. Then being able to watch him come in and play a physical brand that he's been able to play, he does have some rundown, he does have some real knock them back when it comes to being able to go out there and stop the run and play at a physical level, which has been fun to watch, particularly in the games. That's been nice. He brings a certain amount of quickness. You're probably referring to the play that you saw him make when he made the inside move throughout the course of the week, but it wasn't new. We did it a little bit last week. He was just able to utilize it and get an opportunity to do it and make that play. So, I'm really fired up where he's going. It's fun to watch these young guys grow. We kind of talked about it with [CB Ephesians] Prysock a couple of weeks ago, where you take a step in that joint practice and then you watch them go into the games and you watch the confidence build. You've watched his confidence build throughout the course of this training camp as well. So, it's been fun to watch a lot of our young guys."
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