San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan spoke with reporters after Friday's practice as the team prepares for its Week 7 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons.
Here's everything he said.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Opening comments:
"Injuries for the game. [WR] Deebo's [Samuel Sr.] out, [LB Garret] Wallow's out, [DL Nick] Bosa's out, [S Marques] Sigle's out, [WR Mike] Evans is out, [LB Luke] Gifford's out. [CB Siran] Neal is questionable, [CB Upton] Stout's questionable, [WR Christian] Kirk's questionable. Go ahead."
Who was the last one who was questionable?
"Kirk."
Is that just procedural?
"Yes."
You guys are 6-0, playing good ball. What's the challenge of fighting that human nature to be lackadaisical? How much does that come into your plan during the week to try to make sure you guys are on that edge?
"That's something we talk about a lot. It's every week. I think that's the hardest thing about the NFL, just how much a game takes out of people, how much a week of preparation takes out of people and how much doing it 17 times does. That's what I think is one of our strengths. I think we've got guys who understand how this league works. They understand what has to go into it and they know that anyone can beat you. I think when you have situations where we've won a number of games and we've got a Bye week ahead of us, it really helps when you can turn on the film and just show them. When you turn on Atlanta's film, they know how big of a challenge this is. We've got a number of guys down. We know they do too, but they're a team that, I know the record doesn't show it, but they're a team that should be there in the end."
With the amount of injuries, might you have to go into this game with fewer than the 48?
"Yes."
Does that mean QB Kurtis Rourke would be active?
"It means Rourke and maybe [OL Enrique] Cruz [Jr.]. Those would be the two guys that would be our emergency receivers in the game (laughter). No, but that would be the two left."
Have you gone into a gameday that you can recall with fewer than the maximum?
"No, I don't think so. I don't think here. I don't think ever in my career, so it's a unique situation."
Are you asking guys who might not ordinarily be in certain roles to maybe be ready for those roles?
"It's stuff we've talked about throughout the week. Hope it doesn't get to it, and odds are it won't, but it definitely could. You're always a few injuries away from those situations and now it comes down to a couple. So, percentages go up."
We spoke to Nick Bosa a couple of weeks ago and he was very optimistic. He said for certain that he'd play against Atlanta and was optimistic he could play against Washington. What has happened since then? Is it just an abundance of caution?
"No, I just think he was a little too optimistic, especially for Bosa because he's pretty accurate. He doesn't say stuff like that unless it's accurate. I just think it surprised him. He worked out, after he said that to you guys, and the next day he was just a little sore, which surprised all of us. That wasn't a great sign, especially going to play on turf and stuff this week, so I think it was more he was just a little too optimistic."
What have you seen out of your punt returner options?
"We've got a bunch of guys who are working at it. A bunch of guys are trying to get better at catching it. Same with [WR Jacob Cowing] Jake. I know Jake's had some mistakes. He's got to be better at it, but I also have confidence he will get better at it too."
Have you had any discussions with K Eddy Piñeiro about his start of the season?
"No. Not much to discuss. I can make stuff up, but he knows he's got to make kicks, and we all do. I'm not going to try to teach him how to do that."
Atlanta plays a lot of three-deep zone matchup and it looks like man. Are we going to see a lot of one-on-one possibilities, a lot of potential for explosives in this game?
"You would think that when you hear more man defense and stuff like that, but that's how ours is too and it doesn't necessarily just go to give up a bunch of explosives. It means that everything's more challenged. You don't get as many checkdowns and things like that. Even though guys seem to be one-on-one, their safeties very rarely make people one-on-one. They're really good at reading the quarterback and helping those corners out, whether it's backing them up on go-routes or on in-breaking routes, showing up as middle-third players. So, there'll be some one-on-one opportunities in the game, but not a ton. We've got to come down with them when you get them."
When a defensive line lines up with everybody standing up, what challenges does that create for a quarterback?
"It just puts those guys in better positions to get out of there and you don't know who's coming. Their guys drop all the time. You don't know where the backers are coming, safeties, corners, D-Tackles, D-Linemen, because they're all interchangeable. So when you do that, you've got to have everybody down. You can't just show up and do it. You've got to work at it through the week so we get all our targeting and stuff right. Then you're good, but then it helps them get into coverage and things like that, which just makes it a lot harder work throughout the week and can make it a little more confusing in games."
Are you surprised to have a top-five defense in Week Seven after the start you had to the year in terms of defensive injuries?
"I thought we'd have a chance to have a real good defense this year, but I think I've said earlier, so I'm not trying to beat a dead horse, but when you lose six D-Linemen in the first two weeks, if you told me after that we'd still be a top-five defense going into Week Seven, yeah I would have been a little surprised. I think it's a credit to everyone who has stepped it up. It's a credit to [defensive coordinator] Raheem [Morris] and the rest of those guys on the coaching staff. I'm real happy with how they've been working and playing and finding ways to win."
More info on: Nick Bosa, Jacob Cowing, Enrique Cruz, Mike Evans, Luke Gifford, Christian Kirk, Siran Neal, Kurtis Rourke, Marques Sigle, Upton Stout, Garret Wallow
Comments