This is the transcript of Kyle Shanahan’s Week 11 Tuesday conference call with Bay Area reporters, courtesy of the 49ers P.R. department.
Opening comments:
“Starting with the injuries: [LB] Azeez [Al-Shaair] is going to be in the concussion protocol. [DL] Ronald Blair III did have a torn ACL, so he’ll be having a season-ending surgery, going on IR. [RB Matt] Breida aggravated his ankle again, he’s day-to-day. We’ll see how he feels going into practice tomorrow. [DL] D.J. Jones, groin, we haven’t gotten his scan back yet, but he’s expected to miss at least a week. [T Joe] Staley, he got out of the game fine with his leg, but he ended up having a finger fracture/dislocation, so right now he’s getting a second opinion on it and we’ll have more on that tomorrow, but surgery could be a possibility. And then [WR Emmanuel] Sanders, he had some rib stuff and he’ll be day-to-day and probably end up being a game-time decision. The existing injuries: [K Robbie] Gould and [TE George] Kittle are still in the same boat. Hopeful for them this week, but still pretty similar to last week. And then [CB Ahkello] Witherspoon, he’s day-to-day, but expecting him to practice tomorrow, so we’ll see how he is when he gets in.”
You said something about Staley’s kind of status with that finger?
“Yeah, I said he’s got a finger fracture/dislocation. Right now he’s in the process of getting a second opinion. I was talking to him before, that’s why we were running a little late. We’re not sure of the final decision yet, because he’s getting a second opinion, but surgery could be a possibility. But, we won’t know that until probably later today.”
Would the surgery be a season-ender type of thing?
“No, no, if one is needed, it’ll probably be a couple of weeks.”
When you talked about Kittle and Robbie being in the same boat in that you’re hopeful, has there been any setbacks or just how hopeful are you? What’s realistic do you think for this week?
“I think they’re very similar to how they were last week. I think Robbie’s been dealing with a quad. I don’t think it’s as big of an injury as Kittle, but because he’s a kicker, it’s kind of hard to tell with. So, we’ve got to get him out here and test him on his kicking here this week and we’ll see how it goes. But I mean, it’s still the same as last week. It’s still a maybe. Kittle has a much bigger injury, but Kittle’s just a little bit of a different bird. We’re never going to decide on Kittle too early in the week. He’s always got a chance with some of the stuff he’s been able to go through here in these last couple of years.”
Why did Kittle watch the game from the suite tower? Why not have him on the sideline with everybody else?
“Because anybody who we think it will help them not to stand for three and a half hours straight, we make that decision with.”
You mentioned last week the possibility that WR Jalen Hurd could begin practicing this week. Have you made a decision on that yet?
“Still hoping for him to, but we evaluate that at the end of each week and based off of what I saw from him at the end of last week, I’m not expecting him this week. We’ll see how he comes in here tomorrow, but he didn’t meet enough requirements last week to start him for practicing. I’m not expecting him now.”
Who becomes your third edge rusher with Ronald Blair III out?
“We have lots of guys we can use. We’ve only got eight up, but our inside guys can go outside, so there’s always people who can do that. We might end up having to sign someone else. I know we’re having a workout in here tomorrow for depth, but we have [DL] Solomon [Thomas] who’s played outside and inside, [DL Arik] Armstead who’s done it, [DL Deforest] Buckner who’s done it. We’ve got a pretty good deal with all those guys who can do it. I know we’re going to have to get another guy in here to fill that body part, so we’ll see how that plays out here over the next 24 hours.”
Why not activate DL Kentavius Street from IR?
“That’s another one of those decisions. He’s not as much of an outside edge rusher, he’s more of an inside player. A little bit of a different body part, but he can do all of it. The way his body is isn’t exactly compared to Ronald Blair’s, but that’ll be an option and we’ll decide on that based off the other guys coming in here tomorrow.”
Is Emmanuel Sanders’ injury similar to George’s last year with the cartilage in the rib?
“I’m not sure. They said rib cartilage so I’m not exactly sure if it’s similar to George from last year.”
CB Emmanuel Moseley had another strong game. Is there any question about when CB Ahkello Witherspoon is ready to play–?
“I think that was Matt, your phone’s breaking up a ton, but I think you were asking if there’s a chance for Moseley to stay the starter when Ahkello comes back?”
Yes that’s right, sorry.
“No. Ahkello earned his spot with the way Ahkello was playing when he went out. If Ahkello can come out to practice, gets three good days in, show exactly where he’s at, then we’d give him his job back. He’s going to have to have a good week of practice to do that. Emmanuel’s played at a high level. I agree with everybody else in that. It’s been great to see him step up with the injury and how well he’s played. I know we’ve got another guy who’s capable of being a starter out there. If Ahkello can get in a full week of practice then it would be his job. It would be very similar to how it’s been with our tackles with [T Mike] McGlinchey getting three good days in last week is why he went ahead of [OL Daniel] Brunskill. If he wouldn’t of then we would have kept Brunskill out for another week. We’ll see how that goes with Ahkello this week, but its’ nice with how good E-Man’s been playing. It makes us a lot more patient with Ahkello’s injury.”
What did you see from LB Fred Warner’s performance last night when you watched the tape and what kind of growth have you seen in him this year?
“I thought Fred played a hell of a game. He gets us in and out of everything. He has to make a ton of calls. He’s definitely our quarterback out there and I think he does it as good as anyone I’ve seen. Fred made some plays on the ball, made some good tackles and he’s had to step it up, especially losing [LB] Kwon [Alexander]. I thought the other guys stepped in and played real nice right next to him. Now he’s our veteran out there in his second year and I think he’s playing like it too.”
When you watched the film and watched all the drops from the receivers, how much of it was on them, how much was on QB Jimmy Garoppolo and what can you do to address that going forward with Sanders possibly missing time?
“The quarterback is always going to look at himself and try to see how much better ball placement he can have. When a ball touches the receiver’s hands, the receiver needs to make that play. I know our guys are capable of doing it and we had some big ones last night that really hurt us. It’s not something you can avoid, it’s not something you hide from. You catch the ball and you move the chains. You catch the ball and you have a better chance to win. If you drop it, it’s very hard to. Those guys, they’ve done it before. They’ve just got to bounce back. I know last night was a tough game for our group, but we’ve got three days of practice this week. They have to come back and get their confidence back in their hands. Definitely not going to let it affect me as far as a play caller coming next Sunday.”
How much of a factor do you think rust was for Joe and Mike in terms of some of the pressures that they let up?
“Sorry, can you repeat that?”
How much of a factor do you think rust was for Joe and Mike in terms of some of the pressure that they let up?
“How what?”
Was rust a factor for them?
“Oh. Yeah, I think anytime you haven’t played football in a while it’s always a challenge to get back out there no matter what you do in practice. It’s tough to get going. I think they had a big challenge ahead of them. I thought [DE Jadeveon] Clowney played very well. He’s done it before, but I thought it was definitely his best game of the year so we’ve got to take that into account. They weren’t at their best. That happens when you have some time off like that. I thought they had their good plays, but definitely had some noticeable bad plays that ended up hurting us a little bit.”
After watching the tape, what did you think about the decision to have those three straight passing plays on that last offensive possession you had that only took a few seconds off the clock?
“Yeah, obviously when you only take a few seconds off the clock and give it back, I wish I would’ve taken three knees instead of doing that. So, you always look at that in hindsight but we were very well aware of the situation, we knew the time on the clock. Both plays we were going two conservative underneath passes. The first one got tipped, the second one was a little more disappointing. I think there’s no doubt we need to be able to make that catch, running through that ball, and if we do, then we’ll let the clock run down until a minute left before we try our third-and-three, which could have been a big help. Once we get that tip on first down and we get that drop on second down, now it’s third-and-10 with 1:42 left, so running the ball there, on third-and-10, best case scenario you’re still giving it back to [Seattle Seahawks QB] Russell [Wilson] with a minute left. Russell with a minute, when all he needs is a field goal, isn’t much different to me than 1:40. Definitely wasn’t expecting to have two incompletions on those first two downs.”
In training camp you talked about having a lot of confidence in WR Kendrick Bourne’s hands. What is it, he talked a little bit last night about when he’s wide open, sometimes that’s when the drops happen. Is it a focus issue, is it him turning his head and looking upfield too soon? Is there any one thing you can point to?
“Yeah, I mean when a guy with really good hands drops it, it’s not because he has bad hands. So then you look into why it was. It usually comes back to their eyes and their vision and concentration, or someone ripped it out, and that’s not what happened. Bourne, I’ll always puts him up there. I think Bourne has as good of hands as anyone in this league and sometimes when you do that you don’t focus, you don’t concentrate on it because you’re never scared of dropping it. That’s why you see some guys like [Cleveland Browns WR] Odell Beckham [Jr.] at times I know he’s had more drops than anyone in the league and that guy’s hands are as good as anyone’s. Those are things that you’ve got to account for. It’s not OK. Those are two very big drops that Bourne had. That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to keep going to him. He’s a guy who can catch the ball. He’s made a lot of big catches for us. He made two big catches in that game leading up to that point, but that was a huge change. The pick that bounced off his hands, that would have been an explosive and then the drop inside the 10 that would have given us a chance at first-and-goal going for the lead. Hopefully he will learn from that. He’ll make sure to look it in regardless of the confidence in his hands and make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
After Emmanuel got hurt there, outside of the drops, were the receivers getting enough separation based on what you saw in film?
“Yeah, once Emmanuel went out, they started out that game playing a lot of man coverage. I thought we had some success with it, but for the most part in the second half it was all zone. When it is zone, guys aren’t going against man-to-man very much. We still had a couple drops in some very open zones. But yeah, I didn’t think separation was too much of an issue.”
What is C/G Weston Richburg’s status after his hand injury?
“He was able to come back and finish. Then checking up on him today, they told me he’ll be fine and he’ll be good to go for the game this week.”
WR Dante Pettis, obviously there’s been much discussion about him. There have been opportunities, obviously, for him to kind of emerge but it doesn’t seem like he’s done so, at least certainly not consistently. Where are you with your assessment of him?
“I mean, I agree with what you just said. He’s had a number of opportunities. I’m one of the guys that believe in him the most. That’s why he’s here. He’s had his opportunities. The more he doesn’t take advantage of his opportunities, the less opportunities he gets. He did get a couple last night because of injury and I didn’t think he made them. We’ll see how this week goes. Dante has the ability, but we’re waiting for him to pick it up and have the consistency and take advantage of some of these opportunities he’s gotten.”
Hey Kyle, here’s a HOF player who wants one of those opportunities you mentioned….After watching this video do you see what I see now that we’re down to a couple healthy WR’s ?
Hall of Famer, T. O. Workout Video:
If Tiger can do it, why not T.O.?
Gary Mialocq
By Gary Mialocq @garymialocq
20 mins ago • 0
https://www.49erswebzone.com/commentary/2204-tiger-can-why-not/
The Niners are down to one healthy WR, Deebo Samuel. Bourne makes occasional great plays, but his series of drops makes him un-dependable. Goodwin and Pettis are useless, and if they were released, nobody would notice, especially not Jimmy G. Jordan Matthews returned to the Eagles.
Terrell Owens could be heard on local radio stations saying he loves the 49ers, feels his career is incomplete unless he can finish it as a 49er. He feels he would have caught the easy passes that handcuffed Pettis, Goodwin, and Bourne vs. Seattle, and posted a video online of his current workout just two months ago. He is an incredible physical specimen and is in great shape and badly wants an opportunity to prove he can be a valuable addition to a depleted WR corps, probably the weakest WR group in the NFL.
Should the 49ers give T.O. a serious evaluation?
Yes
84%
No
16%
REPLY: T.O. would be an invaluable blocker in Shanny’s outside zone run game while also taking some short passes, shoving a DB to the ground for a 20 yard scamper
Dante Pettis has been a BIG dissapointment, So has Marquise Goodwin, as for K B he has definetely stepped it up and Deebo Samuel has been the best WR on this team. Ofcourse Emmanuel Sanders was a very valuable pick up, but we have Jalen Hurd and Trent Taylor ( who we havent seen in a long time ) waiting for a chance, hopefully we can connect the dots before playoff time.
In his clock management scenario, KS stated he thought the passes were safe. The problem is, he never should have dialed up a pass. Running the ball would have kept the clock moving, and the Seahawks were powerless to stop the clock. If he still insisted on passing the ball, a fly sweep or swing pass was a superior option.
.
I certainly hope he learned from his error, and does not repeat it. Keeping the clock running would have guaranteed a tie.
What happened to “I hope they Go Bold”??
What happened to “I’m not going to post until I change my avatar again.”
sebnynah says:
November 12, 2019 at 3:01 am
I would have hoped the front office and worm tongue learned from their mistake, and resigned Kaep before others.
Now, my life, my love, my amour, has ripped a gaping hole in my NFL heart !
Alas, on Saturday, other paramours will court the All-Time Great…Weep, Weep, sniffle, sniffle.
I will go on record and Say “the 49ers are not very astute for not resigning Kaep and following my advice!”
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/28067012/nfl-invites-teams-colin-kaepernick-workout-saturday
That Picture!!!!!!!LOL!!!
Moseley is playing better now than AW ever has , starting a rusty corner right now would be a mistake . AW beat out Verrett in camp , Moseley wasn’t even up for the job for some reason ?
Same injury bug- new staff, new year. The grass at Santa Clara claims yet another acl.
At some point the strength and conditioning staff shouldn’t shoulder the blame. The field should be scrutinized.
I’d hope to sooner see Des Bryant in a 49er uniform than the cancerous tumor affectionately name TO, at42 taking, the field.
Just gonna leave this here for the “Garoppolo lost the game”, “start Mullens instead” crowd.
http://www.mercurynews.com/san-francisco-49ers-jimmy-garoppolo-russell-wilson-seattle-seahawks-highlights-video-schedule-news
More or less agree with the writer. Probably because writes, “He was neither great nor terrible Monday — he made some plays and screwed a few plays up. In short, he was the Jimmy Garoppolo we’ve seen nearly every week of his 49ers career.” which is pretty much what I’ve been writing as well and makes me want to laugh at those who are saying it now only because of a loss.
He was pretty terrible. About 15.2 total QBR, on a scale of 0-100. QBR factors in things like poor O-line play and drops. 11 of Garoppolo’s passes were off target. His QBR is the worst against the Seahawks all year long, making his performance poorer than what Mason Rudolph, Winston, Goff, Kyler Murray and Baker Mayfield managed to put out. Sure sure, it’s just one stat, but it’s telling. No, I don’t think the team should start Mullens. I think Garoppolo needs to start developing as a QB.
QBR is a weak stat that is used way too much.
Yep. He pretty much says it all. I liked the following too (“he” refers to Jimmy G and the second game is the game against the ‘Hags):
“And despite being “afraid to make a play” (that courtesy of ESPN’s Marcus Spears), he nearly won the second game, despite an offensive line that was trying to get him killed, a run game that couldn’t do a thing, and being left with the no-hands club at wide receiver after injuries knocked out his top two — perhaps three — options at the position.
It’s not a sin to not be an all-time great.”
My only complaint of Jimmy G was inadequate ball security leading to the two fumbles. He was clearly jittery in the second half as the run game stalled, the pass pro deteriorated, and the receivers kept on dropping balls (nine in all, I’m told by KNBR) putting more pressure on him to make plays.
By now I have a pretty good estimate of the football knowledge of the individual inmates of this blog, and I can quickly scan the pages to ignore the comments of those who violently lurch in their opinions based on the latest results.
Agree on the ball security. I think Jimmy just feels the need to always make a play even when the odds are very low. IMO, he needs to know when to take the sack and live to fight another play.
It’s funny because when Alex was very reluctant to ‘make a play’ he got hammered for it with many, including me, saying they would prefer a QB who took more risks even if it meant more interceptions. Well, we have that now…..
“those who violently lurch in their opinions based on the latest results.”
Yes, and this is what has me chuckling since the game ended.
What we saw from Garoppolo on Monday is what we almost always see. When Grant does his breakdown later today we’ll see some good plays from Garoppolo and we’ll see some bad plays just like every week. We’ll see balls that should have been caught, balls that should have been intercepted, throws that should have been made.
Through all of that, he led a drive in the closing moments of regulation to tie the game. After the Greenlaw pick, he had them in position to win the game in OT.
I’m often labeled anti-Garoppolo because I point to his areas of weakness and things he needs to improve on. Here’s the thing though, Garoppolo almost always keeps the team in the game. The loss on Monday was the first time as a 49er that he lost a game by 7 points or fewer.
Say what you want about the guy, but he competes his @$$ off and gives the team a chance to win week in and week out. If you can’t see that, it’s only because you don’t want to see it.
I try to get a high-level estimate of Jimmy G’s growth as a franchise QB over 4 game sets. He brings a lot to the table in the form a superior thrower of the ball, good leadership skills and great work ethics. I think most observers are in agreement that his areas of improvement include (1) decision making (not forcing balls, taking a sack, ball security, etc.) and (2) getting a feel of the game so that he can play better situational football. There are other areas where he should continue to show improvement, e.g., more command of the playbook, and improved “connection” with the young receivers.
Monday night was the first time I saw him playing a little uptight and skittish. I think it was the pressure to perform on the biggest game of his young career when he was clearly not getting enough support from his team mates. He will mature and get better in handling these situations, and will have his “See, that’s John Candy in the stands” moment.
There are stuff he does that often goes unnoticed which shows his leadership skills. After Deebo dropped a pass against the Cards just before halftime (Niners scored after that anyway), he was seen seeking out Deebo on their way to the locker room at halftime discussing the play. I liked that.
“improved “connection” with the young receivers.”
Did you watch Jimmy’s interview with Steve Young that was shown prior to the game. Jimmy said he likes being one of the guys. I’m not sure about this. As a person in virtually any field becomes a leader, it becomes harder to do this. Everybody here has experienced this, I’m sure. You’re good buddies with someone at work and then they get a promotion and the relationship changes. It has to. Jimmy needs to be able to call out his WRs for dropping the ball; not publicly but in the locker room. There’s a reason they say it is lonely at the top. All the top veteran QBs function this way, as far as I know. It’s pretty much this way in any business. I think Jimmy will have to do it too.
“Monday night was the first time I saw him playing a little uptight and skittish.”
He looked a lot like the guy I saw against LA earlier this year, battling against a tough D that was making everything hard. The only difference was there was no Kittle to help make a play.
I also saw a guy lose confidence in his Oline to give him time and lose confidence in his playmakers to make plays.
Now I hate being the guy that says would’ve could’ve, should’ve, but you take away those 7 drops, and the one critical one in OT, that makes it a 35 yard FG vs. a 47 yard FG, and we have a different narrative about Jimmy G.
I didn’t see that guy at all. He continued to battle through the whole game. A catch by Bourne on their drive with the score 21-18 puts the ball inside the 10. Instead, the result is a drop which forces the tying FG instead.
A chalk it up to a young team with young leadership not ready to win a playoff type game.
I’m not giving the Niners or Jimmy G a pass as they didn’t do enough to win it but did just enough to lose it.
Who is giving them a pass?
Every dropped pass is bad. But a close look at passes that have been dropped fall in the critical area. Critical because many of those dropped passes could have changed the course of the game.
Had a couple of the dropped passes been caught there’s a good chance that the conversations about Jimmy’s ability would be totally different.
All this reminds me of the old adadge : “There’s a thin line between love and hate.”
There were many reasons for the loss on Monday night. Many factors led to the loss. To place blame on JG to the point of calling for Mullens or suggesting the exploration of a trade is completely ridiculous and embarrassing.
I’m wondering if Pettis is a huge bust who lacks effort and passion for the game or if there’s something less obvious in play. I highly doubt Shanahan would ever go into detail on the Pettis situation publicly. There’s a difference between a player running the wrong routes or jogging routes when he’s the 3rd option and a guy who works hard and runs good routes but the QB just never hits him. I’ve heard Pettis has kind of unusual body mechanics that can really get a db turned around because he’s so hard to read. Is it that JG has a hard time figuring out Pettis because of his mechanics or is it that JG doesn’t trust Pettis to be where he’s supposed to be or that he doesn’t think Pettis will catch the ball. Could these connection issues be fixed with an offseason of work together? Pettis is an enigma to me. Guys like AJ Jenkins are busts because they are not talented enough to play in the NFL. I don’t think that’s the case with Pettis. He doesn’t lack talent. When I see him play he seems to show effort. He definitely has his drops and JG obviously doesn’t trust him. Just curious why. Hate to cut ties with a talented player that cost a 2nd rounder but that’s definitely where this is headed. Maybe it’s just that Pettis doesn’t really care about being a football player. Would be an interesting case study if there was really ever an honest conversation between coach, qb, and wr.
Is Wes Welker a good wide receivers coach? None of his players have improved this season.
That’s a good question. No idea. From what you’ve seen in practice what do you think about Welker as a coach? Shanahan was a WR. Does he get in Welker’s way when Welker is trying to coach?
Shanahan left Welker and Miles Austin alone. During camp, I felt Welker did not teach disciplined routes or releases. It seemed like he was teaching his players how to freelance early in the route.
In other words, Welker was teaching graduate level courses to 2nd and 3rd year undergrads?
Good point Grant but how do you teach someone to not have butter fingers?
I think that’s a fundamental thing and a concentration issue which at that level, shouldn’t even be a issue.
Yes coupled with the jekyl and hyde JimmyG you have an erratic at best passing game yikes
Thats exactly what I was thinking, Grant, But then it comes back to the point that if the ball hits the receivers in the hand, they HAVE to catch it-at least at this level-even at the Pop Warner level.
Also not quite sure why Shanny goes thru all the trouble to get these running backs with great hands, then under utilizes them. This idea of his to use the run to set up the pass in all circumstances is foolish. Teams will keep stacking 8 until he starts using the pass to set up the run, a little bit.
Not having Kittle, Sanders or Gould dug our grave-7 or 8 drops buried us. And now we have to listen to Bobby Wagner act as tho he was in our huddle. At some point, some time the worm has got to turn on the ‘Hawks.
Kyle Madson
✔
@KyleAMadson
· 15h
Seattle’s 3 scoring drives in regulation racked up a grand total of 87 yards.
Kyle Madson
✔
@KyleAMadson
Seattle’s drives that didn’t start with a 49ers turnover:
Punt
Punt
Punt
Punt
Fumble
Fumble
Punt
Fumble
Punt
Field Goal
Interception
Punt
Field Goal
You never want to make excuses but when you watch that game a second time, it’s hard not to say the 49ers didn’t give it away.
Yes Seattle is a good team and played well. But that game ends differently with Robbie Gould kicking the FG in OT.
Now moving forward, the 49ers have some tough games to make the Seattle game seem like they did indeed give it away and not kill themselves with turnovers and inexperience late in the game.
The 49ers absolutely gave the game away.
That’s what makes the loss sting even more!
Agreed; the Niners gave the game away. I was at the game Monday night; the whole time I felt like the Niners controlled the game.
For someone who was at the game, were the receivers getting separation or did Jimmy G just not have time?
I was at the game also. Everything changed after Sanders exit, though anyone anywhere could see that. Maybe Jimmy on occasion held the ball too long, but with no ground game Clowney and co. were absolutely teeing off. Rusty tackles and 2nd string center for a while didn’t help.
Those three defensive plays, the Tartt strip, the Defo fumble return, the Dre pick were absolutely amazing, and could have should have been winning game changers in their own right.
Pettis and Goodwin won’t be on the team next year.
Can you imagine what this offense could be like with a true #1 WR like Michael Thomas or DeAndre Hopkins.
Sign AB.
Or how about the guys they do have just catch the ball?
Or just a healthy Sanders.
With his current legal issues? No thanks.
People quickly forget that the best team does not always win. Seattle was the best team Monday so be it. Anyone think that the Falcons are better then the Saints? Teams lose, it sucks, but you don’t change QB’s when you are 8-1.
Kyle NEEDS to stop focusing on practice and just put the guy out there as the #2 (if ES is out) and let him play every down possible. He’s rarely out there and when he is the ball comes to him so few times, and it hurts when you see him open on many of those passes.
Force feed him the ball, throw his was 7 to 10 times a game. Sink or swim. I take him over Goodwin and especially Butterfingers Bourne.
Bourne tips a ball that is almost intercepted (the bobbles from Seattle) and he is just standing there as Seattle defenders are trying to keep the ball alive/make the int. That says it all. Get in there and knock guys down or bang their arms, don’t just stand around.
Good receivers are either taught or instinctively know that on some passes you must quickly change from pass receiver to pass defender. I don’t see that skill much with the 49ers WRs. Basically you must always be cognizant that if you don’t catch the ball no one else does.