SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS HEAD COACH KYLE SHANAHAN

Postgame press conference
Sunday, September 29, 2024

Opening comments:

"Injuries from the game: [LB] Fred Warner had an ankle, did not return, [TE George] Kittle, ribs, did return, [DL] Jordan Elliott had a knee, did not return, [WR Jacob] Cowing, shoulder, did return, [WR Chris] Conley, oblique, finished the game and [FB Kyle Juszczyk] Juice went out there at the end with his shoulder. Go ahead."

Fred Warner and Jordan Elliott, do you have any idea of the severity yet?

"I don't, I know Fred tried to go, came out in third quarter and tried to go, but didn't feel like he could."

Do you know the initial prognosis on Elliott?

"No. I don't think it was an ACL or anything. But it just, had some swelling and stuff so he couldn't go."

How did you feel the that defensive start helped you guys today, especially for the pick six?

"Oh, that was awesome. I thought the defense was awesome all day. Anytime you score, even better. But to start out the way they did, the first couple drives especially. Fred getting the score, the two turnovers they created. I think, I didn't get a look at all the stats, but I think they were really good on third down. Defense, it felt like, dominated all day."

Fred has been so good for so many years, but do you feel he is playing at a different level now?

"I do a little bit. It's kind of hard to say that, he's been so good every year. But the way he's started out this year, it's been a big-time year for him so far."

You went up top in this game, it seemed like three or four times. Was that part of the original plan or was it something that they were doing defensively that kind of led to that?

"You always have that stuff in, just, they play, we caught them in quarters a couple times on both those plays and their safeties were down tight and that's where the ball has got to go. And [QB] Brock [Purdy] made two good throws and both the guys came down with the play. Had a third chance that was incomplete, corner did a good job staying on top. But I think it was versus all the same coverages."

Brock threw some good deep balls last season and the season before, but do you think he's better at that even now?

"I think he's the same. I thought we had some better looks today on a couple of them. But no, Brock has done a real good job with that."

On the first drive, he had two third-down scrambles for first downs and then he alluded a sack and then threw to Kittle for 15 yards. Is he better at decision making when it comes to when to take off, when to stay in and throw, I guess from his rookie year, obviously?

"I think he started doing it more last year. He's done it a lot this year. It's something he did in college a lot. I think Brock has just got the confidence on when to hang in there and try to make the play work and when to break, buy time and try to make a play, getting people open later off-schedule or trying to move out with his legs. And he's done a hell of a job of that these last two weeks. If he didn't do that in the playoffs last year, I don't think we would've gotten to the Super Bowl. I think he did it then too. And love having that asset of our offense. He's done a hell of a job with that."

On the RB Isaac Guerendo fumble, was that just a rookie play? How do you chalk down one up?

"I chalk it up to an NFL football player getting hit and fumbling it. I don't put it on being a rookie. I don't, you can fumble it, whoever you are. It was a big fumble, especially opening up in the third quarter, I think it's what gave them a chance. They answered right away. Biggest thing when someone has a turnover, you want the defense to go out and hold them to three. I think they scored on a fourth down maybe. We had a commitment trying to stop an inside-zone run and they had a good play call getting out there to score, but we'll come back to him. But yeah, that was a big fumble."

The video of WR Brandon Aiyuk 'B.A.' Friday, throwing his shoes and stuff, didn't look awesome. Are you surprised that he cared that much about his shorts?

"No. No, I'm not. I didn't know you guys had it on video. That stuff happens."

Does it usually happen that a player would throw a shoe because he had to change shorts?

"I didn't see what he threw. Maybe he was just joking, laughing about throwing his shoe. Maybe he didn't like his shoe. I didn't interview him about his shoe toss. But I hate some of the clothes I have to wear out there, also. But it is what it is."

On the interception, Brock kind of just threw it up there for maybe Brandon to make a play. Is that something that's in the system or is that, you would prefer that throw not be made?

"No, I don't want him to throw into double-coverage. But there was a busted route on the backside. It looked like B.A. was going to be alone, it was man-coverage and someone ended up in the wrong spot. There was a guy Brock wasn't expecting to be over there, because we should have distributed the field a little bit differently. But I didn't like how late it was. He didn't throw really in the rhythm of the play. Had a chance early but he didn't have a chance late and that was a big turnover. It was one of the reasons they had a chance to get back in it, but our defense held up strong."

We've asked you about this a lot, but is WR Jauan Jennings playing with just a different level of confidence this year?

"I don't think so. I think Jauan was born this confident. He's always like that. And you guys know how I think how Jauan is. He's as confident as it gets, and I think that's one of his best assets. He's a very talented player, but Jauan never feels he can be denied. That's why he's been so important to us over the years."

You have to call plays based on what, obviously, what your quarterback can do and do well. At this point, are there any plays that you can't call for Brock?

"No, I don't think there's no, I think Brock, since his first game playing here, there hasn't been a type of play. He is very good in the drop-back game, play-action game. He's good on the bootlegs and stuff. We don't call too many like zone reads and things with him, I think he'd be capable of it, but we're not trying to make a living off that. But Brock has been one of the most consistent players in the league since the first game he's played."

Seemed like you guys dialed up more on blitzes than you usually do. How much of that is a result of DL Javon Hargrave being gone and how much is just kind of the opponent?

"I think all of it. There's a lot of run blitzes in there too, because of how heavy of a run team they are and stuff. But I thought [DL] Nick [Bosa] did a real good job today. I thought the whole defense did really good."

S Malik Mustapha in the starting lineup, just do you think it, he was ready for it? Was there a need there?

"Mustapha? Yeah, we thought he was ready for it. When him and [S George Odum] G.O. were going, we started rotating him a little, I think the second week. He's been doing awesome in practice. We started to mix him in there in game two. I think [S Talanoa Hufanga] Huf came back in game three, so we didn't need to do it. But when we found out Huf couldn't play today, we knew he was next man up."

How close was Hufanga to playing today and is this something you think is going to linger?

"I don't think so. We thought he would play today, but we knew it would be a game-time decision. He got here early, he worked out and he didn't feel like he could go and I'm really glad that he didn't."

What do you make of RB Jordan Mason? It's rare for a running back to go for five yards a carry, and this guy is doing it almost every single game he plays.

"JP runs so hard. When you commit to the run and he gets a number of carries, it's just eventually, he's going to get them, you know what I mean. He just apologized to me before I walked in here because there's a couple he missed, which is the type of guy he is. There were some that he left out there. But there's also, when I feel there's nothing there. He also always gets a lot more than I'm expecting. He has been a stud this year. He has been a stud every time we've given him the ball and he's really taken advantage of his opportunity."

DL Evan Anderson got a fair amount of snaps today. What were you seeing from him that allowed him to get bumped up today and how do you think he did?

"That was just because of the injuries, it was next man up. We had two guys on practice squad, and they battled it out all week to see who would get the run and he won. He was going to be a part of that four-person rotation, and then losing Jordan Elliott in the game made him much more important, because you only have three left and that's why he got to play probably more than we expected him to. It seemed like he did a good job out there. I'll definitely watch the tape, but it's always good to get some young guys some experience and especially doing it after a win."

How do you feel the defensive line played in general? I mean, six sacks, they did so well against the run game.

"From what I saw out there, it seemed like they dominated the run and the pass game. I was really excited with them, especially losing Hargrave last week, we really needed to step it up. Then losing Jordan in this game too, just made them down a man and I thought they played well throughout the game, first quarter to fourth."

I know you wouldn't want to be 50/50 run-pass; you always say that. Understanding, I've asked you in the past, does Purdy's success make you think, "We can go throw a little more." I think you were 60/40 pass most of this game until the end when you were running it. Is it a case where your quarterback allows you to think, "Oh you know what, let's just start throwing the ball more?"

"Yes, but I think that's how we've been since really, he's been in or gotten in. Took a couple weeks to realize that, but usually that is how it works out. Especially a team like that, the way that they play up front. They had six guys on the line of scrimmage, a ton, which you can run the ball verse that, but if you just think you're going to do it on every first down and second down, you're going to be in a lot on third-and-longs and have some three-and-outs. You have to mix it up and get them on their heels, make them play some other stuff. That's why we had to throw some of those posts today. Just the guys they had on the line of scrimmage, how tight their safeties were. Usually when you do that, you get guys backed up. When your defense plays like they were, then you can usually close it out by running the ball and trying to make sure to keep it a two, three-score game. I think all those carries were a good example of how that's not always just an offensive stat, that's a huge team stat."

Bosa had a lot of almost-sacks, there in the second half, he finally got one. Were you happy for him? Did you see the effort he was making?

"No, I wasn't happy for him [laughter]. Yeah, I was happy for him. I'm happy for everybody who gets a sack. But yeah, [New England Patriots QB] Jacoby [Brissett], he's a big man. We compare him to like, [former Pittsburgh Steelers QB] Ben Roethlisberger. If you don't get your body on him, he doesn't go down. You can't just grab that guy and pull him down. You have to hit him dead square. He was close coming around the edge a number of times, which you can get the strip and stuff, but I haven't seen really anybody just pull him down with one arm. You have to hit him square and that's why he is one of the more competitive guys I've seen play that position. It usually takes two to take him down."

QUARTERBACK BROCK PURDY

Postgame press conference
Sunday, September 29, 2024

A big conversion on third-down for the first-down and there was another move. Did you feel lively out there? How do you describe your movement?

"Obviously going through progressions and trying to hit guys first on third-down. I felt early on New England did a good job just with scheming us up with our plays and stuff. And we had guys running with them, anticipating our routes, I felt like. And so anyways, just going through progressions. And then at the end I'm like, 'alright we need four yards here and eight yards here.' And so, I just tried making play with my legs and was able to move the chains. So, yeah it felt good though early on, sort of just moving and getting into the game it felt like."

You talk so much about efficiency and completions and patience. I don't know if we've ever seen you throw this many deep strikes in a game today. What was there for the taking that you thought?

"That's the case for every game is we're ready for if they present a certain coverage, then we have a shot or an opportunity ready and we've just got to execute and capitalize on them. And so for this game there was a couple plays where their safeties were low and when we had guys going deep with [WR] Deebo [Samuel Sr.] and J.J. [WR Jauan Jennings]. For me, we talked about it on the sideline and I was sort of aggressive to seeing that and let it rip and trust those guys to get under it and make plays and that's what they did. It was nice to be able to connect on those deeper routes and stuff like that and put that on tape and give us all some confidence moving forward with the deep ball."

When you say they were scheming you guys up, they usually play a lot of man coverage. Were they doing different things today, more zone?

"No, I think they did a lot of man. But with just like anticipating with their safeties, like looking guys up, crossing the field and stuff and sort of just ready for some of the routes that we had on. So, I thought they did a good job with that and sort of making the plays a contested catch kind of play or things like that. So, props to them, they did a good job."

Have teams been doing more of that this year, sort of taking away those middle crossing routes that have been your bread and butter in recent seasons?

"I feel like in the past couple seasons that's been something that we're sort of known for, but people scheme us up and they do a good job with just leverage and taking away certain routes. For us, that's a good opportunity for us to be able to adapt and work on different things as well. Every team is different. They present a new challenge and stuff, but this week was a lot of man coverage. They did a good job of just funneling everything back to the middle of the field. They did a good job with it."

What was your reading on the TE George Kittle touchdown? He certainly wasn't wide open there. Was it just to let him make a play, like you said?

"The play was for him to break out and then go up. It was more of a third-down play, but we thought we'd get the look for it down there. I saw him break out and then I was getting hit, so I was like, 'I just need to give my guy a shot here and give him a chance.' So just put it up for him and let him come down with it. But he made a great play, way better than a throw that was. He made the play. That's George."

Last week against Rams, NFC Championship Game against the Lions, today at times, your ability to scramble and run has been more prevalent than in the past, you did a lot in college. How is it different, what you're doing now as far as with your legs, if at all, then kind of what you did in college?

"I'm not dropping back thinking, alright, 'I'm going to act like I'm going to throw and then just run and try to make a play.' It's not like that. I'm a quarterback. I'm trying to go through my reads and hit my guys and move the chains that way, and that's the position that I play, and I take pride in that. And so, when something's not there and teams drop eight and they're rushing three and last week we saw a play where they dropped nine and rushed two. So, for me it's like knowing that, like I'm still going to go through my progression, try to hit my guys in windows when I can, but if not, then I feel like I have just the right amount of athleticism to move and make plays. I don't need to be a freak athlete and all that kind of stuff. I know who I am, but if something presents itself then I'm willing to do what it takes for our team to move the chains and use my legs."

When you say just the right amount of athleticism, what do you mean? You're just maybe above the mean there?

"I think my 10-yard split, just to give you guys some perspective, it was faster than Christian's [RB Christian McCaffrey] and Deebo, I think. You guys can fact check me, but that's what I mean. I think I just have enough to get out of the pocket and make a play, pick up five, seven yards here and there. So I'm not [Baltimore Ravens QB] Lamar Jackson by any means. But anyways, just do what it takes."

What did you think of the line in front of you today? Big holes for RB Jordan Mason and you for the most part were upright.

"I thought they did a really good job. Obviously, it starts with the run and for those guys to be able to give Mason the lanes that he had was huge. And then in the pass game, I thought they did a great job. There's some looks where it's a little crazy and stuff in there, but I think they did an amazing job giving me time, allowed me to see guys downfield and hit those third-level throws. So that's a prop to them. They had a chip on their shoulder this week at practice and all, we all did. And with that being said, I still think we can all collectively as an offensive unit be better and execute in situations. But very proud of those guys."

What happened in the interception?

"Interception, B.A. [WR Brandon Aiyuk] across the middle of the field. I saw early and then I went to lead him and I didn't see [New England Patriots S] Jabrill Peppers. He sort of fell off and got it. So it's something that I've got to move on in my progressions and not be greedy. I think I hitched to him two or three times, which just isn't good as a quarterback. You go through your progressions based off of your hitches and you read with your feet and that one I got greedy. I saw him across the middle and Jabrill made a good play."

DL Nick Bosa

How did you feel about how some of those defensive tackles stepped up with DL Javon Hargrave out?

"I need to watch the tape but it seemed good. We did good against the run. Coming into the year, I was really confident in the depth that we had. I hope [DL] Jordan [Elliot] is alright, but [DL] Evan [Anderson] stepped in and had a good game."

You kept getting closer and closer to a sack there. It looked like you were really wanting that last one. Can you talk about the progression of that over those last few plays?

"It was looking bleak, but you just have to be ready. You have to be ready for your opportunity and I had a few. I missed plenty. But I think we had a great day as a D-line and we got the win, so that's all that matters."

*We didn't know much about DL Sam Okuayinonu going into this season. Were you familiar with him at all? Have you been impressed with what he's been able to do?

*"I always knew what he had is his body. He came in last year late and then you see him in camp. He had a really strong camp and then he had an injury, so it set him back. He played probably no more than 15 plays and affected 10 of them. To have a guy like that, that can give some of our starters a rest and make an impact. It's huge for us."

TE George Kittle

T Trent Williams said that your touchdown catch was the best he probably had ever seen with his own two eyes. Did it feel like that to you?

"That's saying a lot coming from [T] Trent Williams. He's played a lot of football so yes, it means a lot. It felt fantastic. I just wasn't really confident in the play call because that was something he called originally from way farther out and when he called it from the 10, I had to double check with [QB] Brock [Purdy] to make sure it was the right play. I was like, "alright man just throw it",and he just threw it. It was pretty fun."

What did LB Fred Warner's interception spark for the offense?

"He's pretty good, isn't he? Goodness gracious. I was just bummed. I was actually frustrated at first because he had as many points as the Niners' offense did to start the game. I'm glad that we got some more points on the board, but just a heck of a play. Hopefully he hit like 17 miles an hour. I don't know if he did, but I'm pumped for him. That was an amazing play."

Do you feel like you were playing with extra focus after the last tough two losses?

"Yes and no. I thought we started off well. I want to score touchdowns, so getting two field goals to start the game we're leaving points on the board. Then obviously Fred had an amazing play too, got a touchdown and I think we were rolling there for a little bit. But second half I think we have a lot of things that we need to clean up. We had three drives that weren't great. We were on the field for a while, but they weren't fantastic and those are things that we have to execute, stay on the field and not fumble it. Whatever it was, I haven't watched the tape, so I don't really see it. But I just felt like we were playing from behind a little bit there in the third and fourth quarter. We need to clean that up, especially when we're playing like very dominant teams that have like really good offenses. Not saying the Patriots don't, but our defense was playing very good against them today."

RB Jordan Mason

Can you walk me through that third quarter touchdown you scored?

"It was blocked really well. I just walked in."

How about the blocking today? QB Brock Purdy had a lot of time. You had a lot of lanes. How big was the offensive line?

"They were great. They did great today."

How good does it feel to get a bounce-back win after two losses on the road?

"It feels great, but it's already time to focus on next week."

LB Fred Warner

Seems that QB Brock Purdy is just athletic enough.

"Seems like a great athlete to me. Keep running for those first downs, buddy. Love that."

At what point did you have the end zone on your mind after your interception?

"As soon as I got up, found some green grass. I'm excited to go back and watch it to see the effort that my guys were giving to get blocks. You don't get into the end zone unless you've got your teammates having your back in that situation. So, I'm happy we got that one."

How's your ankle feeling?

"It's good."

Was it precautionary for you to stay out the second half?

"I would've been out there if I could've been, but we'll see as we get more information on it."

Were you lobbying to get back in at the beginning of the third quarter? What was kind of the back and forth?

"It was all based off the feel. It takes a lot for me to tap out. If I could have been out there, I would've been. We'll get more information as we go with scans and all that, but I feel good right now."

On the touchdown, you looked like you might have been either gassed or hurt a little bit. How did you feel after scoring?

"After catching it, I fell with no type of something to break the fall. So, I kind of landed on my back, lost wind, but I got up and ran anyway. So, I was winded for sure. I was just trying to catch my wind at that point."

Brock just said that you guys practiced all week with a chip on your shoulder. Do you agree with that? What was practice like this week?

"Yeah, absolutely. It was chippy. I think it was exactly what it needed to be. I mean, you dropped two, two losses, especially the one last week. It left a sour taste in our mouth. Yeah, I think it was the right type of week.

Do you feel like you're playing at an even higher level than you did last year and the year before?

"I'm just trying to do my best, whatever that takes for the team, honestly. The play today – I've been talking about that for weeks now. Coach [assistant head coach defense Brandon] Staley does a great job in our ball meeting, and he's made it an emphasis that if you score on defense, you have about a 100 percent chance of winning the game. So, I'm like, we've got to score on D and for us to get that play, obviously we won, and we've got to keep it going now."

Did you just instinctively kind of break off your coverage and try to just hide to get that interception? Like how did it go through?

"Lots of experience. You know where to be at the right spot if you kind of understand route concepts regardless of the cover responsibility. And usually, if you're in the middle of the field around the hashes, good things can happen."

You have a lot of different faces in different positions on defense. What kind of burden is that for you as the leader and how have you approached kind of making that all mesh?

"It's not a burden. I think it's an opportunity and I was excited from the moment we got all the new guys that we did this offseason because of what they bring to our team and to this defense. The opportunity now is to continue to build and build that cohesion and that chemistry amongst the group. The best teams are the ones that are the closest. And that doesn't happen overnight. Week by week we've got to continue to try to find that closeness as a team, as a defense. And I feel like the more we do that, the better we're going to play and the better product we're going put on the field."

We've watched Brock for a while now - be efficient, pile up completions, lead the team. I don't know if we've ever seen him throw deep as many times as he did today. What does that do now that teams have seen he can do that consistently? What does that do for him in your offense and is there anything he can't do?

"Nah, he's the best man. I love Brock, love exactly how he plays the game, who he is, the leader that he is for our team. He doesn't say a whole lot, but he doesn't have to at the end of the day. The way that he approaches his craft and is so humble about his approach - never too high, never too low and continuing to get better in all phases of his game, knowing what it takes to win. I love having him as our quarterback."

Because of the catch and the run, could you have been recruited as a tight end?

"I played a little tight end in high school, but it just wasn't really for me. I'm more of a 'control your destiny out there' type of person. At tight end, you might get a catch, you might not. So, it's all good."

How was S Malik Mustapha out there in terms of chemistry and communication on the back end?

"I thought he did great. He had that opportunity to have an interception late in the game – got to bring those in. But other than that, I love the way that Malik plays the game. I mean, hair on fire, no hesitation. You see him just flashing all the time with the way that he sprints to the football. I love the way that he plays the game. He's only going to continue to get better."

T Trent Williams

How were you able to recover from injury?

"Oh, it wasn't that bad. On Friday, I was wondering, is it worth it? So we talked to coach and said it's good as it sits, let's not make it worse and get ready for Sunday. It turned a corner pretty quick. It wasn't a big deal, I never was worried."

How important was it to get back on track?

"It's always important to get that win, especially after two really tough losses and after how we played last week. We needed it. It was more than just going two-and-two on the season. It was something for the confidence."

Is it fun to see QB Brock Purdy firing deep so much?

"Oh yeah, a hundred percent. We've got all those weapons out there, why wouldn't you? It's always good when Brock's unleashing the ball and then we got [RB Jordan] Mace [Mason] running the ball how he's run the ball. That really makes the offense go."