Kyle Shanahan - HC, 49ers Event: Press Conference | Date: 2026-09-20 | Full transcript (primary source).
Kyle Shanahan, HC of the 49ers, addressed the media during a press conference following the team's recent game on September 20, 2026. The discussion focused on player injuries and the performance of quarterback Brock Purdy.
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Transcript
Shanahan: All right guys injuries from the game to Marcus Robinson had an ankle didn't return Jack Jones had a foot returned Ramello height had a hand he returned James Thompson jr. Had an ankle Dinner return Mike Evans had a hip didn't return.
Reporter: Does the Evans which is looking at Evans on the sideline doesn't seem to be too affected by it does it seem like a serious injury?
Shanahan: No, I didn't I would I would have it can always change tomorrow But I would have got if the game was different. It would have been all to come back in.
Reporter: Oh, does it look like he's definitely hollering around?
Shanahan: Yeah, I look most likely like a high ankle sprain. So unfortunate there.
Reporter: How sharp was Brock today Kyle obviously he had I think 18 consecutive passes?
Shanahan: I just he was real sharp. He was on point got the ball to all the right spots I think his one in completion was at one drop and then the other one on the third down and we had a bust on the play, but thank you. Yeah, but he was great today.
Reporter: Kyle what was the play call on the ball that brought Evans down to the one into like an incredible play by Brock?
Shanahan: Oh, that was a keeper. It was a it was a keeper trying to hit Deebo underneath they held for him there's two guys waiting on Mike to and Brock just he's stayed with them waited for him to clear him and it was a perfect ball If it wouldn't have been a perfect ball would have been a interception because the guy was looking undercut it He just faded it over the top of them.
Reporter: What's it done? You said you guys got over the jet lag midweek or so But you're coming off of a long trip and it's been a long time since your last game Was there any concern going into this one that you might not be sharp?
Shanahan: Initially, it might take a little time to get into a rhythm. I'm not really I mean, that's it's always good about the week of practice You know, I didn't feel that way over the weekend when we had a few days off and definitely feel that way Monday or Tuesday But by the time we started on Wednesday, it felt normal We had a good week of practice and felt good coming into the game.
Reporter: Have always been treated kind of as a package deal the first two games of you know The long trip and then and then how do you recover after how do you feel now that it's over? Do you feel relief? Do you feel pride about how you guys handled everything?
Shanahan: Um, I don't look at it and it's a two-week package and everything's so week to week So I was real proud of us after the first game and then I'm real proud of us after this game We'll enjoy our weekend at night and then you get back in and you get ready for week three tomorrow, but we knew that it would be a challenge But getting the days off You know by the time everyone came to work and we were over the travel and stuff by then.
Reporter: Did you forget it clip playsheet or something?
Shanahan: No, I had too many shirts on underneath. I thought I was a little colder out Looked cloudy and that came out and it felt muggy. So got a little OCD in me So I don't want to fidget and think about all games. So I ran back in and took a layer off.
Reporter: Now you're good Kittle made it into the end zone for the first time since a returning from his injury But also made some big plays down the stretch of the game What did you see from kiddo out there today? And if you could also speak to Christian McCaffrey who hit a record today?
Shanahan: Oh, yeah, both of them were great. They usually are You know, the first half was it was good, but it was frustrating. It hasn't been many times I feel like you only have two possessions in the first half so we were excited to get the ball in the first of the first play of the third quarter and we were calling that for something else that they brought a double corner blitz which opened the middle up and George saw it and took it which was a hell of a job seeing and you can see how explosive he was after the catch And how hard he is to bring down and then I'm Christian same stuff Christian a hell of a day and big accomplishment I think they just told me get in his hundred touchdown.
Reporter: Were you not aware that he was at 99 before that last hand off?
Shanahan: No I'm not aware of that stuff.
Reporter: So I guess three your top five receivers may be going in the season that are out at least for a significant amount of time Yeah, are you gonna have to go find a receiver or what? Where are you on that process?
Shanahan: Oh, I mean, we'll see I mean we um, it has been unfortunate. I mean that was you know, it was big losing struggling last week You guys know how big it was lives in Ricky over the summer And then losing DROP today was huge Christian Kirk's got a couple weeks where he can come back But we still got groups a group of guys out there that we have played with that have done things So I'm sure we'll have to add somebody whether it's a practice squad or to the roster But those are things we'll start discussing tonight and hopefully have an answer by Wednesday.
Reporter: Brain and I you've got all an option. No Are you noticing? Anything different from Brock? I know you're talking about him just always constantly improving and everything But are there things that you're noticing about him at this point in his career that he's elevating himself Maybe to a different level and you've seen before?
Shanahan: My man thought he had his best training camp just in terms of you know Being aggressive with things but I'm not stupid I'm still making the right efficient decision But when there's a chance of things being aggressive and I've seen that here these last two weeks I think the more he plays just with experience the easier defense come to recognize and things like that But you know, he's he played so good right away that you know, it's not like oh he's so much better in this area I just think you gradually become a vet and used to everything that you've seen you're used to every situation you've been in you've been up you've been down you've seen everything people have thrown at you and you just get more used to it.
Reporter: Juice touchdowns at the same call as 22, which it just kind of I think it may have been I don't know the exact same But it was all very similar Same type of club led the team rushing yards today. How do you look to try to just get that? That unit just a little bit more involved in the record?
Shanahan: Um, I mean getting more carries and stuff and I didn't really think too much about it when you know You only have two drives in the first half. A lot of those numbers are gonna get mixed up You know, the you know, we caught a lot of what we call keepers or bootlegs today We thought that was real advantageous. We made a number of throws on it, but you got a ton of scrambling yards on it too But I love rock running. I've no I don't care who runs it. I just love getting the rushing yards.
Reporter: Inside another strong performance, especially those four sacks. Just what can you say about that side of the ball?
Shanahan: Um, I thought you know, I thought they they let you know, especially in the first half Miami did help a job controlling the ball They really ate up the clock. I mean, that's why I think they got three possessions. We got two But I thought we did a hell of a job keeping them out of the end zone I mean even when we did bend a little bit We gave up to me too many big plays in the run game had a penalty on third down which kept their drives going we struggled to get off the field But we kept them out of the end zone until a bus there in Garbage Town.
Reporter: You've built big leads in both games and you're kind of able to mitigate the run defense But just where do you think the run defense is right now? What are you seeing in that?
Shanahan: I mean, I'll see more when I watch the tape But I mean, I think we definitely got to get better obviously at it We got to get better at everything but um, you know, it seemed like they had too many big ones But when I just look at the stats at the end of the day, you know They were held under four yards of carry But I think some of that felt maybe big or some second alongs Stuff that got him back into it when we thought we had the advantage with the sticks.
Reporter: Five-man line, especially early maybe in this game Was it giving you the looks that you were hoping for it is still a little adjusting to go with this?
Shanahan: Yeah, I mean always always have to adjust and you know having some different guys in there with what's happened in our D line here over these a couple weeks, but No, I mean they had some good runs and made some good plays But you know, I got to see where the breakdown is once I watch the tape. I'm not really sure of it right now.
Reporter: Touch-and-go with Pinero yesterday No, he was he was good. We've got arrested for like six days.
Shanahan: Illness was gonna sideline them or not or if you're gonna better not of no I'm not I just mess with him like that. But now he was great. He was great yesterday and he was if he was definitely not letting us We asked him if we should just sign one of these guys to be safe and he answered it the way he should So we were real confident that he felt better.
Reporter: It's a couple are some veteran defensive linemen out there Leonard Floyd, for example, is that anything that you guys have started to look at who might be available to come in?
Shanahan: Yeah, we always look at that. I mean that's stuff that I mean as soon as we lost Sam Owen stuff We talked to Leonard talked to a couple people But it's we'll see how this goes, you know, there's no one that's for sure But you know, we'll see what with losing James possibly today. We'll see what his ankle injury is it's a little different position with inside players, but We've lost about three guys here in the last two games. So we got to do something eventually.
Reporter: I believe you can start practicing next week, but I didn't ask last week So I'm not exactly sure I'll know that tomorrow.
Shanahan: James Thompson's ankle injury a high ankle It's right. That's what it looks like but can't confirm it yet. But him and D-Rob both look that way.
Reporter: How do you said you like the focus last week and John even mentioned it? What'd you think overall the team's focus coming into this?
Shanahan: That's what I was real proud of the guys on I mean it's When I mean that was the biggest challenge of this just the human nature of what all went into week one and the travel and Everything and coming back after five days off Just getting that mind going and stuff and the distractions of being at home as compared to just being a hotel for a whole weekend that's what I was worried about especially over the weekend to think about it Monday Tuesday, but we got a really cool team in terms of how much guys care about football how into it they are and Once they get once we got them in front of them on Wednesday, it wasn't hard to keep their focus.
Shanahan: Thanks guys.
