Tag: Kyle Shanahan

NFL didn’t apologize to 49ers after clear blown call vs. Seahawks

The NFL blew a call in Thursday’s game. The 49ers didn’t hear from the league about it.

Some of the dramatics in the San Francisco 49ers’ Week 6 win over the Seattle Seahawks could have been ratcheted down had the NFL’s replay review system operated properly.

In the fourth quarter the Seahawks cut the 49ers’ 20-point lead to 6 with back-to-back touchdowns. After the second touchdown, the Seattle defense forced a 49ers punt.

San Francisco gunner Chris Conley was blocked into the Seahawks punt returner Dee Williams, keeping the punt returner from catching the ball. Seattle was awarded the ball after 49ers linebacker Jalen Graham downed it, but the 49ers reviewed the play to see if Williams touched the football.

Enhanced replays on the Amazon Prime feed showed the ball clearly touching Williams’ hand. With Graham’s recovery, the 49ers should have taken over at the Seattle 18. Instead, the Seahawks retained the ball because the officials didn’t have access to all the angles the TV broadcast had in time to make the correct call.

While officials told ESPN’s Brady Henderson after the game they missed the call, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said the team didn’t hear from the league.

“No. You don’t get any apologies, but apologies aren’t that big of a deal,” Shanahan said in a conference call Friday. “Once it happens, you’ve got to move on with your life. Apologies don’t make it better. I’m just glad that it all worked out and just move on.”

Fortunately for the 49ers the play will likely be lost to history. The Seahawks punted on the ensuing drive, and San Francisco went on to secure a 36-24 victory.

Perhaps the league’s officials pay the 49ers back with a favorable call or two, but the club certainly isn’t going to hear from the NFL about it. The league admitted the mistake, and all parties will move on.

Ideally if the NFL does take some kind of action, it will be ensuring their replay reviews aren’t complete until every available camera angle is given to them.

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49ers defensive coordinator gets vote of confidence from Kyle Shanahan

Robert Saleh back to the 49ers? Don’t bank on it.

An interesting potential wrinkle was thrown into the San Francisco 49ers’ season on Tuesday when news broke that the New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh.

Saleh was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator through the 2020 season before the Jets made him their head coach. As the 49ers’ defense has struggled in 2024, there have been some questions about whether new DC Nick Sorensen is up for the task of righting San Francisco’s defensive ship.

Concerns about Sorensen combined with Saleh hitting the free agent market made a potential mid-season reunion between the 49ers and their old DC a popular talking point on social media. Head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about Sorensen on Tuesday in a press conference and gave the defensive coordinator a strong vote of confidence.

“I think Nick’s doing a real good job,” Shanahan said. “I’ve been impressed with him since the beginning. Each week, I like how he handles the defensive staff. I like how they set up the practices and I’ve liked his game plans and I liked how he’s called it. So I’ve been real happy with Nick so far.”

Defensive end Nick Bosa after the 49ers’ 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals mentioned that he didn’t think the club made the right in-game adjustments. Shanahan also pushed back on that in his Monday conference call, again backing his most recent DC hire.

While there may be some question marks around Sorensen as he wades into deeper waters in his first season as a coordinator, it’s clear the 49ers aren’t ready to make a dramatic change to their coaching staff. Given some of their roster limitations and injuries on the defensive side, it makes sense that Shanahan wouldn’t want to hit the eject button on the DC just yet.

However, if players continue expressing doubts about Sorensen’s management of the game, the 49ers may try turning to a more trusted voice like Saleh’s if they determine a change is necessary.

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Kyle Shanahan: Past slow starts won’t help 49ers in 2024

Can the 49ers past experience with slow starts help them climb out of this year’s early-season rut? Head coach Kyle Shanahan says no.

The San Francisco 49ers through five weeks find themselves in unfavorable, familiar territory.

Slow starts were a hallmark of Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers for a few seasons following an 8-0 start in the 2019 campaign. In 2020 they were 4-4 through eight games. The next year they fell to 3-5 before putting together a late-season run and finishing 10-7. It was more of the same in 2022 when they started 3-4 before ripping off 10 in a row to finish the year.

In 2023 things changed, but they still dropped three in a row after a 5-0 start before finishing 12-5.

This season is another slow start with the 49ers sitting at 2-3 through five weeks. Logic says this group, many of which have been part of the teams that struggled to start 2021 and 2022, would be calloused to the adversity this year’s team is facing. Head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn’t believe previous experience will play a role in whether the 49ers can climb out of the rut they dug for themselves in 2024.

“No, I don’t think it pertains to anything,” Shanahan said on a conference call. “I think everybody goes off their life experiences and we have some people who have been here can always resort to that and just know how things work. I’ve been through a number of them in my whole coaching career, not just here.

“So, you always know going through this that you can never count yourself out until you’re actually eliminated from something. I’ve seen teams start 0-4 and get there before. So, there’s lots of things that go into it. But I think every year’s different and we’ve got to write our own story this year and it has nothing to do with other years.”

For this year’s 49ers there are a handful of significant changes from past years that will require perhaps a different formula for San Francisco.

Their defense hasn’t been as good as in year’s past, but they have better quarterback play which gives some optimism that there’s a better version of the 49ers on the horizon.

The real issue, which supports what Shanahan said, is that the 49ers will need to rely on a slew of young players to help buoy the club after a rocky start to this year. Those players haven’t been in this spot before. The experience of some of the team’s leaders will help the 49ers, but they won’t automatically make the playoffs just because they’ve been here before.

San Francisco needs to be better, and if they don’t get better, no amount of experience is going to save them from the mediocrity they’re careening toward at the end of Week 5.

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49ers K Jake Moody suffers ankle sprain, likely to miss Week 6 vs Seahawks

49ers K Jake Moody suffers ankle sprain, likely to miss Week 6 vs Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers both suffered brutal home upset losses to opponents who each had only one win going into Sunday. Seattle fell 29-20 to the New York Giants, while the 49ers were upset 24-23 by the Arizona Cardinals.

Unfortunately for San Francisco, a game isn’t the only thing they lost this weekend. Head coach Kyle Shanahan announced after the loss that kicker Jake Moody suffered an ankle sprain. While a concrete timeline is uncertain, it appears he is going to miss a few games.

If what Shanahan says is true, then the 49ers will assuredly be without their second-year kicker when they roll into Seattle on Thursday night.

Moody connected on 21-of-25 field goal attempts last season, and set a short-lived Super Bowl record with a 55-yard field goal. Of course, Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker broke it by two yards one quarter later.

So far on the year, Moody has been stellar, making 11-of-12 field goals, including both attempts against the Cardinals. His injury is yet another in an ever-growing list for San Francisco in 2024.

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Texans Wire Exclusive: Andre Johnson discusses Nico Collins and challenges for elite NFL receivers

In an exclusive interview with Texans Wire, Andre Johnson breaks down what makes Nico Collins one of the NFL’s elite targets.

Houston Texans Hall of Fame wide receiver Andre Johnson struggled to find the right words on expectations once a player has established themselves as an elite NFL wide receiver.

“It’s different, man when you’re on that level of being considered the best in the league,” Johnson said in an exclusive interview with Texans Wire. “I don’t really know how to put in the words, but there’s a point where your approach has to be so different because you know that teams are scheming to keep you away from the football.”

Johnson had seven 1000-yard campaigns during his 14-year NFL career. By the end of his sophomore season, he became one of the more established targets, including leading the league in both 2008 and 2009.

If anyone would know of Nico Collins’ growth, it’s Johnson. Collins, the first star of the Nick Caserio era has burst onto the scene, leading the NFL in receiving through four games.

In two years, Collins has transformed into a household name. He served as C.J. Stroud’s top target while helping Houston end a four-year playoff drought.

Johnson had great insight as to what that means for a receiver of that caliber.

“I think it made me watch a lot of film, it made me just break things down more, be more detailed about things. It was little things where I would see on film and I would tell (Matt) Schaub like, hey, if they play this and I got this route, I’m running this route like this.'” Johnson said of working to communicate with his quarterback. “So it makes you become more detailed with the things that you’re doing.

“I would probably say that’s the difference of, you know, once you get to that level of being a top guy.”

A desire to learn that the finite details drove Johnson to further limits.

“The quarterbacks will meet before we would have our team meeting every morning. They would always meet and it got to the point to where I was like, ‘You know what? Maybe I need to start going to these meetings,'” Johnson said. “I would just sit in the in the in the meeting room. I wouldn’t really say anything and Kyle Shanahan was our offensive coordinator at the time and he would sit there and he would go over stuff with them.

“I would just sit back and I would just watch it. It became a point to where we were so much on the same page, to where I could come back and tell because Schaub used to always tell me why he didn’t throw me the ball, so we got to a point to where I’d come back to him and be like ‘Ohh I know why you didn’t throw it to me” because of this, that and another.’ We basically had got to the point where we were seeing the same things on the field.”

It was a testament to Johnson’s dedication to finding success on and off the field while building a relationship with Schaub. Coincidentally, the league has seen a similar connection between Collins and the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Through four games, Stroud and Collins lead the NFL in ‘Expected Points Added’ between any quarterback and receiving combination in football this season per NFL Next Gen Stats.

Johnson can’t help but love the improvement he’s seen from the budding star.

“I got a chance when Nico first got here with the Texans, (former offensive coordinator) Pep Hamilton came up to me and was like, ‘Hey Dre, I need you to talk to this guy,’ he was like ‘This guy got it. Like he has what it takes,’” Johnson said of his first interaction with Collins. “I pulled him to the side, talked to him and, you know, I didn’t know him, so I pulled to the side, just talked to him and kinda picked his brain a little bit. We would do a few drills sometimes after practice, little thing I asked him that he felt like he needed to work on.”

Collins’ work ethic with Johnson and away from the complex reached its peak over the last 14 months. In 2023, he posted career-highs in receiving yards (1,297) and touchdowns (eight). Entering October, his 489 yards lead the league by a wide margin.

Seeing Collins’ growth made Johnson reminiscence of his time in the league. It’s as if he’s watching a clone.

“It’s so exciting to watch him play. He reminds me, the way he plays the game, he reminds me of me,” Johnson said. “To see the physicality that he plays with, it makes you wanna watch, it makes me wanna watch him play all the time. So even him shoving a guy like, I’m not condoning violence, but I love it like I love it.”

Whether it’s the dominance on the football field or the feistiness to hit a defensive back who crosses a boundary, Collins has Johnson and Texans fans alike feeling like they have another Canton-bound caliber talent on their hands.

49ers rookie RB may cut into rising star’s carries

Is a rookie coming for some of Jordan Mason’s carries?

There aren’t many No. 1, workhorse running backs in the NFL anymore. San Francisco 49ers running back Jordan Mason certainly fits the bill though.

Mason has taken full advantage of his opportunity to be the 49ers’ lead RB with Christian McCaffrey sidelined by Achilles tendinitis, and he’s worked as essentially the 49ers’ lone running back during the first three weeks of the season. That may change soon.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Friday in his press conference indicated that rookie RB Isaac Guerendo may start becoming a bigger factor in the backfield.

“He showed on film what he has been showing us,” Shanahan said of Guerendo’s five-carry, 19-yard performance in Week 3. “We’ve been encouraged about him for a while. He got off to a late start with his training camp injury, but we were encouraged with his preseason play. Everyone, I think, saw that with his kick return and stuff. He had two runs in that game that were encouraging and always a chance to get more.”

It’s unlikely that Mason suddenly starts splitting carries with Guerendo. He’s been too successful to just remove from the field too often. Mason is up to 342 yards and two touchdowns on a league-high 67 attempts.

However, Guerendo drew a fascinating comparison from 49ers offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster. He compared the rookie fourth-round pick to former 49ers RB Raheem Mostert.

Mostert was known for his downhill style and his home run speed that made him a threat to score a touchdown every time he touched the ball. While Mason has been good, he’s not a home run threat. His longest run of the year is just 24 yards. His longest touchdown of the year is 10.

Guerendo may be able to provide some of the long explosive play ability that Mason doesn’t have. That doesn’t mean he should start seeing 10-12 carries a game, but he had five in Week 3 after getting only one in the first two weeks combined.

It’s reasonable to think Guerendo could start snagging eight or so carries per game to lighten some of the workload on Mason, and to add the big-play element the 49ers’ backfield is missing.

Mason is still RB1, to be sure, but Guerendo appears to be on the verge of becoming more of a factor.

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Will Jauan Jennings play more even with 49ers healthy at WR?

More Jauan Jennings? It’s a real possibility even with the 49ers receiving corps getting healthier.

It’s unlikely we’ll see the 49ers and head coach Kyle Shanahan make any major schematic changes to their offense any time soon.

However, their injury issues have forced some players to jump into bigger roles and perhaps make a case for more playing time even after the injury situation improves.

No player embodied the ‘next man up’ mentality more than wide receiver Jauan Jennings in Week 3. With no Deebo Samuel at wide receiver and no George Kittle at tight end, Jennings played a career-high 60 snaps and turned in a remarkable 11-catch, 175-yard, three-touchdown performance.

His outing brought up questions about how the 49ers would navigate the WR position when Samuel was healthy since they so often run two-receiver sets that leave Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk on the field. Shanahan was asked in a press conference Friday about the possibility of using more 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end) in lieu of their typical 21 personnel (two running backs, one tight end). He said that drastic change is unlikely, but more Jennings is a possibility.

“I’m always comfortable with Jauan,” Shanahan said. “But our, if we’re not going 11, it has nothing to do with always trying to get our best 11 people out there. Jauan, I think, has been one of our best 11 people since he’s been here. That usually more has to do with advantages of 21-personnel and things like that. But it’s a good problem to have. I want to get Jauan out there more. He’s that type of player. It doesn’t always mean that you go totally different with your scheme and everything, but you can always rotate him in more too.”

Jennings has acquitted himself well every time he’s stepped into any kind of role with the 49ers. Utilizing him more may allow the club to keep Samuel and Kittle healthier down the stretch of the season. Jennings doesn’t have a ton of miles on his body, and he’s a big, physical receiver who is excellent at pulling down contested catches. He’s also flashed some run-after-the-catch ability during his career.

It’s unlikely we’ll see another game any time soon where Jennings is getting 10-plus targets while Samuel, Aiyuk and Kittle are all healthy. We can and should see more of him though considering how effective he is when he steps on the field. Don’t be surprised if his snap counts start to creep up and his production becomes a little more consistent.

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Kyle Shanahan confirms 49ers LB suffered season-ending injury

The 49ers linebacker suffered a torn ACL in practice on Thursday.

The injury bug continues to roll through the San Francisco 49ers’ roster. After the linebacker exited practice on Thursday, head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed Curtis Robinson had suffered a season-ending injury.

When speaking to reporters after practice in Santa Clara on Sunday, the 49ers head coach revealed Robinson suffered a torn ACL injury in practice on Thursday.

Via @mattbarrows on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/mattbarrows/status/1839769892947669351

The 49ers core special teamer has recorded one tackle three games into the 2024 season. The former Stanford Cardinal has played four seasons with the 49ers, playing 12 games in that span.

With Robinson down for the season, the 49ers will need to lean on players like Dee Winters, Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles and Tatum Bethune in the linebacking core behind Fred Warner and De’Vondre Campbell.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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Bill Belichick breaks down Mike Shanahan’s offense seen in the NFL today

Bill Belichick breaks down the Mike Shanahan coaching tree and key elements of Shanahan’s offense that are still seen across the NFL today.

Mike Shanahan has not coached in the NFL since 2013, but elements of his offense are still seen across the league today.

That’s thanks to Shanahan’s impressive coaching tree which features his son, Kyle, Sean McVay, Matt LaFleur and Mike McDaniel, among others.

During an episode of “Inside the NFL” last week, former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick broke down the Shanahan tree and two famous plays that are still used today.

Belichick started by showing a picture of Shanahan on the sideline with then-offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak at his side. Belichick then showed a stretch play with Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Terrell Davis.

“The idea is to get the ball to the outside of the defense — they get the defense to run, and if they don’t get there, then take it. And if they overpursue, then cut it back.”

Off of that stretch run, Shanahan had a famous boot play that featured a quarterback rollout.

Belichick then showed a photo of Gary Kubiak in Denver’s locker room with his son, Klint, who is now an offensive coordinator with the New Orleans Saints.

After that, Belichick showed a photo of Mike Shanahan, his son Kyle, Kubiak and former quarterback John Elway on the sideline. Belichick then showed the San Francisco 49ers — now coached by Kyle — running a stretch play (with running back Christian McCaffrey, the son of former Broncos receiver Ed McCaffrey who played under Shanahan). Then he showed a boot.

Check it out:

“You get a good back into the secondary — Terrell Davis, Christian McCaffrey, guys like that — it’s all over.”

Shanahan should be a top candidate for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame class in the coach category this fall. As Belichick’s breakdown demonstrated, Shanahan has a lasting legacy in the NFL with key elements of his offense still seen across the league more than a decade after he stopped coaching.

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Former 49ers QB can’t help Rams in Week 3 matchup

After spending six seasons in red and gold, the former 49ers quarterback will be on the opposing sideline on Sunday in Los Angeles.

On Sunday, the San Francisco 49ers will run into a familiar face on the opposing sideline in Los Angeles.

After spending six seasons with the 49ers and one with the Las Vegas Raiders, Jimmy Garoppolo is now a member of the Los Angeles Rams. Garoppolo serves as the backup to Matt Stafford in Sean McVay’s offense.

Prior to Sunday’s Week 3 contest between the 49ers and Rams, Rams offensive coordinator and former 49ers assistant coach Mike LaFleur spoke about the benefits of having Garoppolo in a matchup against the Niners.

Despite LaFleur’s outlook, Kyle Shanahan doesn’t seem too bothered by Garoppolo’s presence on the Rams’ sideline. On Friday, Shanahan told reporters he thinks the situation is “overblown.”

I think it’s way overblown. Little bit more from Mike LaFleur. That started last year though. But, no, not that much.

Via @NBCS49ers on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/NBCS49ers/status/1837251416399958523

Over six seasons with the 49ers, Garoppolo threw for 13,499 yards, 82 touchdowns and 42 interceptions. Garoppolo posted a 38-17 regular-season record with the 49ers. In 2020, Garoppolo helped lead the 49ers to the Super Bowl against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

After his time ended in San Francisco, Garoppolo signed with the Raiders. Garoppolo struggled in Las Vegas and was eventually released after starting six games.

Garoppolo joined McVay and Stafford in Los Angeles during the 2024 offseason.

The 49ers are set to meet the Rams at 1:25 p.m. PT on Sunday.

This post originally appeared on Niners Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!

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