Kyle Shanahan: 'Our Guys are Ready for Cleveland' | Press Pass

For today.

You got Aaron Banks for the shoulder, he'll be limited, Elijah Mitchell nee will not practice, and Trent and George have vet days.

Go ahead.

Probably when you check out the Brown defense, obviously Miles Garrett stands out, So I mean you faced TJ.

Why face Michael Parsons some of the best. What stands out about Miles Garrett's camp.

Just to mean he's one of the most talented guys I think anyone's seen. And the style they play on defense is very similar to ours. They rush the pastor every play and then react to everything else. Him combined with Schwartz scheme and the guys around him, it's it's a problem.

It's obvious why they're a top defense right now.

Expect Randy Gregory to play.

We'll see how he is today, say it will be the first day we see him on the field, and we'll decide that over the next three practices, not today. He spoke to some people who spoke very highly about him, which with Dan Quinn one of those guys.

Or did you talk to Dan you know after the game?

No, it wasn't right time to talk to him, But I'm sure we will lay this week on it, but guys close to him and guys that I know vouch for him, So feel good.

How's Cleveland look on the back end with Denzel Award and news of some of the guys.

They have back there.

Very good.

I mean, when you have the D line, they have the downhill linebackers, you better have some good corners, and they have very good ones. They play a lot of Mando man coverage, so mixing some zone. But when you play that much Mando Man and you're also the number one past defense in the league, you gotta have some good corners.

What do you remember about your year there?

I really liked living out there. Some good people and it was cold. My car was always dirty because snow was on the ground. A lot never melted, it seemed like. But I really enjoyed the stadium. I enjoyed the people and it was It's just it was just one year, though it wasn't very low.

Tu next Gen stats had said rock perty is four touchdowns on coming outside the tackle box. First time that's happened and in the next gen era that think since twenty sixteen? Help me, what does that mean? What's to be made at that?

I don't know.

I didn't think of that in the game. It didn't seem like they weren't all boot legs and stuff like that. I guess, you know the tackle box one. I know, the first one in Georgie stepped up and moved a little to the right and hit him going there. So but there's a lot of weird stats that I don't know about that people have these days. But when you're the first one to do it, it must be something pretty good.

If the four touchdown plays had happened just as they were drawn up, how many of those would have been outside the tackle box?

I think all four of those. I'm trying to think.

Watched a lot of films since Sunday, so I'm trying to think what all four were. I mean the two to Kittle one one was a flea flicker that was just like it was. The other one was like it was what other one to Kittle score on the goal line. One to Juice was intended for him. It's just all out pressure, so you got to run outside of there. At the fleet flicker, you had to drift away from pressure killer, you had to buy time.

And what was the fourth one?

Action left little?

Yeah, they were they were all number one. Yeah, all four of.

Them come back after uh after every game, and all of them pretty convincing and pretty impressive, and still has had plenty of stuff that you gotta work on, plenty of stuff get better. How about this game?

I mean, this game is to me the biggest challenge we've had so far. I mean thought that was gonna be Dallas too going into it, But then you look at this and you, you know, the defensive numbers just jump out. You don't see very much that they're number one or two and everything. Red zone is the only thing they're not. But that's only because I think they've had to eat plays there all year and Baltimore ran it in so that didn't help their rankings there. But

In terms of Dallas. When you look back at that game, there are coaching points to be made because it seems so impressive from the outside and even afterwards to think you thought it was your best game of the season.

It was. I mean, there's lots of coaching points. We gave the guys Monday off, so we started a day with that. We gave the coaches an hour to go through that game, and that's why we're an hour behind right now. But once we finished, I forgot about Dallas U till I got in here and our guys are ready for Cleveland.

George, how long was he here before you realize you potentially had something pretty special in that position.

We were pretty excited in training camp.

I mean you go back to like our I still remember openers versus Carolina. I think our first play we threw him a LOOKI for like thirty yards or twenty yards, and we were real excited about him in camp thought had chanced to be a real good tight end and battled some injuries, but fought through it all and we didn't know how especially be, but we knew we got to steal right away. And then I think his second

Smile at it.

You had to play in this first half where it looked like you guys did some something that dolphins do where you kind of that sprint motion right before the snap and then pretty threw a slant Ti Yuk and there was no defender within like five yards ago. Is that something that little wrinkle does that create the space and is that something that you introduced to McDaniel. McDaniel showed it and you're copying it. What's now?

The first time we saw the quick cheap motion was Miami Week one, But that's what all That's what everyone motions for.

Whether it's a quick one or went across.

It's everyone's been playing coverages for a long time, and when you move people a lot of ways, you still play the same coverages. But it's sometimes it's eye candy and you just got to make people think adjust a hair and sometimes they adjust too much. And you can create a little bit of space. But that's what one of the main reasons you do motions. But sometimes you can put people on the wrong spot and mess a play up too, So there's a very fine line with it all.

Over the offseason, I think it was at the Dwight Clark event you spoke about Christian and how he is like a gravitational force for defense is almost like Steph Curry. Over time, has he created more room, has the impact on opposing defense has changed as he's become more involved with their offense here over the past year.

I think it's about the same. I mean, he started doing it last year and he's done the same this year. I mean I feel like he was similar when he was at Carolina. Whenever you have a back who's a threat in the past game like he is, it's just and a tight end. I mean, those guys are guarded by linebackers and safeties, and it's tough to put a safety on both of them, So usually get linebackers and stuff. And when you have guys who are built to stop the run but have to stop a running back who's

Eligibles responsibility pretty early on when you got here.

How have you seen him all over the years?

Fred?

I mean, Fred has been unbelievable.

He came in.

And we got a lot un just played his rookie year.

It's been the quarterback of our building really since halfway through his rookie year and his second year he owned it. I think his second year was the year we became a real dominant defense from the super Bowl that year and each year that I think we rewarded him after that year, but each year he's only gotten better.

I mean, he's doesn't change.

He's out here every day throughout the year and very thankful to have Fred. Have been remarkably injury free, I assume you know. I mean we can meet for like three days and go over what we've done throughout seven years, cause we're always working on that stuff. Any injury that happens, we look into it and always bounce reps out and stuff. But not much has changed over the last four years. I mean subtle things, but not really.

Or first, had a pretty bad luck here with injuries, short period of time. He's in the rotation now at Cleveland. And did you formulate any opinions of him as a person as a player when he was here.

Yeah, we loved mo you know, we thought he was a really good player, just had some bad luck to two years in a row with us, had some bad luck in in Oakland.

I think he was when he was there, but yeah, he was great.

We loved moing. I wish you could have worked out for him here, but very happy for him right now.

Still in any way an issue, is there anything that you're doing?

This is what the beginning? Oh what's good to me? Yeah, there's no issues. That was a neat thing about that injury that there's lots of questions until he started throwing, which was three or four months. But all the information on that injury is once he passed that area, as long as you brought him back at the right speed most quarterbacks, once it heals.

At heels surrounding Deshawn's health and whether or not he's playing on Sunday, do you have to have two game plans?

Obviously there are a much different team if he's able to play.

No, we gotta be ready for all of them. We know they like to run the ball, we know their quarterbacks can make plays. And we'll be ready for all three though.

All right, thanks Scott,