SANTA CLARA – It was the most unique press conference at training camp in Kyle Shanahan’s 10 seasons as 49ers coach.
This was his first time stepping up to the mic inside Levi’s Stadium’s auditorium since getting seriously hurt in a July 14 car crash in Palo Alto.
To sum up his 20-minute drill, Shanahan “feels so much better” and is “doing the same stuff” after two weeks of camp. That includes a plan to coach Thursday’s preseason opener against Tennessee at Levi’s Stadium, where fresh grass was installed Saturday.
So many questions remained, however, and they vacillated in a dizzying order, even for those not suffering from concussion symptoms like him.
How is his health? How is this roster looking? Can his ears now handle AC/DC at practice? Is Nick Bosa’s absence a concern? Can Tesla’s autopilot be trusted? Who picks up the slack for Ricky Pearsall? Is Shanahan mad about causing the two-car crash?
Shanahan didn’t flinch. His signature sarcasm came through from the start with a playful jab at the media, followed by dry humor about his Ted Lasso-like mustache he soon might shave to his friends’ dismay.
Shanahan is not full speed yet, so in honor of his quest to “pick and choose” his workload, sift through these topics:
1. THE CRASH AFTERMATH
Even though Shanahan privately briefed reporters July 28 and blamed himself for his two-car collision, intrigue remains, and one not-so-overlooked aspect is his Tesla’s autopilot controls.
“Dropping a phone and it falling all the way to my backseat, to where I have to fully take my eyes off the road, is something I normally wouldn’t do,” Shanahan said. “I’ve had autopilot for nine years so I’m pretty comfortable with it. Who knows what happened when I turned around, whether it malfunctioned or I knocked it off, that’s something I don’t know yet.
“Regardless, it’s always your fault, whether you’re in autopilot or not. You can’t take your eyes off the road. It’s a partnership driving. You can’t just turn it over to a computer. It’s a good lesson that no matter how comfortable I am with it, it could someday save my life or someone else’s.”
Instead of thinking he has “zero worries” when a 20-mph car is in autopilot, he learned a “good lesson,” having veered across Alma Street’s tight median and collided with a car driven by a 21-year-old female who remains unidentified, per Palo Alto Police protocol for a non-fatal accident.
2. PHYSICAL/MENTAL FITNESS
Shanahan has attended all 11-on-11 action through nine practices, occasionally dodging deep passes as he observes 30 yards behind the defense. His broken nose, ribs and left hand are healing. The 40-odd stitches have been removed from over his right eye, so he’s shed sunglasses.
The bigger issue is his first-ever concussion. Serving as recovery thresholds were his first team meeting a week ago, then Saturday’s first press conference. “My head feels so much better,” Shanahan said. “Concussions do linger a little bit. The only things I’m dealing with now are headaches and fatigue. That’s why I’m not always on the exact same routine but I’m pretty damn close.”
3. ‘PICK AND CHOOSE’ WORKLOAD
Shanahan rightfully commended his staff and the “well-oiled machine” that’s been established over his decade here. He can do “about 100%” of important duties but said: “If I do everything, I pay for it in some ways later. So I try to eliminate stuff that is, I would say, the fake-work stuff, like talking to the media, having to break down the team every day.”
He does watch “every play on film” with coaches and relays teaching tips to players, which has been his calling card as coach. “I just try not to come in (to brief the media) every single day, because if I did, I wouldn’t be able pull off my normal routine, which is watching hours and hours of tape and going to the walk-through at night, and watching stuff after that. Eventually I’ll get there.”
4. PLAYER INJURIES
Despite some 25 players injured through nine practices, Shanahan said the biggest hit came with wide receiver Ricky Pearsall facing season-ending knee surgery after just two practices.
“Losing Ricky is a huge deal and it ties to everybody,” Shanahan said. “You hope for (De’Zhaun) Stribling, you hope for Mike (Evans), you hope for that whole crew. A lot of people have to step up. Nobody here is wired exactly like Ricky.”
Shanahan said the 49ers are merely being “smart” by not rushing Evans back from a quadriceps. Also looming is Bosa’s ACL comeback, which is idling after three practices off because of unspecified soreness.
On Bosa, Shanahan said: “He was doing great then got sore going through some individuals. You wish that wouldn’t have happened. But there’s no concern something happened or a setback. We’ll evaluate why the soreness happened.”
5. CAMP REVIEW
The 49ers aren’t practicing three straight days for any stretch this camp, and Shanahan said that “scientific” approach is intended to help bodies recover, with a “jog-through, no passing” session with following back-to-back days.
Said Shanahan: “I like our team. We came into the camp better on paper than we did last year, just with the number of rookies we depended on last year got to play more. I love the guys we’ve added this year.
“By no means do I see how we are come Week 1. We still have a lot of work. Some day we take a step forward then the next day two steps back. That’s training camp.”
And that also explains what’s happened to Shanahan’s health when he’s pushes himself too much this camp.
“After my first team meeting, I was like, ‘Perfect, I’m out of the woods, I’m good and felt that way most of the day.’ Then it hit real bad that night and the next day,” Shanahan said. “That’s how everything’s gone in this. I can’t tell you how close this is. I’m getting there. I have no doubt I’ll be there.”
PRACTICE NOTES
Brock Purdy had passes intercepted and returned for would-be touchdowns by Upton Stout and Deommodore Lenoir, the latter of whom sprinted 100 yards after his goal-line theft. … Fred Warner recovered a Patrick Taylor Jr. fumble and almost intercepted a Purdy pass for Jordan Watkins, the latter of whom drew Purdy’s wrath for an apparently wrong route late in practice. … The 49ers finished warmups and began 11-on-11 action as Roger Craig’s enshrinement speech took place at the Pro Football Hall of Fame. … Luke Farrell caught a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass from Purdy in red zone action. … Asked how he’s earning Purdy’s trust, Stribling said: “Just get open, catch the ball when it comes to me and score.”