Shanahan Recaps Week 4 vs. Jaguars, Looks Ahead to ‘Thursday Night Football’

Head coach Kyle Shanahan met with reporters on Monday to review the San Francisco 49ers Week 4 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The 49ers took their first loss on Sunday, falling one score short to the Jaguars and now stand 3-1. The head coach provided early injury updates and shared what’s ahead on a short week before “Thursday Night Football.”

Shanahan said the team is still evaluating several players following Sunday’s game. Quarterback Brock Purdy reported toe soreness the morning after, wide receiver Ricky Pearsall is being checked for a knee injury, and Jauan Jennings is dealing with sore ribs. With a Thursday night matchup just days away, Shanahan shared that timing adds urgency.

“Anytime guys are sore and hurting on a Monday, you usually don’t stress too much about it. But, anytime you have a Thursday game, it’s a totally different element. So yeah, I’m concerned with anybody who’s not totally healthy at this moment, but we’ll have to get more information on that later today to really kind of have a clue of what to speculate.”

Purdy finished the game completing 22 of 38 passes for 309 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. He showed flashes in his first game back in his starting role, but also missed on a few of throws, which Shanahan acknowledged were throws Purdy would want to clean up.

“There’s a couple throws I think he’d like to have back. A few throws that were a little high, one a little low to Jauan, the one in the red zone. They also made a couple big throws too and catches… We point out mechanics on every play, so mechanics go in and out. Sometimes that can be overcompensating for an injury. Sometimes it’s just how you set your body and moving in the pocket and always trying to get your body in a position to have the right mechanics. So, there’s a lot of factors that go into it. That possibly could be the toe or possibly could be like any other day in the NFL.”

The 49ers are averaging just 3.3 yards per carry through four weeks, which is uncharacteristic for San Francisco’s run game. Shanahan connected the struggles to the lack of explosive runs.

“If you don’t have any run over 20 yards on the year and you don’t have any explosive runs in that game, I don’t think we got any over 11 yards, you’re going to have that yards per carry when it’s like that. We’ve got to break a big one. And that entails everyone. That includes the play calls, that includes guys blocking on the perimeter, includes guys blocking inside, and it includes our runners creating.”

On a positive note, wide receiver Demarcus Robinson made his season debut and came up with a key 20-yard catch for a first down. Shanahan praised his effort while noting there’s room to grow as the offense looks to get its full receiving corps healthy and in rhythm.

“I thought that was a huge catch he made over the middle. I thought he did some good things and there’s some things he needs to clean up also. Just getting back into this, his first week practicing with us. And I think that’s kind of been the biggest thing with our receivers. We’re going into our fifth week and we haven’t had one week of practice with our three guys. So, hopefully we can get some consistency with those guys. And I know this is his first chance getting back and hopefully we can stack up some weeks together with our group. But, it has been tough with our injuries and him being out.”

The pass rush wasn’t able to consistently disrupt Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, but Shanahan credited Jacksonville’s quick passing attack and blocking schemes. Cornerback Darrell Luter Jr. stepped in for the injured Renardo Green and impressed with a big third-down stop on a run by Jacksonville’s Bhayshul Tuten, bringing him down for a 1-yard loss.

“I thought Luter did a good job coming in. Had a real big play on third-and-one. Had one penalty I know he’d love to have back, but I thought Luter came in and did a solid job.”

Rookie corner Upton Stout also nearly came up with an interception but was flagged for pass interference. Shanahan shared that it was a tough break but understandable.

With a short week, Shanahan emphasized the importance of rest, recovery, and walkthroughs as the team works to get healthier. That preparation leads into a Week 5 ‘Thursday Night Football’ matchup against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium.