New 49ers DC Raheem Morris details first impressions of defense at training camp
San Francisco defensive coordinator Raheem Morris speaks to the media at 49ers training camp on Monday at Levi's Stadium.
New 49ers DC Raheem Morris details first impressions of defense at training camp originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Video Transcript
Some changes being made and guys having to adjust to it because they go on.
It's a lot of fun being a part of like, you know, a new organization and watching how these guys practice.
You know, we watched a little bit in OTA days, but obviously the speed is different, the tempo is different.
There's different ways, you can't really compete in those situations, but now it's starting to be competitive.
And you start to see that competitive spirit, particularly from our linebacker position with the two guys that lead there, and it just kind of spreads throughout the defense.
So it's like really fun to watch a player-led team do player-led things.
Corey just informed us that, Ramello Hyde had cramps.
Yes.
When, when you first saw him go down, were you concerned about him?
No, I s- I had Fred over there with the helmet.
I just reached to him and asked him, did he have What was that?
Was that just cramps?
And he gave me the thumbs up, so I knew right away.
So there was no real concern from that standpoint from those guys telling us.
I knew that would be a question when he got carted off, but obviously he had some real severe cramps.
He's going in to get ready, get them out.
Can you kind of speak to what you saw from him, you know, throughout the off-season program, and obviously the pads haven't gotten on, but what, what's kind of been your impression of him?
You know, a guy with a high capacity, you know, obviously a guy with great energy.
He brings a lot of, juice to us and brings some things to us that we, that we needed, that we got, went out and got in the draft.
Really pleased with what he's done so far.
You know, obviously as always, you know, kind of putting the cart before the horse when you talk about, you know, upfront people before they actually play the game, but he's done a nice job for everything that he had to test right now.
So according to his tests and the markers that he's asked, been asked to meet, he's met those markers.
Raheem, what does, what does Worth and, and Nick Martin look like to you so far?
Larry?
Yeah, young Larry's done a great job.
You know, talking about a guy that gives us some length and guy that gives some kind of size in that position group and gives some really good athleticism.
And then obviously Nick, you know, we know what he is with the speed.
We know what he is with the element of doing some things.
So like getting him out there, giving those guys a chance to go out there and compete I think has really been good.
So like I'm very pleased with, with everybody.
Be, I'd be hard pressed to come up here and tell you I'm disappointed in anyone in particular.
I'm really excited about the group.
I'm really excited about the learning curve.
I'm really excited about where we're going.
Are you, evaluating the whole secondary?
There's, you got a lot of options.
You have a lot of guys back, but it seems like you're taking a look at everybody.
It really feels like a great problem.
You know, you, you never have enough great secondary players.
You never have enough good secondary players, never have enough, you know, competition.
And I think, you know, our scouting department, you know, John Lynch and everybody involved in that whole area has really got a, done a nice job of bringing people in to compete.
You know, done a nice job in the draft over the past couple of years.
And the guys that are already here, you know, obviously you got some vets and pros, some highly competitive people, highly competitive men, that you enjoy watching every single day.
How did you kind of digest the news about, about what happened to Kyle, and what's the last couple few days been like here just getting everything organized and going?
You know, really, you digest it, first as a friend and foremost, and then you kind of, you know, take it in and you're really thankful, right?
You just kind of sit back and, you know, you, you, you hope for the best and, and you, you're thankful that it, that it wasn't worse.
And then you watch them bounce back and be able to do things they're able to do, and you want them to ease back into it, and then you become like this caring figure, right?
Of just take your time.
You got great leadership amongst the coaches.
You got great player-led team.
You got people that's been around here for the last, you know, ten years with him that know exactly what he wants and what he demands.
And, and all the new guys like myself, you know, we had caught up pretty quickly.
And, it's nice to be around that type of a group.
It's nice to be around that type of a, you know, organization just in general, ought to be able to get those things done.
So now he, he's doing whatever he needs to get done to get ready, which we know he will, and he's very capable of doing that.
You haven't worked with Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw together before, but you've, I'm sure you've watched them.
What have you seen from them so far just being back together?
It's a lot of fun being on their side.
You know, you know, going against those guys, you know, is always something that you were concerned with.
You know, how fast they play, how violent they play, the things they're able to do, from a communication standpoint and a physical standpoint.
That's always awesome.
But watching those two communicate with each other in the huddle and the energy that they bring every single day to not only just the, the field, but the meeting room, the building, the presence, the, the ideas, the thought process.
It's really fun to go into the linebacker room and, and be a fly on the wall.
You sit in the back and every once in a while you get a question.
A- and those two are gonna give you high level, questions.
Not the, "What are we supposed to do?"
You know?
It's more of the, you know, "What is this for?"
And that, and that is really intriguing when you're talking about a coach and being able to communicate that way with the guys.
To drill down more in the secondary, are you getting intel as far as your safety battle is concerned?
I know it's early, but are you starting to get that?
You know, let's, let's be honest.
It's the second day of practice.
They've all looked, you know, the part.
You know?
They've all done some really good things.
You know, obviously there's always gonna be corrections.
That's what you need coaches for, right?
And that's what we're out there for, and, and that's the really good part.
But it is a lot of fun to watch guys compete at a very high level.
You're talking about Take, you're talking about Zeke, you're talking about Malik.
You're talking about some of the young guys that we brought in.
You know, Ashton just being brought in.
You know, there's some young guys here that's done some really good things and like, you know, moving people in the back and, you know, see Nick back there a little bit.
Excuse me, Saruan back there a little bit and like, you know, watching guys be able to compete at a very high level is a lot of fun.
How excited are you to unleash Nick Bosa this season?
You know, again, another guy you happen to be on his team, you know, finally.
Like to watch that guy and what he's able to do, the amount of power he plays with, the speed, the presence.
You know, he's one of the calmest players I've ever been around in my life.
And he brings like this certain ease and this certain ability to move, you know, just effortlessly every single day.
So like the excitement to be able to call him when he goes out there, and obviously he's just doing a couple things.
He's limited and working his way back, but he looks excellent and, that's, that's always a good sign for us.
What's the difference- A little more?
What's the difference between the, the weak side linebacker spot and the strong side as far as traits that you want to see in your, in your players?
You know, you know, obviously, a little bit different the way you speak, you know?
It's probably like, you know, the Mike has all the similar characteristics that you think about, right?
Just think of Fred, right?
And then you're talking about the weak side linebacker with the ability to move and have the ability to be moving, you know, like a Greenlaw, and all the traits that he possesses in coverage and some of the different things.
And then you're talking about that other guy that's gonna be out there that has the ability to be able to move in space, be able to play in the four down front, be able to play in the five down front, be able to do different things.
So like the versatility of those guys, is absolutely phenomenal and it's, it's a lot of fun.
So like we just asked about a couple different guys that look different than what we had with Fred and, you know, Larry and then Nick, right?
Completely two different looking guys, but to be able to move those guys around, the interchangeable pieces to go out there and be able to get those jobs done, I think that's what's the most fun about it all.
Does Nick- Somebody's getting fined.
Who got a fine?
The, the Nick Speed, you know, i-is that sort of the asset for him at, when he's lining up at that strong side spot?
You know, it's hard to say that, man.
A lot of these guys-- We got some fast guys.
You know, Fritz is pretty fast.
You know, Greenlaw's fast.
I don't know what the actual timed speeds were, but like, when they play, they play fast.
You know, Nick is one of those guys that can run fast, time fast, move fast.
So his speed should be an asset for him to go out there and play.
You know, Dugger ran really well.
You know, there's a bunch of different guys out there.
Tatum.
You know, these guys play fast, they run fast, they do really good things.
You know, Walulegne.
There's-- I can name all those guys and they've all stood out in some form or fashion.
When-- Larry, all, all of them.
I mean, really everybody that gets the opportunity.
Gif.
Everybody gets an opportunity to go out there and play.
They play at a very high level, and they communicate at a very high level.
You got some real adults in that room.
That is a-- I, I was just telling John and Kyle the other day, "You guys are spoiled," having these type of linebackers in the room, and having the ability to be able to do that with these guys and communicate at that high level.
Rahim, what does Jack Jones bring to your DB room?
Play making.
You know, you know, obviously, Jack Jones has been known as a playmaker, and he's also been known to give up some, right?
So like, it's like you have the ability to get him out there and teach him some fundamentally sound things, and be able to have him take advantage of his tools and his assets to have ball skills and catch the ball and score.
And, and he certainly brings that.
He's done that throughout his career.
He's been a, he's been marvelous with that, and he's done a nice job since he's been here.
So, I really look forward to watching him continue to grow.
You say that.
Do you-- Like, how much of a, a, priority is it for you guys to figure out, you know, when to take those shots, when, when to take the risk?
That's, that's the biggest key, right?
When you play corner in this league, there's always gonna be play ops, so to speak.
Then you gotta learn your play ops, and you gotta take advantage of them.
And he's one of those guys that can take advantage of them.
And if you give him more coaching, you give him more because you know when it's time not to take those ops, he won't.
You know?
But if you're out there guessing all the time, you take some ops that aren't necessary.
When you can take the ops and you get those opportunities, that's how you make plays, you know.
You know, making plays is just, you know, technique and opportunity meeting, and, he's one of the better ones at it when he's in those meeting rooms listening to it.
Bringing some new things to this defense, I mean, Trent was pretty candid.
He's faced a certain kind of defense all these years in camp, and now it looks a little bit different.
How have the returners on defense, the early impressions of how they've adapted and, and taken that, some of the new stuff that you're employing?
Yeah, that really sounds like a question for those guys, you know?
But like, I really think these guys, they love football.
That, that's the common theme around here.
You know, the common theme with the guys that we have on our, our roster and just, they're obsessed, right?
So like, they, they crave more information, they crave energy, they crave the ability to go out there and learn every single day.
And, and it's not like this is not like my defense, right?
This is like the defense we're building that's built, built for the Niners and what we've already had in place, you know, what we've done or what they've done, what I wanna be a part of, and, and, and move on, move forward from there.
What do you want to see from Renardo Green in this camp?
He's shown it, you know.
He's shown the ability to go out there and play, you know, at an elite level from off, from bump.
He's shown ability to be able to take it from the classroom to the field.
He made a big time play today.
He is, he's shown up in a big way.
He showed up at OTA days.
He's exciting.
He's got great length, he's got great ball skills, he's got all the ability in the world.
And now it's, you know, now as, as you say, time to go out there and do it.
So like, you know, let him keep continuing to do and continue to grow and continue to play, and I think you get the best out of players.
What are the benefits of a five-man front as opposed to the four-man front that we may have been more accustomed to?
It's hard to say benefits, right?
But you're just talking about di-different ways that dictate what you want on offense, right?
It's like you get certain runs in a, in a, in a four down front.
You get-- That you know you're gonna get and you gotta fit up.
You know, you get certain runs in a five down front that you know you gotta run, you gotta fit up, right?
You open up more things in the, in the passing game when you go to the five-man front.
You, you create some versatility with some different people.
So it's just like the benefits and what are the advantages and what you wanna be able to do with those things just based on who you're playing and what you're playing, and you give yourself some real options and some different things of that nature.
So, to be able to mix those things in like most of the league's doing right now, is a lot of fun, you know.
Did it a bunch last year and, and Robert Saleh did it last year, started to mess around with it a little bit and, we'll mess around with it some, and we'll do some different things.
But we got, we got what we got, and you gotta take advantage of the players you have and, and do those things the right way.
