Analyzing Shanahan's comments on Kittle
Mike Florio and Chris Simms analyze Kyle Shanahan's comments on George Kittle, questioning the status of the 49ers tight end and the outlook for the San Francisco head coach.
Video Transcript
Would you say- Yeah that other than Super Bowls, and let's just put the whole post-season in this bucket 'cause it's a different creature altogether, would you say this is the one game that Kyle Shanahan, more than any other in his life, wants to win?
That this is one that stands out when you throw all the- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah factors into the bucket.
Right.
Right.
This is the one.
I, I would think it's up there.
I would think it is up there.
One, as we know, friendly rivalry, great respect, McVay and Shanahan.
I mean, great.
And, and so it's important to both of them, I believe, to, to beat the other one.
Now McVay's got the, the Super Bowl ring.
Shanahan's yet to have that.
Shanahan's like, "Wait, I was, you know, I was his teacher, and damn, he got the ring and he kind of came up my coaching tree, and he's got the damn ring and I don't have it."
So there's that aspect.
And yeah, and, and McVay, listen, the one thing that's cool about McVay, and he'll tell you all the time, he praises Kyle Shanahan all the time when I'm around him.
"Man, Kyle's offense, Kyle's offense.
Oh my gosh, Kyle does this, Kyle does that."
You know, we're not, we don't operate quite like that.
So there is an incredible respect factor there.
But yeah, I would think between the Australia thing and the 49ers thinking that the Rams, you know, raised their hand to go over there and asked for the 49ers to be their opponent, yeah, this adds to it, and I would say it is probably one of the more important regular season games, probably, for Kyle Shanahan that I can remember.
Well, and look, I don't know how rattled he is by it.
I'm trying to make a connection to what I'm gonna say next.
Because the other day- Yeah he was talking about players who may or may not be available come week one, and he made a misstatement as it relates to George Kittle.
Oh, right.
And it wasn't noticed when it happened.
I saw some, I saw some chatter after the fact.
It was post-game press conference, pre-season finale, and he was mentioning guys and whether or not they'd be ready week one, and George Kittle, coming off of the torn Achilles tendon.
Kyle Shanahan said George Kittle, "who's taken a step back," and just kept going, and there was no follow-up question asked.
I don't think anybody even had it register in the moment.
It was so casual and low-key, and he just blew right past it, and afterward reporters were looking at the video and looking at the transcript, and they're like, "What Did he say Did George, George Kittle's taken a step back?"
And that's important because once he went onto the active roster a week or so ago, everybody thought, hey, he's gonna play week one despite the torn Achilles tendon.
So yesterday, Shanahan, putting the toothpaste back in the toothpaste holder as to what he accidentally said about George Kittle.
Here he is.
So I don't know exactly what I said there, but it was probably just me not speaking right.
I was, he's, George has been great.
He's passing everything.
You know, we're just getting him out first time with the team in these three days, and anytime you come back out and practice with the team going against people and stuff, I hope there's not a setback in that way.
That has nothing to do with his injury or anything.
That just has to do with him coming and practicing for these three days.
So there was no, there was nothing that, I meant to say that people looked into.
It was, if I did say that, it was an accident, so And look, I get it, I understand, but he said, "George Kittle, who's taken a step back."
He said, "Who's taken a step back."
Sure.
Sure.
And I gave him the benefit of the doubt.
Yeah.
I don't know whether that means he's taken a step back toward playing or whether or not he's taken a step back toward not playing.
I don't know.
It cried out for follow-up, and I'm not finding fault with the press corps.
Stuff happens.
You're all working, you're de- look, and, and it's just, it was so nonchalant when he said it, I don't expect anybody to- Yeah jump up and say, "Hey, whoa, whoa, hey, hang on there, Kyle."
Right.
But I don't know that If I'm Kyle, aren't you at least curious?
What the hell did I say?
Wha- why does, why does Florio have this annoying headline- about me possibly saying George Kittle has taken a step back?
Can we go see what I said?
Yeah.
So that's what's weird to me.
He acts like he didn't go see what he said.
Wouldn't you wanna see what you said?
Especially as you're recovering from a concussion and you're looking for any sign whatsoever of behaviors m- that may not be normal, saying something and have no recollection of saying it, I'm not trying to be smart here.
Yeah.
It increases the reason to wanna go see, what did I say?
Yeah.
What- Like, what, do, do I not remember what I'm saying?
Did I say that?
I didn't mean to say that.
Why would I say he's taken a step back if I don't know whether or not he's taken a step back?
I would wanna know it.
I'd wanna see it.
I, I, I'm, listen, he, he's, he's all over, you know, everything, and I would think people told him and said, "Hey, yeah, you said this."
I'm sure Lynch told him.
His wife might have told him, right?
And he's probably like, "What?"
So yeah, he didn't go back to look at it.
And you know, when I saw the quote too, originally and all that, I just thought, I kind of took it at first of like, yeah, Kittle practiced, and now he's gotta, like, take a day off 'cause he pushed it farther than, than he had ever before.
That's kind of how I took it, but obviously I don't even know.
That's not what he meant by that.
Kittle sounds like he's gonna be a go.
But then again, there's another guy.
We're just, we don't know, and it's dicey, and we hope he stays healthy and does well.
But all of a sudden it's like, hey, you haven't done anything.
You're recovering from a major surgery, injury, and we're gonna throw you out there in Australia against the, maybe the best team in football.
And again, that's just part of ag- what y- what I'm tuned in for, is there's just so many storylines in this, and I think that's what's gonna be amazing.
I mean, they got that.
You got, one of the things they got that we didn't bring up before that's interesting is they got a left guard who's starting, and he's a rookie, and his first game he's gonna go, "Holy shit, Aaron Donald's lined up in front of me."
But on the other side of that story, they're one of the few teams in football that have a left tackle that'll go, they'll go, "Hey, our left tackle can, can block Myles Garrett by himself."
Like, he might lose a few plays here and there, but Trent Williams can block Myles Garrett.
We know that.
They've had pretty good success against Myles Garrett when he was in Cleveland.
So that's where, again, there's just a lot of interesting little storylines about this one, and, of course it being a divisional rival, like you said, and McVay and Shanahan, it just makes it even spicier.
