SANTA CLARA – Tapping into coach Kyle Shanahan’s mind isn’t just beneficial for the 49ers’ offense. Their defense was rapt with attention Thursday when Shanahan explained the exploits of Lamar Jackson, the featured guest when the Baltimore Ravens arrive at Levi’s Stadium on Monday night.
“I definitely pay attention when he’s talking,” Nick Bosa said. “You get all the perspectives from the defensive-side people, but hearing what they might be planning (from an offensive angle) against you is good, and there’s so many coaches in this league know stemming from what he does.”
Shanahan, before their first practice each week, addresses the 49ers with a “What It Takes To Win” segment.
“He does a great job of illustrating exactly what their offense does, exactly who Lamar Jackson is,” linebacker Fred Warner said. “Through the tape, he puts together different plays, and he showed us exactly who he was and how amazing he is, the run ability, the throws, and then letting us know what will be required to hold that back and try to get him off-tilt just a little bit to put it in our favor.”
The 49ers and the Ravens are both 11-3 and atop their conference standings. For the 49ers to win No. 12 on Christmas night, they must conquer Jackson, widely seen as Brock Purdy’s chief competition for NFL MVP honors.
Last month, the 49ers overcame their biggest obstacle in the Eagles’ mobile quarterback Jalen Hurts.
“That was him,” Bosa said in crediting Shanahan’s insights. “He’s the head coach, so if he sees something in the defensive game plan in the beginning of the week that he doesn’t like, he’s changing it, and it goes down the line from there.”
Both Bosa and Warner raved about how well Shanahan emphasizes what the defense might face.
“He just knows football,” Bosa said.
“One of the best minds I’ve been around, and a great teacher,” Warner added.
Shanahan obviously learned a ton from his father, Mike, a two-time winning Super Bowl coach with the Denver Broncos after serving as offensive coordinator on the 1994 49ers’ championship team.
When the younger Shanahan entered the NFL 20 years ago as a Tampa Bay Buccaneers assistant, he rounded out his knowledge by sitting in defensive meetings and taking notes.
“He can teach it from both sides,” Warner said, “because he obviously has an offensive mind, but he knows what hurts offenses as well and what he hates going against. As a defender, you want to know what those things are.”
Added Bosa: “He does a really good job of describing exactly what we need to emphasize. He goes through it all.”
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In a typical week when games are on Sundays, Shanahan and his staff unveil the game plan on Wednesday, then work on third-down and short-yardage situations Thursday, with the red zone refined on Friday before a short dress rehearsal in Saturday’s walk-through practice.
“There’s times where something will come up or we’ll see something different on a Saturday, which is very rare, but sometimes it does where we’ll have to tweak some things,” Shanahan said. “But usually the change comes in the games, when we see some things we weren’t anticipating.”
Until kickoff, the 49ers anticipate all, and learn from the School of Shanahan.
