08/08/26 03:47:00
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08/08 15:45 CDT 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan plans to coach the exhibition opener
following car crash
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan plans to coach the exhibition opener following car
crash
By JOSH DUBOW
AP Pro Football Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) --- San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said
Saturday he is nearly fully recovered from the car crash that has limited him
this summer and is ready to coach the team's first exhibition game on Thursday
night.
Shanahan has been working his way back to full speed since the car crash on
July 14 that left him with a concussion, broken ribs, a broken nose, a broken
hand and more than 40 stitches to close a cut over his eye. In his first news
conference of training camp, he said he has just a few remaining symptoms from
the concussion.
"I'm doing real good," he said. "My body feels good. Just got to get this
annoying cast off. My ribs feel good, except when I sneeze, and my head feels
so much better. Concussions do linger a little bit. The only things I really
deal with now is just headaches and fatigue. That's why I'm not always exactly
on the same routine, but pretty damn close."
Shanahan has been at practice every day this summer and said that the loud
music that bothered him at the beginning of camp is no longer an issue. He has
only addressed the full team at meetings a few times and didn't feel ready to
hold a news conference until after practice on Saturday.
But he said he has been doing the most important parts of his job and that he
will be on the sideline for the exhibition opener against Tennessee.
"One thing I haven't missed anything of is film," he said. "I watch every
single play with the coaches after with the players. I have had a few team
meetings. Normally I do it every day. But I do lose a little when I do stuff,
so I've just had to pick and choose a little bit more. But as far as the film
and everything, being out there for all the practice periods of going against
each other, those are to me the most important things in my job. I've been able
to do those every day."
The 49ers are entering a crucial part of the summer with a joint practice on
Tuesday with the Titans ahead of the exhibition opener. The Niners are
scheduled to have another joint practice the following week with the Chargers
before their second exhibition game and then wrap up the preseason on Aug. 27
against Las Vegas. The team the leaves the following week for Australia, where
the 49ers will open the season on Sept. 11 against the Los Angeles Rams.
Shanahan said he thought he would have been back at full strength sooner but is
glad he has taken the extra time. He said being patient was easier because of
the confidence he had in acting coach Chris Foerster, along with coordinators
Klay Kubiak, Raheem Morris and Brant Boyer.
"It made it really easy for me not to worry about me having to do something,"
he said. "Our guys are awesome. We have a pretty well-oiled machine. We've been
here for, this is our 10th year. Those guys made it very easy for me to not do
anything stupid."
Shanahan took the blame for the crash into a car driven by a 21-year-old woman
in Palo Alto last month, saying it happened when he reached for his phone.
Shanahan was the only person who needed to be hospitalized and police didn't
issue him a ticket for the cellphone use.
"Any time you cause an accident that can be avoided, you'd feel pretty stupid,
especially when you have a chance to hurt someone else," he said. I think you
get mad when you get a ticket at yourself. So it was kind of the same."
Shanahan said he was driving about 20 mph and his Tesla was in autopilot mode
when the crash happened but said he still shouldn't have taken his eyes off the
road when he reached behind his seat for his phone.
"I've had autopilot for nine years, so I'm pretty comfortable with it," he
said. "Who knows what happened when I turned around, whether it malfunctioned
or whether I knocked it off. That's something that I don't know yet. But
regardless, that is 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 don't just
turn it over to a computer. It's a good lesson, no matter how comfortable I am
with that, that I believe someday could save my life or someone else's."
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