San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen spoke to reporters on Thursday, after the team's second practice of training camp. Here is everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
DL Yetur Gross-Matos made a couple plays out there. How has his early beginnings been? What struck you about him?
"It's been great. You know, the offseason was awesome. Again, what we liked about him was he's got size and length and position flexibility, and it flashed on tape. And now you see it in drills. You didn't get as much kind of team reps. And now to come right into training camp and to have all the juices flowing, you're getting more reps, you're seeing more team stuff, you're starting to see him flash more, which is awesome, which is what we expect from him. It's still early. It's been two practices. But, we just think that the more guys that are new that come into our system, they get more comfortable, they get used to the attacking and we just think he'll just keep getting better."
Did you guys see a lot of untapped potential in him?
"Yeah, for us, for our scheme, absolutely."
Why is that?
"Just because of his size, explosiveness. You see the power that he has and the length and how he uses his hands and he's a loose athlete as well. But, to go along with the size, he's heavier than you think and he's got just really heavy hands. So when you can tie that into the explosiveness of his lower body, it fits us really well. Plus like I said, he can go inside and give you some flexibility as a rusher as well."
You mentioned that flexibility. You've had guys like Tennessee Titans LB Arden Key and Kansas City Chiefs DL Charles Omenihu. How much does having success with those guys in the past make it more projectable when you do get a guy like that?
"I think everywhere you kind of have to have those type of guys. Just like, you'll probably ask about the nickels and the corners or the nickel-safety or anyone. You need that because you don't dress 90 guys, so you have a certain amount of guys that are on your roster. So when those guys have that flexibility, you never know. You want those guys to be able to do that. They can plug in and go inside and outside. And not everybody can do it, but when they can, it's cool. It gives them added value for us, added value for our roster."
What's your early impression of DL Evan Anderson and DL Shakel Brown, the two backup defensive tackles?
"Awesome. Excited. Really getting after it. It is still early, but they haven't been here too long, but you see the power, you see the explosiveness kind of in their body. I really want to see what they can do as they grow into it. But, you've seen the athletic ability along with those heavy hands too. Brown, he's coming off an injury but you don't really notice it because he can still bend and get it and be explosive and use his hands. So we'll just see where those guys go. They're young. And they're new to our system too."
How have you seen S Malik Mustapha carry over from the offseason to the first couple days here?
"You could tell he has been studying, been working on it. It's not really like hesitant at all in the communications and being comfortable just in what he is doing back there, how he's communicating. You didn't see him do as many things in the post. He had a nice pick out of the post yesterday. He's just got good natural football instincts. But what we knew about him is that he cared. He did a lot of things and I think the next thing that's going to show up for him, he is a good tackler. He's really physical. That's the stuff you haven't seen so far because the stuff in the offseason it was seeing he's a big dude like he's swole. He's like strong, but he's got that mobility. He's got some flexibility and he moves really well too. So to see that he's got the movement skill to go along, you could see that he cares. He is putting the time into it just because how he's communicating out there and moving around."
There was an interception by CB Darrell Luter Jr. today. What did you think about his progress from last year to this year?
"It's big because with him it was the injury and then he missed a lot of time and it was like catching up. So here it's just the progress. He's got great size, length and the pick he had today was awesome. He just went up and grabbed it. He snatched it. He high-pointed it, took it. And the progress with him is using the size and length that he's got and he's been doing that. He's got the feet for it. He's built right. He's strong. He's willing. He's a willing tackler. He'll go hit. And again, just progress with him and you're seeing it."
Corner has historically not been that deep of a position group for you guys. This year, it seems like it might be your deepest. How do you evaluate that group and where everything's at there?
"I think, like you said, it's competitive. The guys that we brought in, I think it was about guys have played, but it's a mentality thing around here. You want them to be, 'okay are these 49er guys?' I think I said that in the spring too, and I think kind of everybody has talked about it. We want the guys that fit us, right? Good players. They're tough. They're going to play with the violence that we like. They love football. You can see it. And when you hear people that talk about it, if you know people, they all say good things about them. It all checks all these boxes. And then when they come it's like, 'okay, this guy is us. This guy does fit. He is a Niner.' You kind of feel like that with pretty much everybody that we've brought in. And that's what's been so exciting is the guys are working. Guess what? We've already got this core group of guys that work their butts off. Everyone knows that that comes in. They see it. And they're the same way. So it's like, 'okay, how good can we be?' And then how quick can we become to get come together and be like a unit."
What's the biggest difference you've noticed in terms of just preparation, meetings and day-to-day stuff since assistant head coach/defense Brandon Staley arrived compared to the last couple seasons?
"Well, I mean for me, I wasn't a coordinator. So, he arrived when that happened too. So, my stuff changed at the same time that Brandon changed. So, everything's different for me as far as preparations for meetings. But, Staley's been great because he's got experience. He comes from a couple different systems. And it has just helped us being able to talk through stuff."
Is there any like major schematic changes you've noticed or that you guys are, working to implement that you've had to work through since he's been here?
"Oh, no. We talk through stuff just talking football, just like I would go talk to offensive guy. But, we do what we do, and he may have some suggestions that we talk through and kind of see some things on film when we're studying tapes of other teams and stuff like that. But, it's just good to have them."
What did you think of the defensive effort today in practice? Were you pleased with it or are you ever pleased? How do you sort of evaluate practice?
"I never want to get too high or too low. You're right, that old saying of 'it's never as good as you think or as bad as you think.' That's true because you can think it's like everything's great because it's never perfect. There's always something that can be fixed. There was the effort I've liked. I want to watch the tape so you can see everybody, but I think our guys are playing hard. They're communicating really well. I think we fit the run game better today than yesterday. We've been competing outside, covering guys. I think that's been fun to watch and then competing in the rush too. So, we'll see."
How concerned are you about the depth at defensive end? Last year you guys had to bring in DL Taco Charlton and a number of guys throughout camp. Do you think you might have to do the same thing this year?
"I hope not. I like the guys that we have. I think they're all working. So, I think we have a good group."
