On RB Chris Thompson availability for Week 1:
"One hundred percent, yes I am, actually. The way he runs, he looks faster right now just watching him on tape. His burst looks like its 100 percent back. You know, only he knows how he feels as far as being 100 percent and, you know, quite frankly, football players not all of them are 100 percent anyway. You know, if you get to 90 percent, you should be pretty good. But, he looks great right now. He's still going to go through a lot for work as far as getting himself ready to play, so I anticipate he'll be ready. Now, we can also control the amount we give him on his plate, you know, early in the season also. That's a good thing. We're working, you know, Kapri [Bibbs] and Byron Marshall's in some of that role also. They're doing a great job, so we have some other options there."
On RB Derrius Guice's character following the reports before the NFL Draft:
"Quite frankly, we didn't have any questions on his character. You know, in every interview that we had with him and talked to him, we never had a concern about him at all. I think, you know, when you'll watch his college tape the year he played with [Leonard] Fournette, he was a dynamic player. We thought he might be the first player picked in the Draft. Then the last year he played, you know, he was playing through some injuries and he didn't look quite the same. I think that's probably why he fell more so than his character. So, grabbing him in the second round was obviously a great treat for us, but character was never a concern. He's been great, never been late, attentive, great attitude, always happy, happy-go-lucky and fun to be around quite frankly."
On why Guice dropped in the NFL Draft:
"Yeah I don't know if - there was five or six good backs in the draft. Now, he wasn't the only good back in the Draft. I mean, you know, you talk about [Nick] Chubb and the other kid, Sony Michel, and [Rashaad] Penny, I mean it's not like he's dropping. Those guys are good players. So it just depends on what type of back you wanted for your team. It just so happens that he was there when we picked him and we took him. So, all those guys are good players, you get drafted in the second round you're a damn good back, it's not like you're a scrub. So, this guy's a good player, and a lot of great players have been taken in the second round so we anticipate him being one of them."
On if G Shawn Lauvao's injury as affected his growth:
"I think he's a veteran guy that's been through it, I think injuries have affected us more than him. You know, every time he goes down we have to replace him. But, I think he's in a good spot, you know he's a guy that you obviously have some concerns about because of his injury history. You know and sometimes that comes back to bite you but we are not gonna worry about that so much. I think he's put himself in a position where he's in good shape, you know and hopefully his ankles and feet and shoulders and the things he's had have healed and he's ready to go. We can't anticipate another injury but - we can do a good job of - being that he's a veteran guy, taking some reps off him throughout the week and letting him rest a little bit."
On WR Maurice Harris:
"The thing about Mo is he can play any position, and he is very quarterback friendly, he's got strong hands and he's probably, he could be our best route runner on our team. He does everything exactly right, he knows how to set up a defender, he's strong enough to get away from press coverage and like I said quarterbacks love him. He's a big, long target, he's really good after the catch. So, love Maurice Harris, you know he's got Josh Doctson, obviously Paul Richardson, Jamison Crowder, you know we got Rob Davis is doing some good things, got Trey Quinn is doing some good things, Brian Quick, you know now we have Cam [Sims], Cam is doing a good job at wide receiver from Alabama, he's doing a good job, you know we have Shay [Fields], we have a pretty good group of wide receivers here that's a log jam for that fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh spot, so we'll see what happens."
On putting pressure on Guice:
"He is a confident guy now, that's not an issue there. That's - I mean, holy cow. He's very confident and I like that about a back. You have to be confident about a back. He's very powerful; he knows he's very powerful. He's very fast and he knows he's fast. So there's really no reason for him not to be confident. The big thing is we just got to get him to know what to do and be confident in the fundamentals of what tracks he's hitting, pass protection, all that good stuff. But, I think he's a guy that is just born with a gift of having great energy on a daily basis. He wakes up in the morning with a great bounce in his step and every day is the same with him. I have not seen a down day from him, you know. He might have his - he's just, I think just he's gonna be fine, quite frankly. Every day, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, whatever day we play he'll be ready."
On the expectations for LB Ryan Anderson:
"Same thing, we gotta get him healthy number one, he's had the back spasms a little bit to slow him down early. But, you know, he probably thinks he had a down year, but he didn't have a down year he plays behind Preston [Smith] and [Ryan] Kerrigan you know, so, and then we had Junior [Galette] also last year and so he's really the third, fourth guy. As a rookie, you know, I think a lot of the guys have high expectations their coming in and leading the league in sacks and tackles and force fumbles and passes batted down and all that stuff. But, in reality you gotta earn your stripes, especially if you're playing behind somebody of great quality like Ryan Kerrigan and Preston Smith. So, he'll get his work and we'll continue to work him. The big thing for him is to put practices back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back together continue to get him better, but I see steady improvement and growth from him in the weight room, his weight, his effort, so I like where Ryan's at."
On C Chase Roullier:
"Doing good, you know, it's a great test early on especially with [Daron] Payne and Jonathan [Allen] in there, and Matt [Ioannidis] and Ziggy [Hood] and all those guys you know, different guy on him every time. But, he's done a good job. He's just going to continue to get better. The more he sees the more he is going to be confident and the more he can make the calls like that and then adjust to them on the fly. So, he's the quarterback of that offensive line and he's going to need to see all the looks, so on game day, under, over, front, jam front, whatever it is he can spit out the calls effortlessly and be able to execute a lot smoother because of that. He's got a great body for center and I think he's steadily improving to be a good starting center for this organization for a long time."
On DL Tim Settle:
"Yeah, he has done well, you know, all of those guys. We've had, you know, Pip [Ondre Pipkins] was down for a little bit and we had Daron [Payne] went down, and we had another one go down. So, we had two or three guys who were missing practice, so Settle had to step in and take a lot of reps and he you know took advantage of it and that's what we expect these guys to do. That's what training camp's all about. For these young guys they have to wait their turn and when they do get their reps, their opportunity rises, they have to take advantage of it. And Tim has done a good job of that. Now it's a matter of him being consistent, putting days back to back together, and getting into games and producing in the games and being in the right spot. He's got good strength, lower body strength is excellent, and he's got a pretty good get-off, you know, for a big man which is good to see. So, continue to get him running the ball, and just watching him steadily improve with Coach [Jim] Tomsula. He's going to have the chance to be a good one too."
On the importance of special teams for the wide receivers:
"Very important you know if one guy can stand out on special teams then that's your fourth - period. You know we understand that we have to improve on special teams instead of just saying that on the podium or in meeting rooms we're gonna have to commit to it by maybe keeping somebody that is better on special teams, but maybe not quite as polished at receiver. You know a lot of teams do that but usually your fourth guy is gonna be more of a true wide receiver your fifth guy could more in that role. So we'll have to wait and see even as a backup returner, a flyer or whatever it might be.
On if WR Jamison Crowder will return punts this season:
"Yeah, why not?"
On possibly keeping running backs Kapri Bibbs, Byron Marshall, and Rob Kelley:
"Possibly Kelley? Kelley has had a great camp. I don't know if anybody has been out there, but he looks very good. So, you know what we are just going to let them keep playing. We don't know how many we are going to keep. A lot is depending on other positions, you know, how many offensive lineman we have to keep and how many tight ends, you know, are we going to keep a fullback or not. Can Rob Kelley or Samaje Perine possibly be a fullback? You know, there are other things that we still have to continue to look at. But, right now we are trying to get them in a position, let 'em go out there and compete, and then we will start to mix and mingle some of our personnel groupings of that nature and try to start figuring it out for the regular season. But, that won't start happening until probably after the second preseason game quite frankly, leading up to the third preseason game."
On LB Mason Foster:
"Yeah, he practiced yesterday, didn't he? Yeah, he just has a little sore oblique."
On WR Jamison Crowder building chemistry with QB Alex Smith:
"Well Crowder, just has a natural feel for the position and not only that, but he has great quickness. As a slot receiver you have to have great feel and understanding of man or zone. Now when you do get man-to-man you have to have the quickness to separate and he can do all of that you know that's why he is so good. And then you have to be fearless across the middle, it's one thing to get open but it's another thing catching the ball between to linebackers or having a nickel [corner] traveling and a safety coming down on you. He takes very friendly angles, he got strong hands and he is fearless, quite frankly. You can probably count all the drops he has in his career here on one hand, other than the punts, he dropped a couple of those last year. I think all that put together, his idea of man and zone, separate, quarterback friendly target, strong hands, and fearless make him for a perfect slot."
