[Fuller]

Things discussed:

• Injury updates on Chris Evans and Karan Higdon
• Tru Wilson coming into his own
• Christian Turner's progress
• Ben Mason wants to bludgeon people

[After THE JUMP: The running backs are pretty, pretty good]

 

 

[Note: I've been feeling a little under the weather, so thanks to The Daily's Mark Calcagno for providing audio from Wednesday]

 

(Chris) Evans, will he be available?

 

“That’s what we expect.”

 

Was it a cramp for Chris?

 

“Just a little, I don’t know the medical term, like a tweak, strain type of thing.”

 

Talk about Tru (Wilson) a little bit, and what he’s done this fall

 

“Just being himself really. He’s approached everything with pretty remarkable consistency. Fixing mistakes, improving techniques, and with great effort, physicality, just goes at it every day and steadily gets better and better. Whenever you really challenge him with something, to improve on, or area to grow, inevitably, you see it show up. And if you do that over months, or years, the results are gonna be pretty good and everyone’s getting to see that now.”

 

What about the courage it takes to approach a pass rusher the way he does?

 

“A little bit reckless, there’s certainly courage to it, contact courage, some wrestling background. He’s got a family of boys, everyone — I think they roughhouse quite a bit, so, he’s certainly fearless and that’s to his benefit on the field.”

 

To do it as a walk-on, his background and everything else, what’s that been like to see as a coach?

 

“It’s awesome. Just, you feel happy for his success and the sacrifices he makes, and all the hard work he puts in. I think it’s just, whenever you see a guy have as hard a work (ethic), it’s gratifying cause that’s what you preach, that’s what you tell everybody, and so, all the different examples of it on the team, you — it’s great to see. You know that it’s an inspiration to the guy a year or two younger than him, going through that same journey, that same process.”

 

What are Christian Turner’s strengths as a running back and do you see him maybe getting some time?

 

“Definitely see him getting some time at some point. He plays really, really fast. He’s a guy who isn’t the fastest guy ever — he’s fast — but he plays at tip-top speed. Which is not the most common thing, so you’re really getting a guy who plays fast with great feet, really good feel. He’s tough. He’s a — he’s not super big yet, but he plays bigger than his size. Really aggressive, really hard-nosed kid and approaches everything with a great attitude.”

 

How much weight do you wanna see him put on? You say he’s not super big yet

 

“Not that he’s lacking, I just mean he plays bigger than his size, with his willingness to throw himself in there and make contact. In terms of a projected weight, I don’t know, we’ll see how he grows, how mature, he’ll end up being five or 10 pounds heavier in a year or two.”

 

Tru’s pass pro, with all the backs I guess, you mention their willingness to stick their nose in their of course, but how much of it also is reacting in time, or mental discipline, or knowing where to go, or who to pick up? Cause there have been times where he’s peeled off and made a block … what is the balance there of what you teach in terms of being able to be reactionary in live situations?

 

“Yeah, that’s a thoughtful question. I would say that there’s, with every position, half of it is technical and fundamentally, ‘Ok, I’m being told how to do this, can I execute this job?’ And then there’s another half, or maybe more of it that’s like, as you’re saying, reactionary football instincts, being a football player, being able to, at game speed, recognize and get a job done. That’s tough to coach. The best thing you can do for that is to put them in that situation and try to make your drills game-like, really practice at game speed so that when things happen in practice, that Chris had in the game where he took a D-lineman and was able to kinda chip a guy, then Mike Onwenu came back, it’s a situation where him being fast and able to react might have saved the day on that particular play. So that type of thing is hard to coach, you just hope that you’re getting reps that are helpful in practice, and then you’re recruiting guys that are football smart and instinctive.”

 

What is the mental approach that Ben Mason brings to games?

 

“Just, smash everything. He wants to bludgeon people and do it really fast, and he’s relentless.”

 

He’s pretty good at it

 

“He is good and he’s getting better. He’s not a guy, you give him something to improve and two or three things to focus on, he’ll relentlessly work at it.”

 

How much do you guys appreciate him, when you’re watching film, I mean, it’s fun film to watch, right?

 

“No doubt. We appreciate that brand of football around here.”

 

Are you guys sharing VanSumeren like you are with Hassan (Haskins)? The linebackers

 

“We’ve talked about it. Right now, we’re not, but we certainly could in the future.”

 

What did you like about the production you were getting from Karan (Higdon) and Chris? Obviously Karan didn’t play last week, but when those two are available

 

“I love it, just because it’s two guys who have a ton of experience, you have a guy back there with either of them who you can trust. They’ve seen a lot of things, lot of times in games, unusual things — you may get a defensive look that you’re not accustomed to or we didn’t necessarily expect or prepare for, maybe the team hasn’t showed it. Those guys keep their cool. Mentally, they can adapt and adjust pretty quickly. So that’s nice. You know that they’re gonna take care of the ball pretty well, that’s certainly something that puts you at ease a little bit. The great thing is, as Tru accumulates game reps, you start to build that type of trust in him and inevitably with that position, you have to play with the second and third guy, the third and fourth guy, so if you have those accumulated reps and that trust, it’s really a nice thing as a coaching staff.”

 

With Karan out last game, is that what you think you missed most on offense?

 

“I thought the other guys did a great job filling in. You certainly always are gonna miss having him, because he’s pretty darn good at everything, so the way that he hits holes and the aggressiveness he runs with is a little bit different. I don’t think any of our guys play at that same speed and violence. But Chris and Tru and O’Maury (Samuels) all bring something special to the table that maybe Karan doesn’t have. So either way, you’re going to get a nice balance. You always miss a guy like him.”

 

Did you like what you saw from O’Maury? And what have you seen from him in the first several months, or first few months?

 

“Loved what I saw in the game. He was playing fast, he’s a guy who has really come a long way and is learning to play at that full speed. His game speed is actually matching his time speed, in a 40, which is really nice. That’s a sign of him being comfortable, him being able to be himself and not hesitate, not worry at all. So seeing that really makes you feel good as a coach, and just looking to see it continue and see his role expand.”

 

How different are the backs saying the offensive line — this offensive line — is, running behind, versus last year?

 

“What do they think?”

 

Yeah

 

“I’m not sure. You’d probably have to ask them that, in terms of what, how they see it.”

 

Are you seeing something different on film though? Are you seeing that holes are (opening)?

 

“I would say that there’s some — because we do a little bit less schematically, we’re probably a little more proficient across the board. So there’s some trust there, and they just build a rapport with the O-line in terms of understanding how a look is gonna be blocked up, and a little bit of what to expect. ‘Hey, ok, I see this defensive look, I would expect the ball to go in this place or that place.’ So, I think there’s a level of trust that builds in that regard, because we have a little bit more consistency in scheme. And the players knowing, ‘Ok, it’s 2nd and 1, we’re gonna run the ball, this is the play we’re gonna run.’ Or, ‘It’s 4th and 1, this is the play we’re gonna run.’ So, I think that type of trust comes with that consistency and the amount of scheme that you put in.”

 

A lot of conversation this week, Jim (Harbaugh) talked a lot about the targeting … what is your view of that?

 

“I would just say that it’s very difficult for a player to, when he’s trying to run the ball or tackle the ballcarrier, that’s really hard to be aggressive and play a game the way it’s meant to be played, and keep your head out of it. I think the spirit of the rule is to make the game safer and penalize people for endangering other players unnecessarily, and I think that there’s situations in the game that need to be addressed in terms of times guys are being hit when they truly don’t need to be. I think it’s important — it’s hard — but it’s important to look at, what was the intent of the player? Did he really have an opportunity to avoid that type of collision or not? I feel like that part of it really needs to be considered.”

 

Just wanna be clear on Karan and Chris, have they practiced fully so far this week?

 

“Yeah, Karan has practiced fully and Chris has practiced fully for what we’ve asked him to do. He’s been going, it just hasn’t, maybe not the same amount. He did a little bit yesterday and then we’re building up as we go, as he comes off that tweak.”

 

So you don’t think he’ll be limited on Saturday?

 

“I wouldn’t expect him to. We’ll see.”