- 2 weeks ago
Willard and Dibs react to what John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan told the media earlier today about the 49ers' key injuries and explain why they're actually healthy despite all the drama.
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00:00But the Niners are out there right now on some level, whether it's on the side or whatever.
00:05George Kittle and Nick Bosa are participating.
00:09Mike Evans is doing work on the side, but they're not quote-unquote full participants.
00:15I have a statement I'd like to make about this in a general sense, but let's get to the Kittle
00:19and the Bosa of it all.
00:21Here's a question that's popping around in my head.
00:25It's not necessarily, I don't find it relevant to my way of thinking, but we don't all have the same
00:30way of thinking.
00:32So, if you're telling the audience, George Kittle needs to do X this week in order to show that he
00:41can play next week, and so does Nick Bosa.
00:45Is there anybody out there that's like, well, then just don't play them?
00:51If you're a week out and you're still trying to cross hurdles, then just wait.
00:59It's just one game, and it's a really long, awful-sounding plane flight.
01:04Okay, I mean, then you're going to wait, so then how do you get about figuring out if they're ready
01:10for week two?
01:11You would go, and if you wait, then you're not going to even have them practice at all this week,
01:15and you're just going to say, you know what, you're not going, we're going to shut you down, but you
01:19need to ramp them up.
01:20So, you get to week two, and you mentioned you fly back after the game, and you land, and you
01:26have a couple days off,
01:27and then you get ready for your week two ramp up.
01:29And so, at that point, do you then try to put them out there and have them play?
01:33So, two things.
01:35One, I'm not saying don't practice them this week.
01:37You can do exactly what you're doing.
01:39But to me, this is sort of just like a heat check on where people sit on this.
01:44The reason I said it's not relevant to my way of thinking is I'm with you.
01:49Like, I don't really even understand all the fear about all of this.
01:55Football players, you're ready?
01:57Play football.
01:58Let's go.
01:59Sure, they could get hurt.
02:01Sure, they could get hurt.
02:02So could the healthy guys.
02:04So, I'm not really worried about it.
02:07And here's the statement I'll make.
02:09And I swear, I am Tom Hanks in castaway on this one.
02:14I am on an island.
02:16It is me and my volleyball.
02:19But here it is.
02:21I am thrilled with where the 49ers are at health-wise right now.
02:26Thrilled.
02:28I don't know that two months ago you could have pitched to me that it would be like this.
02:34And here's what I mean by that.
02:36I already knew George Kittle and Nick Bosa were coming back from major injuries.
02:41The fact that they've got a shot, and apparently a really good one, to be ready for Australia.
02:48George Kittle.
02:49Australia, people.
02:51That was not on anyone's bingo card.
02:55When we heard about the Achilles, yeah.
02:57So, I'm not trying to tell everyone that their health is perfect, because I don't think perfect ever happens with
03:03a football team.
03:04You know, Michael Williams is not ready for four games.
03:07Okay.
03:07Okay.
03:08I can wrap my head around that.
03:09But if you're telling me that Bosa's got a great shot, and Kittle's got a great shot,
03:14and knock on wood, I know there are three more practices, but they have made it through to this point
03:20of camp
03:21without anybody going down with anything major.
03:25Other than Ricky Pearsall, right?
03:26If you want to count that, because it was kind of upon arrival, but yes.
03:29Can you count it?
03:30Yeah, sure.
03:30Go ahead and count it.
03:31It seems like ancient history now, how long ago that's been.
03:34Exactly.
03:34You know, you're nagging things, Poonie, in and out of protocol, but a bunch of guys are coming back today.
03:41Today, the ones who are hurt, like the Jacob Cowling one, that's annoying, that's frustrating.
03:47But right now, sure, Pearsall's out for the year.
03:52Mike L's on the pop list, but you're telling me 10 days before the game, you basically can't rule anyone
03:58else out?
03:59At this point, yeah.
04:01I mean, some of those guys you can't rule in, but you still have a healthy 10 days to go
04:06until you actually play.
04:07And that's a football team.
04:08Like, there's always some guys.
04:09There's always a list.
04:10There's always a list.
04:11That's omnipresent.
04:12So, I know that that's going to sound super harebrained, but we all kind of have a starting point.
04:19Whatever your starting point is, that's your perspective.
04:21And if two months ago, you had offered me this, I'd have been overjoyed.
04:28Right now, what you're offering is there's a chance that Kittle can play, and there's a chance that Bosa can
04:33play.
04:34And it's more than zero.
04:35It's less than 100 that they're going to be able to play.
04:37But it feels like it maybe even is greater than 50-50.
04:41Kind of sounds like that.
04:41Hard to really tell.
04:42And we'll see how they make it through today, tomorrow, and then Wednesday's the big decision if they, in fact,
04:48go or not.
04:48And just listening to what Kyle said earlier, it seems like they both are going to go almost no matter
04:54what because you want them there with the training staff.
04:57Even if they can't necessarily play, if they can't be ruled in or out, I do think you bring them
05:02anyway.
05:03That way, they're in the meetings and they're there for the training staff as well.
05:06I mean, I'd add to that statement that the idea of Kittle and Bosa not playing, it sounds like something
05:13sort of negative would have to happen between now and then for them to not play.
05:18In other words, they're like, they're totally on the schedule that we set for them.
05:23Now, we see over these next three days how their body reacts.
05:27And if their body continues to feel like it does right now, they're in.
05:31And something sort of negative in terms of an inflammation or tendinitis or something, one of those words is going
05:40to have to pop up to set them back a little bit.
05:43And it certainly could.
05:44But I'm with you.
05:46Like, hearing their words today, I got both of them at better than 50-50 shot.
05:51And I think both of them are going to be on the plane and, you know, maybe they need to
05:56go through two or three practices down under in order to get all the way ready to where you're going
06:01to roll the dice and put them out there.
06:03Because it is a very long season.
06:05It's 18 weeks, 17 games.
06:07And so you can be conservative.
06:09And they have, through camp, they've been very conservative, resting guys, Mike Evans again.
06:14Like, Mike's going to play.
06:15But there have been a bunch of practices, more practices than not, that he has set out.
06:20And that's fine.
06:21The guy's a veteran.
06:22Yep.
06:23We got what Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch just said about all this.
06:26We'll play it for you in a second.
06:28I always love that you're my partner, but especially when moments like this come up.
06:32Because you're a fact guy.
06:34You're an info guy.
06:35You know things.
06:36Your brain holds on to stuff that a lot of us let just dissipate.
06:41Grudges.
06:41Turn into a dissipation sensation.
06:43Not just grudges, like names of people from 38 years ago.
06:47Stuff like that.
06:48I'm just like, I don't know who you are.
06:50You know their name and their parents' names.
06:52Yeah.
06:53So 209 just texted us.
06:55I made the side comment that I'm Tom Hanks on an island with my volleyball.
07:00And the text just came in and said, soccer ball, Willard.
07:05Mm.
07:06Nah.
07:06Volleyball, right?
07:08Wilson!
07:11Wilson's a volleyball.
07:12Wilson's a volleyball.
07:13Yes.
07:14209.
07:15Take a lap.
07:16Yeah.
07:19Soccer ball?
07:21Yeah.
07:21It's a volleyball.
07:22And it's an outdoor volleyball, if you want to be specific.
07:25Well, thank God.
07:26Right.
07:26Can you imagine if he'd shown up with an indoor ball?
07:28Wilson would have frayed at the edges.
07:30Yeah.
07:30And, you know, it's an outdoor ball.
07:31And he got his face after Tom Hanks cut his hand really badly.
07:36And he smeared it on the ball.
07:38And it looked like a face.
07:39Right in the face.
07:39Right in the face.
07:40Yes.
07:41Wilson.
07:42Thank God.
07:43Like, it wouldn't have mattered.
07:44I don't mind being wrong about stuff.
07:46But that one stopped me in my tracks.
07:48Yeah.
07:48Because I was like, wait.
07:50The whole world's about to be different.
07:52You're telling me that was a soccer ball?
07:53Yeah.
07:53I didn't know that.
07:55No.
07:55No.
07:56Volleyball.
07:56It was volleyball.
07:57Okay.
07:57Thank God.
07:59Tom Hanks, Skyline High School, which is where Gary Payton, the glove.
08:04Right.
08:04Skyline High.
08:05And what are their parents' names and what are their signs?
08:07I don't.
08:07I think Gary Payton's dad is also Gary Payton.
08:11I might have that one wrong, but.
08:12Well, no.
08:12Because his son is GP2.
08:14Well, and his other son is also Gary Payton.
08:16You know that, right?
08:17I do.
08:17Yeah.
08:17I feel like you can't be GP2 if your dad is GP2.
08:23Your dad would be GP1, but maybe his dad would be GP0.
08:27I don't know.
08:28Like, college football has week zero, which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard, by
08:32the way.
08:32Well, then GP2 wear zero at one point as well.
08:35Right.
08:36But week zero, it can't be week zero in college football.
08:39No, I agree with you.
08:40Especially now that so many teams are playing.
08:42Can you just call it week one?
08:43But the idea is, is that, like, if all of them are playing, that's week one, and then
08:48a couple teams are like, we're going to play early.
08:51So they're like, okay, that's week zero.
08:53But maybe just call it, like, week half.
08:55Whatever.
08:56Or like, what are you doing?
08:58Like, why are you playing?
09:00Exactly.
09:00I mean.
09:01I don't know.
09:02The games, like, the Patriots and Seahawks and Niners and Rams are kind of playing week
09:06zero next week.
09:07Oh, the Wednesday game is kind of funky.
09:09Wednesday, Thursday.
09:10But that's, like, the traditional Thursday opener now.
09:13It's kind of become the regular thing.
09:15But the Thursday opener is now actually a Wednesday opener because you have to go down under.
09:19We're going to have NFL four nights in six days.
09:23Like, in a six-night stretch, we've got NFL in four of them.
09:28Yeah, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, Monday, right?
09:30Correct.
09:31Okay.
09:31That's great.
09:32Yeah.
09:32I mean, and pretty soon, once they get to 18 games in the regular season, I do think
09:38that we're going to probably have NFL games five nights a week, maybe more.
09:42Well, they figured Wednesday out.
09:45They do it over the holidays.
09:47Yeah.
09:47The Friday thing is still, that's a legal issue.
09:51Saturday gets looped in once college stops and there's the holidays.
09:56Tuesday is going to be a challenge.
09:58Right.
10:00Plus, it would lose its moniker as the worst day of the week.
10:04Yeah.
10:04It can't be, you cannot be the worst day of the week if there's football on you.
10:07That's true.
10:08That's true.
10:08My rule, I mean, it doesn't have to be your rule, but that's the way I look at it.
10:12Yeah, and Thursday's about to get a lot better here coming up, not this week, but next.
10:16And, you know, you always talk about best day of the week.
10:18Pretty good.
10:18And for that, whatever, 17 or 18-week run from Labor Day all the way through December,
10:25it's like, yeah, Thursday, that's your time to shine.
10:27Thursday, Thursday, Thursday, I mean, a week from Thursday, obviously, we will lead you
10:33right into the actual football game, but we will also be reacting to one of their division
10:39mates playing in a football game, Seahawks and Patriots the night before.
10:44It's a really good Thursday.
10:45Yep.
10:46It's going to be, it's going to be awesome.
10:48I'm excited.
10:48And so going all the way back to your injury thing, like, you know, not that I get fatigued
10:54of it because it is noteworthy and it's interesting to the extent of, you know, this guy's not
10:58practicing or he's kind of practicing his nap, but when you get into next week and Kyle has
11:04to come out with that first official report, like who is questionable, who's probable and
11:10all the rest of it, that's when, for me, it starts to get real as far as, like, participation
11:15goes.
11:16But he's going to say questionable, like, nine times, which you should do an over-under for
11:21how many guys are questionable.
11:23Going into week one?
11:24Yes.
11:25Yeah.
11:25This could be a big list.
11:27Well.
11:27Because they're not going to, you know what I mean?
11:28Like, they're not going to put it in ink.
11:30They're not going to, they want to under-
11:32Bosa and Kittle for sure, right?
11:34You would think.
11:35And then, like, is Mike Evans going to be questionable?
11:38Maybe.
11:39And-
11:39It's just questionable.
11:40And then you could ask him what level his concern is and he'll say it's questionable
11:44concern.
11:44Questionable concern, right?
11:45That's the go-to.
11:46But once you get to a week from Thursday, all of this stuff gets, you know, pushed to the side
11:51and stuff and we'll figure out exactly who is healthy enough to play.
11:55So here's what Kyle said not too long ago with regard to George Kittle and Nick Bosa.
12:03This one's about Kittle.
12:06And I thought this was a really good sort of angle for the question.
12:09Because remember, Kittle said a few weeks ago, if I'm not going to play in the game, why would I
12:15go on that crazy long flight?
12:18So Kyle was asked, do you need to know if Kittle is in before you even get on the flight?
12:26I mean, I don't think you have to do anything.
12:27I think if we didn't think he was going to play, though, and it was looking that way, I think
12:31it'd be much nicer to make that decision before we left.
12:33Instead of having to go through all that, it's also a long time that we're out there.
12:37So to be away from the team for a week, not just for camaraderie or anything, but just the training
12:41staff and things like that and being away from meetings is also a big deal, too.
12:44But hopefully these three days that we have, these three practices will go the right way and it'll make it
12:50an easy decision to get him on the plane.
12:52I don't know if you're reading this the same way I am.
12:56I've like listening to this a number of times.
12:59I think the Niners think George Kittle's going to Australia.
13:02Yeah, I think that's the way I hear it.
13:04Yeah, because basically what he just said there is, first of all, his practices go the way that, like, if
13:11he continues to feel like he feels right now, easy decision, he's coming with us.
13:16If we were to know for sure that he's not playing, then, yeah, you wouldn't have him go, but he
13:23also throws in there immediately that he doesn't like that idea.
13:27He doesn't want George Kittle to be away from the team for eight or nine days, which I think factors
13:32into what we've been hearing about all of this.
13:36So, again, what I'm hearing today is, hey, guys, no promises.
13:43Kyle today felt very much like a parent who's telling the kid, like, what's Myla's favorite thing?
13:50What does she want to do any weekend?
13:51She likes to go to the splash pad.
13:53All right, so, Myla, we're going to the splash pad this weekend if we're at school on time every day,
14:03you're eating your fruits and vegetables, no outbursts.
14:10And if all that goes well, our plan this weekend, splash pad.
14:16I think that's what I heard Kyle say today about George Kittle.
14:20George, eat your vegetables, no outbursts, nothing funny, no funny business.
14:26But the plan is, Australia, you're heading overseas.
14:32Right, as long as you, like, buy an outburst would be, oh, you know, the Achilles or the calf is
14:37flaring up or all the rest of it.
14:39But for me, the most obvious piece is what he talked about where, you know, he wants him to go
14:45and be there in the meetings and be there with the training staff.
14:48So, if he's for sure clear cut, not going to go.
14:51Like, I don't think Mike L. Williams is going to go.
14:53If he's on the pup and you're on that for four weeks, like, there's no sense in him going to
14:58Australia to, I mean, he could go and just be in the meetings.
15:02But at the same time, you may want to have him here and getting treatment and going through the training.
15:07But if you, if George Kittle doesn't go, like, who's going to be left here that's going to help George
15:14Kittle actually get ready for week two?
15:16Yeah, that's absolutely it.
15:18By the way, the, okay, the Mike L. Williams one, I think you're right.
15:23Because the, the pup list, there's a rule change this year with the pup list with regard to when team,
15:30when guys can start practicing.
15:31But it is still, it used to be that you couldn't even practice.
15:35Now you can start practicing as early as the team's second regular season game.
15:42But you're probably right.
15:43Mike L. won't go because he's not even allowed to practice.
15:46If you were able to practice, I would say that bring him with him, bring him with him and keep
15:50ramping him up.
15:50Because Kyle made the comment today that Williams was a tough one to put on the pup list because they
15:55do think there's a good chance he's ready prior to week five.
15:59But they had to put him there for all of the roster maneuvering.
16:03And so he's not eligible to play until week five.
16:06But he is eligible to practice starting week two.
16:10I thought you said it was after the second game or going into the second game?
16:14He can begin practicing as early as, yes, after their second regular season game.
16:18So he can't even practice until after they play, what is it, the Dolphins?
16:22Right.
16:23So that's week three.
16:24Two weeks from tomorrow.
16:27Is that right?
16:28Or do I have that wrong?
16:29It would be three weeks from yesterday.
16:32Well, Tuesday is the first, is the start of the practice week.
16:35Or Wednesday, I guess.
16:36Either way.
16:36Anyway, I got you.
16:37I think that, you know, if Mikel Williams was kind of in the George Kittle spot of, hey, you know,
16:42he might be ready.
16:44Well, then you bring him and you don't put him on pup.
16:46But also you need to have some actual healthy, fresh bodies to be able to play in these games.
16:51And so roster wise, you're in a little bit of a crunch.
16:54And that's why, you know, if Mikel is close ish, then you have to start on purpose based on numbers.
16:59OK, now here's the Bosa one.
17:01Do you hear as much optimism?
17:04Less?
17:04More?
17:05Maybe.
17:06Kyle has asked if Bosa is dealing still with knee tendinitis.
17:10I think it was that at first, but now it's more of just being smart.
17:13I mean, you guys see him on the field working out.
17:14He's feeling great.
17:16We're deciding how much we want to do in team settings, going against people and stuff before we get out
17:21there.
17:21And that's what we've kind of put out for these three days.
17:23Now, again, they're not going to go all of them, but we're going to get them in in these three
17:27days.
17:27And hopefully that continues what we've seen when they haven't been out there.
17:30And then we'll be on Australia with them.
17:32I mean, what I take from that is we don't see or hear about any more tendinitis.
17:38He feels great.
17:39We're being smart.
17:41You'll see him out there.
17:43And he is out there.
17:45He's not participating in the full team situation, but he is out there working out in front of the media
17:51right now.
17:53That one to me sounds even more likely.
17:55Oh, he's going.
17:56He's going and he's playing.
17:57That's the way I hear that.
17:59I mean, you just don't want to have him go against other people and stuff right now because you're going
18:04to be very cautious.
18:05And so you're going to hold back until you get to Australia and maybe he ramps it up a little
18:11bit from that.
18:11But if it's not the tendinitis that he has and he had the tendinitis and now it's not really present
18:17anymore.
18:17I think that you're just going to wait until you actually have real football and put him out there.
18:22But I mean, what happened last time was they ramped him fully up and he got sore.
18:26So they stopped him.
18:27Now he feels great again.
18:28But now you got to ramp him up again.
18:30He could get sore again.
18:31I'm with you that he will go either way.
18:34Nick Bosa, I think, goes either way.
18:36But I'm not I'm not ready to say he's in.
18:39I mean, he's got to he's got to work out and not flare up.
18:42And it might it might flare up.
18:44And I think that if it's going to get into that spot, well, you want the flare up to be
18:49leading up to the game,
18:50because if he goes down there and they practice the Monday before the Thursday or they'll probably practice on the
18:55Sunday before the Thursday game.
18:57And if it flares up on the Sunday, well, now you've got a couple, two, three days to hope hopefully
19:02have it flare down and he can still play in the opener.
19:06Here is John Lynch on Bosa and week one.
19:12And Nick's Nick's had, you know, he's been through this before with ACLs.
19:16Nick's pretty blessed with tremendous genes and was was going along great.
19:21So, you know, the intention when he came back was that he was right when he when he upped the
19:26activity, he got sore.
19:27And so he backed off and, you know, we put together a really good plan that thinks that we believe
19:33we'll have him ready for Australia.
19:34And I always believe that the athlete knows their body better than anyone.
19:38And Nick certainly takes that to the nth degree.
19:41He knows his body extremely well and knows what it takes to to have him ready.
19:45We saw him one year in a contract year come in here like on a Thursday and play pretty well
19:50on Sunday.
19:50So a lot of faith in his ability to do that.
19:53I don't know.
19:53I mean, I'm just spitballing here, but listening to everything today, I got I got Nick Bosa at 80 percent
19:59for week one.
20:00I got George Kittle at 60 percent in terms of chances that they play.
20:04Yeah, I like that.
20:04I like those numbers.
20:05I think Bosa for me would be even higher than 80 percent because, you know, he knows his body.
20:11And like John was just saying about the great genes he has.
20:14And he's come back from this injury three times, two in the one knee, one in the other.
20:18So I do think that he has a great understanding of his body, like John Lynch was just saying.
20:24So if he's being, you know, if he's being put on ice right now until he actually gets closer to
20:30the game, I think that Nick Bosa would be one to say, you know, I'm not even close to being
20:34ready.
20:35I think Nick Bosa has been saying that he feels ready for for some time now.
20:40But I don't know, you know, you've been you've been around listening to this.
20:43The athlete, they always think they're going to be ready because even when they don't feel good, they sort of
20:49feel like their body is going to respond well the next day and feel better because that's their business.
20:55That's their livelihood.
20:56That's their job.
20:56I feel like sometimes they're a little overly optimistic.
20:59And you have to be.
21:00And I think that if you're Nick Bosa, you've been doing it long enough and you've come back from the
21:05ACL tear enough times to where you probably know if you're going to be ready or not.
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