- 4 minutes ago
Matt Barrows, who covers the 49ers for the Athletic, joins Willard and Dibs to break down everything that happened for the 49ers in Week 1 in Australia.
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00:00Matt Barrows just landed for this interview within the last 17 hours.
00:06He did not acclimate to the radio at all.
00:10So he is coming in hot.
00:12I don't know if he's exhausted.
00:14I don't know if he's ready to play.
00:16There's only one way to find out.
00:18Matt Barrows of The Athletic joining us now here on Willard & Dibbs.
00:22Matt, are you okay?
00:23I'm good now.
00:26Will I still be good in the third quarter of this interview, which is when the Rams clearly started to
00:32peter out?
00:33So if you see my body language or my voice start to lapse a little bit, you'll know the reason
00:39why.
00:40Okay.
00:40It's 2.33 now.
00:41Producers, if you could let us know at 2.41, we're supposed to check in on Matt and see if
00:46he's still humming.
00:48Hey, look, could this have gone any better for the 49ers?
00:53Look around at the rest of the league this week.
00:56Miles Garrett's on IR.
00:58Not, you know, celebrating anyone else's injury, but could this entire experience have gone any better?
01:05Well, yeah.
01:07The 49ers lost a starting defensive tackle for the season.
01:12That's fair.
01:13And we're not quite sure about scribbling yet in Tonjes, but those are serious injuries too.
01:19So the 49ers got away from the substation, but did not escape their injury misery.
01:27And I think that'll be a big story this week is, you know, how do the 49ers got off to
01:34a really great start?
01:36I want to know in the division, you know, with this defensive line in particular, can they go the rest
01:45of the season with the group they have, or do they need to add somebody else?
01:50And do they have a somebody else on the practice squad?
01:53I know that Sebastian Valdez is somebody who might be elevated.
01:57When you look at the short-term fix for what ails them, pun intended, do they have it in-house?
02:04Well, they do.
02:06I mean, Kevin Givens is on the practice squad as well.
02:08He's played a lot of snaps for them over the years.
02:10I mean, they can bandage the issue for sure.
02:15And then they get Mikel Williams back after week four, and he's a good guy to get back because he
02:21can play both defensive tackle and defensive end.
02:25And I still think that, you know, they're lacking a quality defensive end opposite both.
02:32They have been since 2019.
02:35So that seems to be where there's, you know, the most potential help available, both in free agency and perhaps
02:46a trade.
02:46And I think that would help the team more.
02:50I know that Alfred Collins is a defensive tackle.
02:52But like I said, you can get some defensive tackle snaps out of Williams.
02:57You can get some defensive snap tackles out of Keon White.
03:02But that guy kind of screaming off the edge that you want, that you want Romello Haidt to become, he's
03:10probably not going to be that this year.
03:12That seems to be where the real need is right now.
03:16Matt, what do you know about Stribling and Jake Tonjes?
03:20And is it the expectation that after the practice that's starting here in about 30 minutes, we'll get a little
03:27bit more information on those?
03:30Well, that practice, which was on when you and I corresponded via text yesterday, has now been canceled.
03:38So there is no practice.
03:40Yeah, that's why I'm super relaxed and articulate with you guys.
03:45But it's not happening.
03:47But it also means that I'm not going to get any more information today about those two injuries.
03:53Okay.
03:53So what do you know at this point, if anything?
03:57Well, all I know is that Stribling's injury is to his ankle, to the deltoid ligament,
04:03which is the big, it's described as a piece of tape type of ligament at the very bottom of your
04:10ankle that connects the tibia to a lot of the other bones in the foot.
04:16So it's an important ligament, and it's one that apparently is rarely torn like Stribling's is.
04:25So it sort of leads to some questions about how exactly does he approach it?
04:32But my guess from the description of it is that it's a grade two tear, so right in the middle.
04:40And they're waiting on second opinions as far as how to proceed.
04:46But suffice to say, he's going to miss some time, probably a month.
04:51I would say at least a month for him out.
04:54And as far as Tondras, I don't know.
04:57He's got an MCO injury.
04:59Shanahan seemed to suggest on Thursday that it was serious.
05:06Those usually heal on their own, but how long it takes to heal, I'm not exactly sure.
05:13Any word or any sense on how Nick Bosa and George Kittle came out of the game in terms of,
05:19you know,
05:19their first action back after big-time injuries?
05:23Yeah, I think that they both came out of it really well.
05:27Neither of them played the full game, of course.
05:30Bosa never would.
05:32Both played around, you know, I think I want to say between 30 and 35 snaps.
05:38So about half the possible snaps.
05:42You know, I think it was good that the 49ers were comfortably in the lead by the end of the
05:47game.
05:47So, you know, Fred Warner wasn't playing on that final series.
05:52Nick Bosa wasn't playing on that final series.
05:54So they got an early start to their week for, between week one and week two.
06:01But I think, you know, Kittle was very encouraged by the end of the game.
06:05He said, he was clear in saying he was not in football shape yet.
06:10That was a concern for him in the weeks leading up to the game.
06:14And he knew that the only way to get in football shape was to play football.
06:19So he was encouraged by how he started to feel as the game went on, meaning that he's going to
06:28feel better in week two and better in week three.
06:31And by week four, he should be back to normal and probably getting his normal allotment snaps as well.
06:39Matt Barrows, The Athletic, with us, Willard and Dibbs, 95.7 The Game, talking out Niner football after the trip
06:45to Australia and getting ready for a new practice week here at some point.
06:49Matt, I think there was so much guesswork by all of us with regard to this whole travel plan thing
06:55that the two teams did.
06:56But you were there.
06:57So like now that you've experienced this and I know you're, you know, no offense, Matt, not an elite athlete,
07:03an elite reporter, but not an elite athlete.
07:05So maybe it's a little different.
07:07But now that you've done this, what is your perspective on what the Rams tried to do?
07:14First of all, how dare you?
07:15I know. Sorry.
07:16I'm sorry.
07:17You haven't seen me on the pickleball court.
07:20You do look quick.
07:22You look quick.
07:23I don't know this.
07:24I've been described as spectacular.
07:25I am playing against 75-year-olds, but I'm still dominating.
07:29Real and spectacular.
07:30Yeah, that's what I've heard.
07:33Well, you know, I feel like I did it right.
07:36I mean, I got sleep on the flight out.
07:39And so, and then I stayed awake as long as I could that first day.
07:47And then I got a very good night's sleep.
07:50But on day two in Australia, I felt fine and I did a lot of stuff.
07:55So I think that's what the Rams were trying to do is, you know, kind of subsist on adrenaline
08:04and not get off your sleep cycle.
08:08And for me at work, of course, all I did was walk, you know, maybe two miles that day and
08:15do some sightseeing.
08:16So I do think that you could tell in the third quarter, and maybe this would have happened
08:22if the game was in L.A.
08:24I don't know.
08:25But you can just see it in their body language.
08:28At one point early in the third quarter, Brock Purdy kind of escapes the pocket and runs for
08:3518 yards.
08:36And you just see every ram in the vicinity hold on to his hips, hang his head.
08:44It was sort of defeatist body language.
08:48And I can only imagine that, you know, obviously giving up a big run to the quarterback is the
08:56biggest part of that.
08:57But you saw that body language for the rest of the game.
09:01I just think that's when they hit the wall, somewhere in the third quarter.
09:06And you saw that in the body language.
09:08You saw that in the performance.
09:10And you saw that in the fact that they couldn't score any points after scoring in the second
09:16quarter.
09:16So, yeah, I think in hindsight, it's clear that the 49ers plan was better than the Rams.
09:25And I saw a couple of plays where like three or four guys on defense were asleep for the Rams.
09:30Like maybe it was just me looking at the Netflix and judging it wrong.
09:35I wonder, Matt, about the schedule now, because it was supposed to be a practice starting in
09:40about 18 minutes.
09:41And you said it's been canceled.
09:42So is it because of the flight back?
09:45And what does this do for the rest of the week?
09:48You know, the original plan was to not have a practice today.
09:52And then at some point yesterday, they said, you know what?
09:55There is going to be a practice.
09:56And then they came back this morning and said, you know what?
09:58There isn't a practice.
09:59So I'm not exactly sure what happened.
10:02But the whole idea from Shanahan was that it takes five days for you to get on the Australia
10:11timeline.
10:13And he said that he could feel it himself and that he supposed that it would take five days
10:19to get back on Pacific Standard timeline.
10:23So five days for them is Wednesday.
10:27So I think that that's what, you know, is going on here.
10:30I think that the 49ers are probably there today.
10:33I think a lot of them are working out.
10:35I don't think they're having a practice per se, but it wouldn't be a surprise if you were
10:42to scroll by the team facility.
10:44You'd see a lot of guys out and about on the field, just kind of moving their bodies, you
10:50know, basically taking a step towards getting back into their normal cycle.
10:58So, you know, Wednesday will be a telling day.
11:00That'll be five days after they've gotten back.
11:03First practice of the week.
11:04First day that they start preparing in earnest for the Dolphins.
11:09And, you know, they'll have an open locker room.
11:12And I guarantee you the question, how do you feel?
11:15Do you feel like you would on a normal Wednesday?
11:18We'll be asked to a lot of the players.
11:21And, you know, we ought to be able to not just relay what they said, but kind of see and
11:29hear how they do at the practice and how they react.
11:33So, like I said, Wednesday will be telling Matt Barrows, the athletic is with us, Matt.
11:40I think you'll you'll get the connection here.
11:42I'm sure you remember when Steve Young famously said, can you get this monkey off my back when
11:47he finally won the Super Bowl over the Chargers?
11:51Has Kyle Shanahan done the same thing with drafting running backs in the third round?
11:56Is the monkey actually finally off of his back with Caelan Black?
12:02Yeah, the monkey is definitely losing its grip.
12:05I'll say that.
12:06I mean, week one is might be a little bit soon.
12:10But this is what we've seen from Caelan Black from from jump back in the spring and in the
12:15summer.
12:16He had a really good speaking of the Chargers, a really good joint practice against the
12:22Chargers back in back in August.
12:25So, I mean, the mere fact that he's already leapfrogged, leapfrogged Jordan James on the
12:31depth chart, the mere fact that he's getting carries on a on a Kyle Shanahan team that that
12:38also has Christian McCaffrey on it, that's that's it's unheard of for a backup to do that.
12:44So, you know, those are all very, very positive signs.
12:48And he got some early carries on Sunday, and I think if he had, I'm trying to think of the
12:56right word, messed up, I was going to use another word on those on those early carries, we wouldn't
13:02have seen him getting carries late.
13:04You know, Bobby Turner, the running backs coach, old school as they come, would not have tolerated
13:10that.
13:11So, I think that the coaching staff liked what they saw from Black.
13:16He was choosing the right holes.
13:18He was he knew his assignments.
13:20He was doing a good job as a as a pass protector because he was also getting those snaps late
13:28in the game.
13:29So, all systems go all arrows up for Kalen Black early on.
13:35You can always go with mucked up if he would have.
13:39Mucked up.
13:39That was a good one.
13:41Anytime we can get Mark Grandy, our great producer, to twitch as he goes for the dump
13:46button, we we try to encourage that from our guests and our callers.
13:50And I wonder, Matt, if he got those carries because he didn't muck it up or was it more
13:56a byproduct of Christian McCaffrey and his cramps?
14:00Well, the cramps didn't begin, as I understand it, until the third quarter.
14:07That long drive, that 99-yard drive took its toll, not only on the Rams, but on the 49ers.
14:14Trent Williams had a funny story where he was cramping up during that drive and, you know,
14:20had to kind of fight off the cramps.
14:22And then after they scored the touchdown, you know, had to walk very slowly, took a cart
14:28into the locker room and had to have an IV.
14:31And he looks across the room and there's Christian McCaffrey getting an IV as well, which is rare
14:38in the middle of a game.
14:39Some guys get IVs before the game, some get them at halftime, but during a game is rare.
14:45And it was still, I guess it was technically fall or rather spring in Melbourne, but just
14:52coming out of winter there in the Southern Hemisphere.
14:56So you don't expect to need an IV, but both of those guys needed one at that point.
15:02All a very long way of saying that Kalen Black was getting, I think he got his first carry
15:09on the fifth snap of the game and then was the running back to begin the second series.
15:17So those snaps, those rare rookie running back snaps were coming early on, even before Christian
15:26McCaffrey started having the issues with the cramping.
15:29Matt, I'm curious that the receiver position, I get why people want to, want to dive into
15:33this because of the, of the straddling injury.
15:36They want some more depth there.
15:38I know this is still three weeks away, but can Christian Kirk be that guy?
15:42Like, like, is he still in the, in the plans this year?
15:46Oh yeah.
15:47I think he's very much still in the plans this year.
15:49I mean, and it's a really good question to ask because straddling is their, their slot
15:55receiver, uh, and Christian Kirk is, uh, you know, a, a different type of player.
16:00He's a, a quick slot versus a big slot, but he's a slot nonetheless.
16:06So it's tripling is out for a while.
16:08Um, and, um, obviously Kirk can't come back, uh, until after week four.
16:14But, um, I think moving forward that that's where they want to play him.
16:19Um, and I, and I do think that he, he factors very much into their plans this season.
16:25He's just got to get over the, the calf injury that's, that's bothered him since the spring.
16:29And that's a big if, I mean, um, as 49ers fans know well from, uh, 2000, what was it?
16:3624 with, with Christian McCaffrey, uh, calf issues can linger for a while and can ruin
16:43a season.
16:44So he has to get back from that.
16:46And, um, when that happens, uh, yeah, I do think that he'll be, he'll be factored in.
16:51Um, all right, Matt, I I've always had Australia on my bucket list.
16:54I don't even really know why should I keep it there.
16:57I've never been.
16:58Yeah, no, it was really a cool trip.
17:02Um, Melbourne was great.
17:03It's a great, great city, walkable city.
17:07Um, especially if you're a fourth, uh, sports fan, because all of the venues are, are,
17:12you know, within walking distance of the downtown and it's a great walk.
17:16It's along a river, um, great food, great coffee, great people.
17:21Uh, it, it was a, uh, a tremendous experience for everybody.
17:26Okay.
17:26I'll, I'll go and I'll leave some time for acclimation when I do.
17:31That's smart.
17:32Okay.
17:32All right.
17:33That's what we're going to do.
17:34Um, Hey, good luck with the, uh, the pickleball, Matt.
17:36Thank you for coming on.
17:39Thanks a lot.
17:39Hey, thanks for inspiring me.
17:41You know, it's, it's the doubters who really inspire me to greatness.
17:45And, and now you're among the doubters.
17:48Yeah.
17:48Yeah.
17:48I think you got no shot at being a great athlete.
17:50So you take that and you picture that and you prove me wrong.
17:55Thanks for putting a chip on my shoulder, guys.
17:58All right.
17:59Thank you, sir.
18:00All right.
18:01Anytime.
18:01Okay.
18:02Yep.
18:02Matt Barrows, the athletic.
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