Is there a point where you don’t have Mason, obviously you don’t have Christian, all the other guys you can name, you ask yourself: How do we balance this together? Or do you just think I thought the boys were going to win this thing anyway?

KYLE SHANAHAN: I mean, you know, even with Deebo (Samuel), I mean towards the end, the last possession – what’s it called? Draw a blank. Taylor, he got injured, so I was worried we were going to be finished with Isaac, especially because he ran for so long. It was smart of him to give Juice the touchdown, but I immediately worried. However, before that we had enough people, especially because Deebo could also help us and do all these things, so we were fine.

Mason, he went back in. Did he tighten something up?

KYLE SHANAHAN: Yeah, he thought he was going to be OK. He went back in and it just hurt too much, so he went out, I think. I think that was the first game and then he was out in case of emergency.

Does the fact that he could have come in an emergency mean that the situation is not serious?

KYLE SHANAHAN: I don’t know. You never know. Adrenaline these days, I mean during the games it’s a little different. We’ll find out more tomorrow after this is done and do the x-rays and stuff.

What goes through your mind when you have a 20-point lead, give up the kickoff, and next thing you know you have the ball and a chance to take the lead?

KYLE SHANAHAN: Just – I’m not going to go into what happened in our last two losses. Just stay closed-minded, try not to develop negative feelings, and just try to take it little by little. We try to keep our team like that, but it’s not like I’ve just talked to a lot of people, so you don’t try to just think like that. Our goal is to be in control the entire game, regardless of the score, and I thought the guys played that way.

Considering what the moment was like and how much it was needed, that throw from Purdy to Kittle, the first touchdown. How was that for a clutch?

KYLE SHANAHAN: Which one? There were two of them. The first one was great. That was a long third down. Obviously we had trouble making a big play like that in the red zone. I think it was the third and I want to say the 10th goal, but that was huge. There was a dime right in the corner. It was a hell of a route and a great catch from George, and I thought the second one was just as impressive. We called a lookie to BA. They played the coverage of two people chasing him. He went down the field and had a great throw to George.

We asked Brock about the red zone stuff, he said maybe he just needs to be more decisive, something like that, pull the trigger. Did you have that conversation with him and do you think he did that a lot tonight?

KYLE SHANAHAN: Yeah, I think the hard thing about the red zone is there’s not one thing. There are a few plays, and Brock says because there are a few plays that he could have been more decisive on and he would have, but that’s not all the problems in the red zone, but when you have trouble, the ball to run, then you should have a few – not many of them Great looks, and then you miss a few where we could have scored. Brock will always own up to that, but that wasn’t really the issue. He was really decisive today, made two great throws there in the third round and it was at least a step in the right direction.

The challenge that you posed when they – what were you told in terms of the angle that they saw, whoever informed you, and then what was the explanation that they gave you?

KYLE SHANAHAN: It was great from Hamp because he said you could tell by the way the guy’s hand was moving that the ball had hit him and then that was all they saw but he couldn’t see the ball 100%, but he said you could tell the hand was moving, and since it was Thursday Night Football, I was sure they would have a variety of camera angles. So when he thought it had happened, we threw them because we thought we would get some better angles and they told me he didn’t do it. t and then about two minutes later I heard all the guys in the box freaking out and saying they saw a different angle and it was a fumble.

So the officer told you they didn’t have that –

KYLE SHANAHAN: Yeah, they just know what they see. They weren’t seeing what everyone else was seeing on TV.

Who told you the finger moved?

KYLE SHANAHAN: Hamp. Yes. Brian Hampton. (Laugh).

With all the offensive stuff going on, Renardo Green’s interception came at a really good time. How did he pull off that play and what did you see?

KYLE SHANAHAN: It was huge. I just saw that it looked like they had sailed it over DK a little bit, or maybe even subdued it, and he was cutting ahead. It was a damn good piece of his. Malik also did a hell of a job staying ahead. They all thought a rookie had made great strides today, but Renardo was great replacing Mooney. Mooney was a game-time decision. Tried to get it to work. He tried to leave but the training didn’t go well before the game and Renardo and the entire defense stepped it up.

Your team played some of these games early in the season when things weren’t going right and won many of them. Is that something you tell them or do you feel it in a week like this where this team just feels like they can pull off a game like this?

KYLE SHANAHAN: No, I mean you, you know we’re sickened by the two losses we’ve had and we know, you know, I’ve talked about how some losses are harder than others and if you feel like has, winning those, especially division games, that made us sick and, you know, we’ve been on a roll here the last two years where we’ve won a lot of games in a row and a lot of the fourth quarters and some of these Winning streaks the last two years haven’t been that close. Guys were able to relax a little bit and stuff and we talked about how those two losses are a reminder of how the NFL works.

I think we’ve been a little spoiled by human nature because sometimes we feel too relaxed and can never be too relaxed. I thought we played really well in the second half, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to win. It’s kind of – that’s how it works. We played well, they played well. They came back and made some plays that made it closer and I was glad our guys were able to fight through it because I realized that games are really never over if you can just sit and relax in the fourth quarter. You have to go from start to finish and we had that experience today.

What did you see in Guerendo? Did you feel like he was on the verge of making a big break?

KYLE SHANAHAN: I mean, you always feel like the guys are close. We ran the ball pretty well all day. If they really commit to stopping the run and trying to get into those eight-man fronts, we got a good bounce read where we were out and usually when there aren’t two safeties there, which is mine In my opinion it wasn’t the case, you break it and he has the speed to do it. He said he was a hair slower than Raheem and they had a pretty fast guy chasing him, but he said he wanted to give that juice so it would go well in the end and he could run more time off the clock.

Did you want to see him slide there at the end?

KYLE SHANAHAN: Hell no, we want him to score. (Laughter) I don’t think he slipped. That’s what he claims. I think he has – I think 21 is a quick player and I think he gets him there a little bit at the end. I’ll see it. You’ve seen it. But in the end it worked out better for us.

Given the way Mooney kept up with DK, were there any concerns before the game about how you would handle Metcalf?

KYLE SHANAHAN: Not really. I mean, he wouldn’t have done that tonight anyway just because he was hurt, and I think D-Mo is one of the best corners in the league. I love D-Mo and we have gained a young newcomer in Renardo as reinforcement. I think Ike did a great job. I think we have a lot of players in our secondary.

How close was it to Chavarius? I mean, we saw him –

KYLE SHANAHAN: It was close enough that it was a mid-game decision. You know, he trained and it was close, but he couldn’t go.

Another special teams mistake, I guess you would say. What can you do about it now? There is now something like one per game. Are you going in there? Are you joining in? What can happen now?

KYLE SHANAHAN: I thought the special teams made some plays today. They recovered a fumble for us, a huge comeback that I can’t remember if it led to a field goal or a touchdown. Last week they scored a touchdown on a blocked kick that was returned for a touchdown. I thought we didn’t have a great offense and what I saw live was we had a player who wasn’t blocked who missed a tackle and then went into the lane so we were able to get better at tackling. I would like to get a better push and stuff, and we have to continue to challenge ourselves as coaches, as players, as everyone. You know, especially if you embarrassed a few people on defense. You can see that, and it’s even worse on special teams when that happens. But we have to do better. But I’m still glad that they played some pieces today.

Do you challenge the kicker to make a tackle?

KYLE SHANAHAN: Hell no. I don’t. (Laughter) I don’t know what to think about it anymore. If they break through and they’re the only line left, I would never be the coach to say just let them score, but damn, it’s two weeks in a row and I just learned his name last night and Matt was incredible today . He made three on three field goals and stopping them was huge for him. It looked like they could have scored if he hadn’t been there. I just hope he’s okay.

You learned his name last night – (unintelligible).

KYLE SHANAHAN: The first time I saw him, yeah. Yes, I don’t waste my thoughts on things I don’t need to know. The same applies to all injury issues. I really don’t learn anything I don’t need to know.

The strategy of letting him shoot right at the goal line should be further away?

KYLE SHANAHAN: Yes, you would like that and it was a little difficult. When that happens, you try to get more air so our guys have time to get through it, but it obviously didn’t work.

FastScripts transcript from ASAP Sports