- 2 days ago
Matt Barrows, who covers the 49ers for The Athletic, joins Willard and Dibs to discuss the latest on Kyle Shanahan's car accident and subsequent injuries, break down the key stories from 49ers training camp, and more.
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00:00I can only imagine that Matt Barrows of The Athletic, who joins us now on the River Islands guest line,
00:04will not only know that it happened, but he will know the amount that the San Francisco 49ers paid
00:10to the other driver and the police officers in order to keep this all quiet.
00:15Is that accurate, Matt?
00:17Not only that, they went around with a neuralyzer like in Men in Black,
00:21and all the pedestrians and other drivers in the vicinity got neuralyzed so that it just basically erased their memory.
00:31Yeah, collected phones, I'm sure, and all of the surveillance cameras that are in and about Palo Alto
00:37have been commandeered, and even the black box and the Tesla, Matt, as you know, these cars, they have them.
00:43I'm sure they were able to pry that thing out and destroy it as well.
00:47Yeah, it's all about, you know, weather balloons and gas explosions.
00:52That kind of explains the commotion on Elma Avenue that day.
00:56Man, I'm glad you're finally speaking some truth.
00:59I mean, when you've got a guy like Kyle Shanahan who has built up absolutely no trust with the public,
01:04has such a huge history of nefarious behavior, it makes sense, Matt, don't you think?
01:10Yeah, he's like Al Capone, really.
01:12I mean, the whole organization is like the mafia.
01:17Right.
01:18Matt, were you in his office today when he talked about, you know,
01:23his rendition of what he remembers from the event?
01:27Yes, I was one of a handful of reporters who were summoned on, you know, what was a dark media
01:35day.
01:36There wasn't supposed to be any media there.
01:38And we got texts, I'd say, around 10 o'clock this morning that says,
01:43if, hi, Kyle wants to talk to you in his office, can you get here at ASAP?
01:49And we assembled and we went into his office and he wanted to clear the air as to what happened
01:57on July 14 in Palo Alto.
02:00How does he look, Matt?
02:02I don't, you know, I mean, I know that the media is not allowed at the moments where he's watching
02:08practice.
02:09How does he look after all of this?
02:12I mean, physically, he looks fine and he commented on that.
02:18In fact, he showed us all a picture of him, his face, shortly after the accident.
02:24And it's brutal.
02:26I mean, swollen up beyond recognition, brutal.
02:31A big gash over his right eye that hadn't been closed yet to 40 stitches to do that.
02:37His nose is puffed up.
02:40He looked like he was in, you know, a 16-round bout with Mike Tyson.
02:45I mean, it was, like I said, unrecognizable.
02:47Well, he joked at one point during the conversation that he's got the best plastic surgeon in the world because
02:56you really can't tell at this point.
02:59Now, he's got a cast on his hand and he's got broken ribs.
03:05But as far as his face, you have to examine it pretty closely to see the marks.
03:11So, you know, whoever did the stitch work at Stanford Hospital, and it wasn't his own plastic surgery.
03:18He's joking about that.
03:19It's whoever was on duty there.
03:22But they did a remarkable job stitching him back together.
03:27His joke, he's sporting the full mustache these days.
03:32And he said that his friends and acquaintances had joked that it was the mustache that absorbed the impact and
03:41saved him in the crash.
03:42Was he able to, like, let you guys know how long he was in the hospital?
03:46Was he able to be released that day?
03:50Yeah, he was in the hospital a matter of hours.
03:53I think it was a significant number of hours.
03:55I think he said something like from 8 to 10.
03:58And so what happened was that he was involved in the crash.
04:02He was bleeding from the face.
04:04Paramedics arrived.
04:05But he's already talked to Mandy, his wife, at this point, and asked her to come down to the scene.
04:12So he didn't want to leave the scene before she got there.
04:16So he had them hold the ambulance until she arrived.
04:20And then they went to the hospital.
04:22And he said, you know, he never lost consciousness.
04:25He remembers every detail of the crash.
04:28And he remembers being stitched up, which, you know, involved very intimate, painful work on his eye and his face.
04:37So that was all very kind of surreal to him and also very real.
04:45I mean, he was, you know, a part of it.
04:47Usually a traumatic event like that, you're knocked unconscious or you're given anesthesia.
04:54But he was stitched up and was awake for all of it.
04:58And poor Mandy was witness to all of it as well.
05:00Oh, my gosh.
05:02Matt Barrows, The Athletic.
05:05Look, Matt, you've got your own platform.
05:07You're able to share this wherever.
05:08But I'd love it if you would kind of take us through what this has been like through the eyes
05:17of a 49er beat writer who, for the last 72 hours, has basically been dragged around because of the way
05:25that information flowed in this whole story.
05:29Yeah, you know, it happened at a unique time of the year.
05:34July 14 is when everyone is on vacation, you know, me included and Kyle Shanahan and his coaching staff included
05:44and all of the players.
05:46Nobody had reported to training camp at that point.
05:49Later in the week, the rookies reported and the coaches reported at the same time.
05:53So if this had happened on October 14, the news would have gotten out very quickly because the players would
06:00have been privy to it.
06:01And when players are privy to it, their agents are privy to it.
06:05And the agents are the, you know, knitting circle of the NFL.
06:10Once an agent gets a hold of it, it's out there.
06:14You know, they'll tell other GMs, other teams, media members, et cetera, et cetera.
06:21Everybody's got their guys.
06:23But, you know, it happened at a time that nobody puts it out.
06:27And now everyone's saying, well, you know, it's a public report.
06:31Why didn't any reporters get the report?
06:36It's not as if Palo Alto PD or Milpitas PD or San Jose PD send those things out to reporters.
06:44You would, and for traffic accidents, and remember, no charges were filed.
06:51No one was cited in this.
06:53It's even more hidden.
06:55It's not an official report.
06:57It's not made public unless you are one of the people involved in that crash.
07:03That's the only way you can obtain the accident report.
07:07And so, you know, that's the reason it didn't come out for X amount of days.
07:13Now, Shanahan went out of his way to say that, you know, he told maybe two dozen people, his close
07:23associates, friends, family, what happened.
07:26And none of them shared it with anybody.
07:29And I think that they didn't share it with anybody because it was such a severe, you know, serious event.
07:41So, I think, you know, the 49ers certainly could have put it out there.
07:45That's the other way it would get out.
07:47I think that they were waiting to see whether he would be, you know, up in front and center on
07:55Saturday, the beginning of training camp, to kind of talk about it himself.
07:59And when it was clear that he wouldn't be and that, you know, it would just be John Lynch at
08:05the press conference and it would be Chris Furster running practices, that's when they decided to put it out.
08:11I mean, that to me is where you, I don't want to say lay the blame, but if you're upset
08:17for some reason that you didn't hear about it on July 14, that's the reason.
08:22So, when the rookies report and you guys are there for at least portions of it, was there any talk
08:28amongst the group of reporters that you hadn't seen Kyle out there?
08:33Well, no, we, everyone learned about it ahead of that press conference.
08:39And we reported the news at that point, but it was before the press conference began.
08:45So, that was Saturday, you know, that's the opening press conference, and then the first practice is Sunday.
08:53And we actually did see Kyle Shanahan.
08:55He came out maybe 45 minutes into the session after, you know, the point where we have to put away
09:03our phones and we can't film anything.
09:04He came out and he watched the team portion of practice, 11 on 11, with John Lynch.
09:13John Lynch always stands deep in the defensive backfield like a safety would and watches practice from that vantage point.
09:21And Shanahan has joined him there on Sunday and Monday.
09:26Matty Barrows, the Athletic, on the Niner Beat, joining us here at Willard and Dibbs.
09:31Hey, what about some football questions?
09:33What do you think?
09:35Oh, is there a football going on these days?
09:37I didn't even realize.
09:39Camp opened.
09:39Hey, just because this was top of mind yesterday, you think the Niners will get involved in the Vita Vea
09:47situation now that he's requested a trade?
09:51I don't think so, because it's, you know, I think one of the 49ers soft spots, shall we say, is
10:03that they've got a lot of guys in their 30s.
10:05And Vita Vea would be another one of those guys.
10:09So I don't think that they'd want to spend a big chunk of their salary cap on another guy who's
10:17that age, you know, after, you know, basically all of their stars, you know, save Fred Warner, who's 29, Nick
10:28Bosa's 28.
10:29I forget how old Brock Purdy is, but everyone else, you know, the Kittles, Trent Williams, Christian McCaffrey, all those
10:36guys are in their 30s now.
10:38So it's a team that's getting a little bit older.
10:42And I think that while defensive line would be the one spot where they might add somebody, I really believe
10:50that defensive end is more of an issue right now than defensive tackle is.
10:56Having said that, Vita Vea is a great player.
10:59I'm sure Osa Adigazua would love to play next to him.
11:02It would free up Adigazua for, you know, more sacks, more tackles, more everything.
11:08But that's who the 49ers decided to spend on at the position.
11:14I don't think that they would spend on two guys there.
11:17What are you hearing about the status of George Kittle as he works his way toward possibly being ready for
11:23the opener?
11:25Yeah, he's close.
11:26I mean, you see him come out for practice and he's, you know, chatting, dapping up, dancing with other players.
11:36He's active.
11:37He's doing everything in his power to get ready.
11:40I'm a little bit skeptical because it just seems like, you know, back in the winter, in the spring, in
11:49terms of injuries and projections, everyone's very optimistic.
11:53And it's, yeah, Mikel Williams is going to be ready at the beginning of training camp.
11:58And, yeah, this guy and that guy are going to be ready as well.
12:04And I think when you get into the reality of training camp in the summer, it's a little bit more
12:10pessimistic.
12:11Or rather, they're a little bit more cautious.
12:13And the 49ers have to be, have to have a little bit of added caution with Kittle because they've got
12:22this trip to Australia, which not only kind of kicks off the season a few days earlier than normal, it
12:28means that they're going to Australia about a week ahead of that game.
12:34So, it cuts down that timeline by more than a week.
12:41So, the timeline was, oh, yeah, if he does everything right and we get lucky, he might be able to
12:48be ready for week one.
12:50Now, week one essentially starts a week earlier in a lot of respects.
12:54So, it was already tight and now it's tighter.
12:59I personally am skeptical.
13:01I think it would be probably more prudent for him to not make that trip.
13:07Why rush it?
13:08Why put him who's still recovering through that big trip and, you know, practicing in an odd spot and playing
13:16in a different place, et cetera, et cetera.
13:20My guess is that they'll err on the side of caution and he won't play.
13:24But, yeah, I absolutely could be wrong on that.
13:27Matt, is there reason to believe that Dre Greenlaw will look like his former self this year?
13:34There is.
13:35I mean, he looks like his former self in these first two practices.
13:39I mean, he's sort of, to stay with the Australia theme, he's like the Tasmanian devil out there.
13:45I mean, they have to tell him to slow down.
13:48He's a whirling dervish and he's got that in him.
13:53Now, whether he can sustain that through 17 games, I think that's a very good question because he hasn't been
14:00able to do that for several years now.
14:03And not just Achilles' season and not just last season with the Broncos.
14:10You know, he was laboring through previous seasons as well at times.
14:17So, he has had a lot of time to recover, hasn't played a lot of games in the last two
14:24years.
14:25But this is someone who plays at a million miles an hour all the time.
14:31He doesn't have another gear.
14:33So, the question is whether his body can sustain that over time.
14:39And if the answer is no, I think that the 49ers are liking what they're seeing so far from Nick
14:46Martin, who's a bit of a forgotten guy.
14:48He was a third-round pick last year, didn't play a lot, and suffered a concussion, I believe, on November
14:5430 and never played again.
14:57And he's looked good in camp so far as well.
15:01He's sort of a natural weak side linebacker.
15:04He resembles Greenlaw in a lot of ways, sort of stature, speed, etc.
15:11My guess is that they see him as the long-term replacement for Greg Greenlaw.
15:17Matt, real quick, because it was a famous line last year in camp that calves are tricky.
15:22We were talking about Juwan Jennings and everything, and I know that Christian Kirk suffered a strained calf early on
15:29in camp here.
15:30What does that mean for his camp this month, and what does it mean for Dajon Stribling when the year
15:35starts, you think?
15:37Yeah, it's not good for Christian Kirk, because calves are tricky, and especially when, like I said, you're kind of
15:43approaching your 30th birthday, and you've had injury issues in the past.
15:49I don't think that he's going to be back anytime soon.
15:52I don't know if he's going to miss all of camp, but he's going to miss a chunk of camp.
15:58He doesn't need it as much as Dajon Stribling, as much as the Jordan Watkins.
16:04But, you know, the pecking order gets established now, and what it means is that the Watkins, the Jacob Cowings,
16:14the Striblings on the team are all getting slightly more snaps per practice.
16:20And I think that Stribling is really benefiting from it.
16:23I think he's gaining the trust of Brock Purdy, of Matt Jones.
16:30Neither of them are hesitant to go his way.
16:33He's a nice, big target who uses his hands and his arms to create space and then is good with
16:41the ball in his hands afterwards.
16:42So that's what you want.
16:43That's what you're looking for.
16:45You know, he's a natural fit in that slot position, which is what Juwan Jennings played a lot of, because
16:52he is a good blocker.
16:53He's very strong.
16:55His blocking tape, run blocking tape from Ole Miss last year is pretty impressive.
17:02I mean, it looks like a Juwan Jennings highlight tape.
17:05He's not drawing the penalties from opponents that Juwan Jennings.
17:11I was watching the wild card game against the Eagles was on TV last night, and there was Jennings, you
17:20know, just going at it with the Eagles players and at one point drawing a legal contact penalty from one
17:28of the Eagles defenders.
17:28He was great at that, just getting under your skin.
17:31I don't know if Deshaun Stribling has that personality, but he definitely has the kind of the physical skills to
17:39knock a guy on his butt.
17:41Matt, great stuff.
17:42We thank you for coming on, and please remember, if you hear anything about anything, you tell us right away
17:47now, okay?
17:49Okay.
17:49Are you guys wearing those caps, the pointy silver caps that I sent you?
17:55Yes.
17:57Okay, good.
17:57Yes, yes, I have mine.
17:58That's how I like to communicate those things.
18:02Okay.
18:03Through the tinfoil.
18:04We'll just wait for them to buzz.
18:06Yeah, we're looking forward to it.
18:07Okay, Matt, thank you.
18:09All right, anytime, guys.
18:10Talk to you soon.
18:11All right, there it is.
18:12That's Matt Barrows of The Athletic.
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