Shanahan ‘very pleased’ with Sorensen amid 49ers defense struggles originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The 49ers’ defense hasn’t been nearly as dominant in 2024 as it has been in the past, but coach Kyle Shanahan doesn’t believe the drop off is a result of defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen’s scheme.
The defensive line, which has been missing Nick Bosa for the past two games, and Javon Hargrave since Week 4, allowed a season-high 220 rushing yards in their 35-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 13. .
Shanahan spoke to the media via conference call on Monday and shared that he still has the utmost confidence in Sorenson.
“Yeah, I’m very pleased with Nick,” Shanahan said. “I’m not at all satisfied with the result and how it’s going now, but, I don’t think we did anything wrong or what happened here in the last two weeks, I don’t think it’s a planned problem.”
The defense’s sub-par performance doesn’t solely fall on the shoulders of Sorensen, who has been with the team since 2022. Shanahan owns the lack of production in all three phases of the game and understands the 49ers’ 5-7 record is disappointing. .
“It’s a little bit more of a fundamental problem, and it starts with me,” Shanahan said. “It goes to all the coaching, and it goes to the players, it goes to everybody in this building. But the results of these last two weeks haven’t changed my opinion of Nick.”
The 49ers’ defense has dealt with several injuries on top of Bosa and Hargrave, including Talanoa Hufanga, Dre Greenlaw, Kevin Givens and Drake Jackson. Charvarius Ward, Diommodore Lenoir, George Odom, Yetur Gross-Matos, Jordan Elliott and Kalia Davis also missed games.
There is a clear lack of consistency without the team’s star players on the field, which is contributing to their underperformance. Still, responsibility for the team’s performance on the field ultimately rests on Shanahan’s shoulders, and the head coach is more acutely aware of his team’s shortcomings than in the past.
“Last year’s team was obviously a better team,” Shanahan said. “I’m not just talking from the list, I’m talking from start to finish, the way we started, the way we felt in training camp all year.
“We’re trying to build that with this team. We’ve had times where we felt like we were on the right track with it and then we’ve had some setbacks that I think it’s always been one step forward, two steps back. We really haven’t realized the full potential of this year’s team. That’s why I don’t like to compare it to last year’s team or the year before.”
Shanahan and his staff have five more games to get back on track and finish the season strong. It begins Sunday when the 49ers welcome the Chicago Bears to Levi’s Stadium on Sunday.
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