Harbaugh Monday Presser

Summary:  (SIAP and if so mods feel free to delete but I didn't see it on the board, though parts of his comments have popped up on the board in various places)

On how young tackles played: They played well, Ryan Hayes was the offensive player of the game. Graded out really well alongside Ruiz and Bredesen. Fine blocks, good with his hands. Jalen was good as well. 

How Sean McKeon has improved: Run blocking, catching the ball, had that nice TD. Leadership and work ethic as well. Another guy in running for the Offensive player of the week.

On the new guys on D:  (Coach answers by running through basically everybody in secondary without much valuable commentary, Lavert missed the INT but played well, happy for Ambry and then is interrupted with a second question about cleaning up miscues). 

On cleaning up miscues on D:  Yeah. (Continues to answer the first question - Aidan, Kwity played well, Jordan Glasgow had good game - runner up for Defensive player of the game, Josh Ross played extremely well). Overall as a defense he thought they played well.

Update on guys who were out:  Jeter, DPJ, Runyan - all three have a chance to play this week.  Dwumfour - we'll see, haven't see him yet today.

Decision on Kicker? They were neck and neck with 1 kick separating them all camp. Moody was the one that was ahead - he would kick first one and then they'd rotate the next kicker for each drive. The guy who was "up" would take the extra point if a TD was scored instead. will keep that going next week.

How was it for him not calling plays? Still same focus for knowing play that was going to be run. He was into it so it didn't feel much different. 

How did he assess Josh Gattis' playcalling:  Thought it was practically flawless. He was decisive in play calling - thought it was  clear, clean, concise game. 

Value of Cam Cheeseman:  Cam had a perfect game. Got the special teams player of the week. He's just consistently good and brings a big body to the formations for punts/FG. He was good in protection and snapping was great. He is a great guy.

Evaluation of QBs:  Both did very well. Shea made some big plays. Ball handling is being addressed. Dylan made some big plays as well. Felt both ran the offense efficiently. So did Joe when he was in. They were accurate and ran the ball well, ran the offense well. Shea was really good against the blitz. Sideline pressure with the CB blitz.  Shea had a clean game in terms of getting them in the right protections and plays. The RBs had a perfect game in protection - every back was 100%. Zach Charbonnet had 9 for 9 - doesn't think any back has gotten that since he's been here. That's like WOW. There were some sophisticated protections going on, changes on the fly by the center, and it was just easy for him - he just handled it. That's rare - he's been around pro backs that don't do it that well. Tru, Christian, BVS had nice pick ups as well. 

Leadership from the captains: Really good. Those five guys are "the guys" - there's some others that are leaders. Khaleke, Ben, Carlo, Shea, Josh are really looked up to on the team. When they talk, people listen, and they're followed. They set a great example. 

Defensive player of the game?: Ambry Thomas.

On Vincent Grey? He played really well. Graded out in the top 6. 4 tacklets, tackle for loss, good in coverage. 

On a freshman RB picking up protections: Jay Harbaugh should get credit here as well. They were all on it. It's eye catching with Zach becomes it seems to come easily to him, which catches your attention. He was great running the ball and hits holes well, catches the ball well.  Christian Turner had some great runs too. The one he made on the boundary was outstanding - very few guys that can keep their feet in bounds there. Extra effort run was great. Ball security was great for this unit. 

On Giles Jackson:  Really good - just told him to SQUEEZE the ball. He was impressive and he's doing the kick returns, got in at WR. His role will grow more. 

With Ryan Hayes doing well, how does the line look with Runyan coming back?  Good question. Runyan is top three lineman on the team. Ryan was really impressive and it is a meritocracy all the way. Can he compete at the other tackle spot? Sure. 

On Tarik and the WR balance if DPJ returns: It's a great problem to have. Good to see C. Johnson get in and play well as well. Mike Sainristil had a good game and you'll see some good things out of him. Ronnie - felt he got held coming out of the break - seen him make that catch otherwise.  The team played well. Two questions we're asking ourselves -  (1) When we're playing really well - is that going to be good enough to beat the best teams on our schedule?  (2) When we weren't playing well - is that good enough to beat those teams?  We have to be ready to make those improvements in sprint mode. All those opponents looked good in week one so we need to get to our best as fast as we can and be successful as quickly as we can. 

On playing service academies:  Been on our mind a long time, we've been preparing for it a long time. Going back to spring practice - it's been on our mind - creating extra time in practice to prep for them. It's a great challenge. Heck of a football team last year - 11-2 last year, big bowl win. Unique offensive style. We're excited to play the game.  They're 5-4 vs us all time, we'd like to even that up.