The offnesive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers spoke with reporters prior to the team's Week 16 road game against the Detroit Lions.
After falling 24-14 to the Cincinnati Bengals and losing the team's starting running back and right guard to injuries, Geep Chryst met with reporters on Wednesday to discuss the team's options to replace Shaun Draughn and Marcus Martin, who are dealing with a knee injury and a concussion, respectively.
Here's more of the key comments from San Francisco's play-caller.
You have to catch DuJuan Harris up to speed, but is Draughn going to practice and do you expect him to be back?
"(Shaun) is really truly day-by-day. He was not available for us at the walk-thru. (Running backs coach) Tom Rathman's done a nice job. We know the routine. What's always tough in a game is when you lose someone in the first quarter. You've got three quarters yet to play, and so the attitudes of all the players that we've brought in have been great and the attitude of Tom working with them and trying to get them ramped up.
"So in some regards, maybe we'll all be as lucky as having Shaun come in before that Atlanta game, but there's a lot of extra effort being put in even though it's a holiday week. There's a lot of extra effort being put in to get people ramped up, DuJuan ramped up."
Has it been determined if Jarryd Hayne will be promoted from the practice squad?
"I think we know who Jarryd is. The other thing that you always want to evaluate is who you're going to dress out on that 46. It's not just the 53, but also the 46 and where does that fit with the special teams.
"Often times any backup, whether you're a backup running back or a backup linebacker or a backup tight end, what's the value within the offensive or defensive plan and then what's also the special team value. But, Jarryd's done a nice job. There's a couple other practice squad guys that have done a great job. ... Those guys kind of toil anonymously day-to-day. Jarryd definitely fits in. We're excited about his future, but I think it comes down to maybe what the special teams roles are and who's going to get that uniform of 46, not just the 53."
How do you juggle what the defense dictates on third downs versus throwing an agressive pass into tight coverage?
"I think the score and the time of the game often times will dictate that. Let's say you're in the first quarter, I think we went in the first series, we had a negative rush. The second series, it was second-and-one, we had a personal foul penalty. It's still a zero-to-zero game and you don't want to make an overly aggressive throw into tight coverage at that point in time.
"Now, in the third and the fourth quarter, the time and score of the game, we were behind and needed multiple possessions to get back. I think that that felt differently and I think the decisions that Blaine (Gabbert) made were appropriate for what the score and the time of the game was."
How is Marcus Martin?
"You know, the play that he got hurt on was a hustle play. He was trying to hustle downfield on a screen and it was unfortunate that when guys hustle, he was kind of diving to get a cut, that that happened. I think, again, he's in the concussion protocol and we're respectful of that process.
"We'll just see day-to-day and then when you go out there, you'll see he'll have a blue jersey on as part of that process. So it's always kind of a race to the end of the week and see where he's at knowing that we've got to be smart first with that and then once you clear the first hurdle, you get to the second hurdle."
Why was Andrew Tiller playing left guard?
"I think (Cincinnati Bengals DT) Geno Atkins is well deserved to have a Pro Bowl honor given to him. I think he, along with (St. Louis Rams DT) Aaron Donald, are probably some of the best three-techniques in the league right now. And so, we liked the matchup of having (Tiller) next to Joe (Staley) on the left side and early in the game they did a really nice job of handling him. We've been probably training Marcus here more on the right side knowing with (Alex) Boone on the left side, we were trying to solidify the left side. I think just the reps that he had up here for this season when he wasn't playing center was pretty much almost exclusively at the right guard position."
How did Trent Brown play against the Bengals?
"Trent is such a good talent. We talk about running backs all the time. The hardest thing for them to do is the pass-protection element. We threw it I think 35 times in the fourth quarter and Trent was more than holding his own. You know, he still has, it's not him not knowing the assignment, it's what the defense is doing. We get three down looks and four down looks and overhangs with safeties blitzing and overhangs with linebackers blitzing and that's a full menu.
"We're excited about how Trent worked during the week and he was prepared when he went in there and I think had some success. So that's a great sign moving forward."
