Kyle Shanahan is stubborn.
He hates playing young players, particularly on offense, and almost always finds reasons to play veterans instead. Which is why he doesn’t always play the best players. He would rather play the guys who have memorized his offense front and back. As if football is more of a mental exercise than a physical one.
That’s why he played Ronnie Bell 30 snaps and Jacob Cowing 0 snaps against the Rams. Bell is in his second season on the team and knows the offense better than Cowing, who’s a rookie. The problem is that all the studying in the world won’t improve Bell’s ability to catch the ball, something he struggles with. He dropped two passes against the Rams including a potential game-winner.
Cowing does not struggle to catch the ball. And he clearly outperformed Bell in the preseason. And yet, Shanahan still won’t play the rookie. And now the 49ers have lost two games in a row. On Monday, he was asked about Cowing. Here’s what Shanahan said.
Q: Where is WR Jacob Cowing on his, I guess, progression in getting involved in the offense and were there thoughts about getting him any more snaps on offense?
SHANAHAN: “He’s still working to get out there. He is trying to get more comfortable with the offense and just earn a role with it, gets closer and closer each week. Still got a bit to go though.”
Q: How has he been looking? He is obviously back, not off the injury list, but does he look like he is normal health-wise other than that?
SHANAHAN: “Oh yeah, he is totally healthy.”
Q: Is it more mental understanding of the offense and where he needs to be?
SHANAHAN: “There’s lots of reasons that go into it, but he hasn’t been able to make his way into that group yet, and the more he gets comfortable with the offense and the more consistent he gets then he’ll earn those opportunities.”
MY TAKE: Cowing needs to get more comfortable and consistent, but Bell doesn’t? The only thing Bell does consistently is drop the ball. Cowing is a better player than him. A coach’s job is to play his best players. We saw Shanahan bury Jordan Mason on the depth chart behind Elijah Mitchell for two years. That was ridiculous. He better not do the same thing with Cowing.
