Your daily San Francisco 49ers news for Thursday, June 26th, 2025
Gus Bradley’s role reversal and why 49ers consider him ‘huge addition’ to defense (paywall)
“You think (Saleh) should just be sitting there and making sure the notes are taken and everything’s been drawn up right,” said Bradley, who was Seattle’s defensive coordinator. “But it wasn’t like that with Robert. He would challenge your thoughts and say, ‘Well, I’ve had some experiences too and here’s one way to look at it.’”
Bradley encouraged the younger coach’s feedback, and he later hired Saleh as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ linebackers coach in 2014, when he was the head coach there….“I’ve been with Gus for a long time and have just so much respect for him,” Saleh said two weeks ago. “While our philosophies are the same, we look at it differently, if that makes sense. It’s kind of a good yin and yang. He sees my blind spots, and I can see his.”
Unlike Bradley, Saleh is not as big on the give and take.
“He yells at me that ‘there’s a line to be drawn,’” Bradley said.
Bradley then let out a huge laugh that Saleh could probably hear down the hall…..As a former head coach like Saleh, Bradley said that experience helps defensive coordinators see the game differently.
“You kind of see a big picture,” he said. “Sometimes, it’s things like situational football. When you’re the head coach, situations are so important. And then when you go back to be a coordinator, you really look at situations differently.”
49ers insider delivers encouraging Christian McCaffrey update ahead of 2025 season
“Christian McCaffrey is healthy again,” Barrows reported in a recent article summarizing takeaways from each NFL team’s offseason workouts. “Following a 2024 season marred by Achilles and knee issues, McCaffrey said his goal this spring was to be available for all of the 49ers’ OTA and minicamp sessions.
“And while he didn’t look quite like he did in the spring of 2023 — he was prominently intense in OTAs that year, foreshadowing his Offensive Player of the Year campaign — he didn’t have to sit out any sessions. That was a boost of confidence for the running back, who said he’ll be back to training as usual during the summer break, and to a 49ers offense that missed McCaffrey last season, especially in the red zone.”
““He’s a good kid. I like him,” Kittle said. “He’s a freak. He is really tall. I watched him, he was running a route, and he got like nine and a half yards in two strides. I was like, ‘Holy s—t.’ It was insane. We watched it like 10 times as the tight end room. We’re like, ‘How is he doing this?’