Shanahan praises Bosa’s reaction to roughing call vs. Seahawks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Coach Kyle Shanahan believes Nick Bosa‘s reaction to the controversial roughing-the-passer penalty he was called for Thursday night says a lot about the 49ers’ star pass rusher.
Rather than echo the sentiments of many watching the game, the defensive end didn’t seem to disagree with a flag being thrown after he landed on top of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith.
“I mean, Bosa is a smart dude. He’s realistic and he’s right,” Shanahan said Friday via conference call. “Once we saw it on the scoreboard, you could see that. We watch that stuff almost every Friday and go over all the clips on why people get penalties, why they’re doing it, and you definitely have to, you can’t land on guys.
“And he knew that. He had an opportunity not to, and he realized that right away. So, it’s nice when you have guys like that who can keep it real in the moment because it makes them a lot easier to coach.”
While Bosa might not necessarily agree with it, he certainly knows the rule.
“I landed on him,” Bosa said after the game Thursday. “I don’t know, I thought he still had the ball, so I was kind of thinking about it while I was going to the ground, whether he had the ball or not.
“I forgot to roll off. I’m usually better at doing that. It was a good call, I guess.”
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The flag erased a pick six by 49ers cornerback Deommodore Lenoir, but San Francisco still came out on top 21-13 and clinched the NFC West.
And in the process, Bosa showed his mental approach to the game — along with the physical — is a big reason why he’s the NFL Defensive Player of the Year front-runner.