Nick Sorensen Says the 49ers Defense Lacks Discipline

In the last two games, the 49ers defense has given up 389 rushing yards and 73 points. Not great.

May 10, 2024; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen holds a press conference before the 49ers rookie minicamp at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, CA. Mandatory Credit: Robert Kupbens-Imagn Images / Robert Kupbens-Imagn Images

In the last two games, the 49ers defense has given up 389 rushing yards and 73 points. Not great.

This week, defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen was asked to explain why the 49ers defense has been so bad recently. Here's what he said, courtesy of the 49ers p.r. department.

ME: In your wins, you’ve defended the run really well. In your losses, it seems like the run defense has been a bigger issue. What do you see as the main way you need to fix the run game?

SORENSEN: “There’s a lot of ways. Whether it's just execution, whether it's tackling, I think it's different each time. But it's just definitely not good enough. We need to do it better earlier in the game, because then they start to control the game and then it gets out of hand or it gets just uneven. That's not how we want to play. Giving up over 100 yards in a half, let alone a game, it's in a half, it's just unacceptable. We can't do it, our guys know it. We need to be disciplined. It doesn't matter who is playing, it's their opp. We expect a lot from whoever is in the game. We just have to be better. Got to coach it better, we’ve got to play better in every aspect, in every way.”

Q: The redzone is just, nine-for-nine the last two weeks, 100-percent, it can't get worse, it's a crisis situation. Is there a solution? Is there an answer?

SORENSEN: “We're looking at everything. Whatever needs to be done, we're trying. We’ve got to ask the same thing. Same as the run. We’ve got to, same as not taking the ball away, same as third down. These situational parts of our defense have to get better. And it doesn't matter who is in there. We’ve got to coach it better, we’ve got execute better. So, we look at every aspect of it, evaluate everything. Looking at how, looking at ourselves even more throughout what we've done. Are there things we need to change? Do we just need to tighten up what we're doing? We just evaluate. Then it's also your opponent. Does that apply to who you're playing? It's not good. It's not good enough. We have to get it better.”

Q: Is it guys trying to make plays instead of sticking to their assignments? Is that what the issue is? Because I know you build it so that it will work, but what's the disconnect?

SORENSEN: “It's just a combination. It's just a combination. We’ve just got to, we just have to finish. Sometimes we get it to a third down in the redzone too, or it gets down to the one. Well, we can't let it. First of all, it shouldn't get to the redzone. That's the best way to play good redzone defense is not let it get down there. And when, like you said, nine-for-nine, five times, five-for-five, next game, four-for-four. That's a lot of opps in the redzone. I don't care if they started there and it's some type of sudden change, it doesn't matter. If we're hitting the redzone, we’ve got to stand up, we’ve got to stop them. And it just hasn't been good enough.”

Q: You mentioned discipline. Is it people, is it guys not staying on their assignment?

SORENSEN: “It's all of us. It's all of us. We’ve got to do better.”

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