It’s easy to notice Kris Kocurek’s intensity on the practice field.
The 49ers defensive line coach is usually sweating through his backwards hat and t-shirt as he’s barking out orders to the Niners. It sounds like that fire spilled over to other duties as well.
As the 49ers and Raiders shared the field for a joint practice in Henderson, Nevada, on Thursday, San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan recalled a funny story about Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby.
During the 2019 pre-draft process, which was Kocurek’s first with the 49ers, Shanahan said the d-line coach absolutely grilled Crosby during combine interviews. Shanahan and Crosby laughed about it during a practice chat on Thursday.
“Just some mutual respect there,” Shanahan said. “He’s as good as it gets. I wanted to apologize to him because we were kinda d–ks to him – oops, shouldn’t say that – we were kinda jerks to him in our interview when he came out of college. He’s really one of the coolest dudes I’ve been around or seen, and he’s one of the best players in this league. …
“It was Kocurek’s first interview and he had been some other places where they liked to attack guys a little bit and rattle them. That’s not totally our style. That was the first one. (General manager) John (Lynch) was trying to touch his leg, like, ‘Kris, chill out a little bit.’ After, he was like, ‘What? What’d I do?’ And he was like, ‘Sorry, my last coach wanted me to do it that way.’”
From the sounds of it, Crosby handled it like a true pro, as he had just wrapped up his senior year at Eastern Michigan. On Thursday, Crosby said there were no hard feelings towards Kocurek or the Niners.
“It was a great meeting,” Crosby said. “I remember Kocurek, he was sitting in there going through the meeting, like yelling but not mad. His energy was crazy but in a good way. … Kocurek was cool. The meeting was unique. It was what it was, but I love they way they coach over there.”
Crosby also shared a funny interaction he had with Shanahan during Thursday’s practice.
“I made a play and I was hyped and I’m talking s–t to Kyle and he’s laughing at me,” Crosby said. “He went up to me after the play and he’s like, ‘Yeah, man. I feel like an a–hole for the interview we had with you in 2019.’”
The 49ers had three draft picks before Crosby was selected No. 106 overall, selecting edge rusher Nick Bosa (No. 2 overall), receiver Deebo Samuel (No. 36) and receiver Jalen Hurd (No. 67).
Nowadays, Crosby, who ranked tied for eighth with 12.5 sacks last year, is widely regarded as one of the NFL’s best edge rushers. The 25-year-old said he is enjoying the opportunity to sharpen his tools against 49ers All-Pro tackle Trent Williams in practice this week. The two squads will clash again on Friday before Sunday's preseason opener.
“Me and Trent had some great reps today,” Crosby said. “We’re getting after it. We were chopping it up after as well. He’s the best in the game. Me and him a couple 1-on-1s and a couple team reps against each other. That’s what it’s all about. I wanna go up against the best.”
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