The San Francisco 49ers are going through a tough offseason losing a number of players including key contributors due to retirement and free agency and because of this defensive coordinator Eric Mangini wants the remaining guys to be flexible on defense.
Mangini values flexibility and considers it as an important factor for their defense.
"Sometimes that's just a catch phrase but I grew up that way defensively, and I believe in that, where each week we are going to have challenges we have to deal with, and we have to have the tools and flexibility both physically and mentally to get that done in a very short time frame," the 44-year-old said through the Sacramento Bee.
"So I'm a big believer in building flexibility into the defense, too," Mangini added.
The veteran head coach also spoke to Sports Illustrated's The MMQB regarding 49ers players returning from injury as they move on from the departure of some of their players
"As much as there have been guys who have retired or left for whatever reason, we also have a lot of guys coming back from injuries," Mangini shared with The MMQB.
"NaVorro Bowman is back. So are Ian Williams and Glenn Dorsey. So there are quality players who weren't part of last year's defense in a significant way or who missed significant time. Those guys are coming back, which is great. That gets a little bit lost in the whole conversation," he added.
In a report by Sac Bee, cornerback Kenneth Acker discussed how Mangini are giving them workouts testing their flexibility on defense.
"Coach has been throwing us around. So ... you're not going to play in the same position, not play the same side. Some people are inside, some people are outside, some people are at safety," the 23-year-old said.
"I think we've got a lot of different guys that can do a lot of different things. And coach sees that. He's feeling us out just like we're feeling the positions out," Acker added.
The 49ers finished with an 8-8 record last season missing the playoffs and will try to return to the postseason next season.
