49ers receiver Dante Pettis: ‘Last year I took his coaching the wrong way’
If Dante Pettis turns his career around and becomes an important member of the 49ers offense, February’s Super Bowl will be considered an important turning point.
“If that doesn’t change the way someone approaches the offseason, they don’t really want to be in the NFL, I don’t think,” Pettis said.
Pettis, of course, was a healthy scratch for the Super Bowl, capping a tough second NFL season for the former second-round pick. Pettis finished the year with just 11 catches for 109 yards. It was a dramatic step back from his rookie campaign that included a three-week stretch in which Pettis racked up 255 yards on 12 catches and four touchdowns, including a 129-yard performance in Seattle.
Being inactive for the Super Bowl opened Pettis’ eyes to the fact he might not be long for the team that drafted him unless he makes significant changes.
“There’s not too many things worse than that football-wise that could get you going,” he said. “Being inactive for the Super Bowl, that was kind of like the final straw, you could say. Especially heading into the offseason.”
Pettis’ renewed confidence
It’s led to a renewed level of confidence which has shown up on the practice field early in 49ers training camp. The 49ers could use production from Pettis as top receiver Deebo Samuel continues to work back from a foot injury while Jalen Hurd was lost for the season this week with a torn ACL.
Pettis spent the offseason of the coronavirus working out San Diego and San Francisco. Based on his illuminating Zoom conference with reporters Friday, it sounds like Pettis did more work on his mental well-being than his physical side, though he does appear stronger entering his third NFL season.
Pettis is playing at a different level throughout the first week of training camp. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo used the words “urgency” and “physicality” to describe what he’s seen from Pettis since reporting back to Santa Clara this month.
“I was very excited with Dante,” Shanahan said this week. “He was one of the guys that I was looking forward to talking to the most. When he came in, I saw him right away when he came in and we got to talk and you could just tell his mindset, how his body was, that he spent the time away from us doing everything he could to put himself in a position to make this team and to be as successful as he can be. So, I’ve been very proud of Dante so far and I think it showed.”
Pettis wouldn’t fully disclose what led to the changes, but he did say something happened over the break that led a change in his psyche.
“There was a lot. It’s something that I will get into eventually,” Pettis said. “Basically, I allowed myself to be who I know I can be. Last year I wasn’t playing the way that I know I could have. I know I was capable of more. And I wasn’t really allowing myself to do that. This year, the whole quarantine process really helped me, I think, just being able to kind of step away from everything, not have any distractions and just kind of go one on one with myself.”
History between Shanahan and Pettis
Shanahan has admitted to being hard on Pettis. After all, Shanahan, a former wideout himself, scouts the position more heavily than any other. And the 49ers traded a third-round pick to move up 15 spots to snag Pettis in the second round of the 2018 draft. Pettis’ lack of production last season factored into the team trading third- and fourth-round picks for Emmanuel Sanders.
Suffice to say, Shanahan’s tough love with Pettis has been warranted. Pettis said he struggled with Shanahan’s messaging last season when he fell into the coach’s dog house during training camp. But now he has a better understanding of what the coach was trying to get across.
“Last year I took his coaching the wrong way, I guess,” Pettis said, “and I made it more personal and about me than about me realizing how good he knows I can be. And I got caught up in the way he said some things and not the actual message that he was trying to get to me.
“Once I realized that, everything kind of changed and I think our relationship is really good. It’s open. And we can communicate. When I came back, we had a good talk and I think that we have a really good relationship now.”
