49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was upset with himself that he got an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty late in the third quarter of the 43-16 loss to Seattle.
“It wasn’t a smart thing by me and something I can’t do,” Shanahan told reporters Monday.
Shanahan was more upset at officials Sunday, which got him the penalty in the first place. A day later, Shanahan calmly explained what set him off.
After 49ers linebacker Fred Warner lost his shoe, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw the shoe further behind the line of scrimmage. Warner ran to get his shoe, prompting Wilson to go hurry-up in hopes of getting a free play.
Warner was running off as Elijah Lee ran on to replace Warner, and the 49ers were flagged for offsides.
“He had to go about 8 more yards to pick it up,” Shanahan said. “As he was doing that, they went hurry-up offense, so we had a guy 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage trying to get his shoe that was thrown out of the way. They were at the line, Fred was going to be offsides because he was picking up his shoe that was thrown. When he saw that, Elijah tried to help him out and run on the field so he could get off. That’s why we got the penalty.”
The offsides prompted a profane outburst by Shanahan, which drew another penalty flag.
Shanahan said he was “trying to figure out” from officials what they can do in that situation “especially when another guy on the opposing team threw it.”
“I’m not saying that he did that maliciously or anything, who knows, but it was an unusual situation and it was my tipping point,” he said.
Shanahan continued his conversation with officials during the timeout between quarters but said he still got no explanation.