MELBOURNE, Australia -- Having been here since early Friday morning, Kyle Shanahan's concerns about taking part in the NFL's first regular-season game in Australia have dissipated.
Speaking at his first news conference since arriving in the country ahead of this week's opener against the Rams, the 49ers' coach was loose and jovial during much of his 13-minute session Monday. It was a different tone than the one he took when he voiced frustration about the trip at the league meetings in March.
"That was just about competition and how important our 17 games are," Shanahan said Monday. "It's cool for us, just we always have an advantage of I see it as one home game a year in L.A. Just the way our fans are and take over [SoFi Stadium, the Rams' home]. It was disappointing to let them off the hook and get them out of that. ... Knowing how our fans roll, I have a feeling they won't be much different here.
"I expect to have a good showing. I wouldn't say it hit me right on the plane, but after being here for a couple days, this is the right time to be here, it's the right place to be and it's the right team to go against."
The 49ers spent the weekend attempting to adjust their body clocks to the 17-hour time difference between here and the Bay Area. Shanahan said his players have done a bit of exploring even if the coaching staff has not.
A handful of 49ers attended the Australian Football League game at Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday night and then had some free time to explore the city Sunday.
"This has been such a cool experience," running back Christian McCaffrey said. "There's a lot of question marks when you hear you're playing in Australia, but since we've been here, it's been so cool. The people are unbelievable. The food's incredible. The coffee's great. The atmosphere, you can already feel it. And it's been a lot of fun, so we're super fired up we're here."
For Shanahan, the biggest challenge so far seems to be trying to keep track of what time and day it is. Shanahan made multiple references to "time travel" in his news conference and began it by declining to discuss injuries because the league doesn't require injury reports until three days before the game. That means the first injury report of the week doesn't need to be set until it's Monday afternoon in the United States.
"We're technically in the future from where we're from, and the Rams [who don't leave for the U.S. until later this week] are in the present," Shanahan said. "I don't have to talk about injuries until tomorrow. So, I'm not talking about them."
Shanahan then tried to explain the team's plan for the week while vacillating between what day and time it is in the United States versus what it is in Australia.
"When I look at my clock and it says the time and then I try to see my family's time and then it says the time, but it says yesterday, I don't even get how that's possible," Shanahan said. "I think it's Monday. However, though, it's Sunday in the present. So, I'm going to mess that up all week if you guys ask me. But today is just our first day of the game plan, which is a Wednesday. We'll put in some on Thursday. Friday is the final part of the game plan. Saturday, we walk through and we play on Sunday, which is a Friday in Australia and a Thursday in the U.S. Don't ever make me do that again."
In preparation for the long flight to Australia, Shanahan did have the ear of someone who has made the same trip in charge of an NFL team: his father, Mike, who coached the Denver Broncos for a 1999 preseason game against the Chargers in Sydney.
Kyle Shanahan said he did ask his dad about the trip "a little" but ultimately was jealous because the preseason game didn't bring nearly the amount of stakes or scrutiny of a Week 1 battle against a division rival.
For his part, Shanahan said he hasn't had many chances to get out and see Australia aside from one 30-minute walk. He was then asked if anything has surprised him about the country so far.
"Yeah, that I don't see kangaroos and crocodiles everywhere," Shanahan said, laughing. "I was expecting to see that. It looks like a very normal, cool city."