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Roger Goodell doesn’t sound worried about Kyle Shanahan’s critical comments about the 49ers playing in Melbourne, Australia — and is even willing to help him adjust to the time change.
During a press conference in Australia on Friday, Goodell responded to the 49ers head coach saying in March that he doesn’t “see any pro” to San Francisco traveling to face the Rams in Week 1 as the NFL continues to expand its game globally.
“Coaches have a focus on winning, that’s their number one job,” Goodell told reporters, according to CBS Sports. “Coach Shanahan is enthusiastic and a great football coach and also someone who truly understands the importance of expanding our game globally. But his job is to win. I always like to say that coaches like to play at [1 p.m.] and [4 p.m.] and don’t get in the way of that.”
Roger Goodell is pictured in October 2025. Action Images via ReutersOut of the record-setting nine international games the NFL will host in 2026, the 49ers will play in two of them, as they’ll also travel to Mexico City later in the season.
The league will additionally play one game in Munich, Paris, Madrid and Rio, while also hosting a three-game slate in London.
Shanahan, in March, wasn’t thrilled about needing to travel approximately 19 hours for the game at Melbourne Cricket Ground, telling reporters that while it’s “cool for the league to play globally,” he didn’t see any benefit for San Francisco.
Goodell said that he planned to send an app to Shanahan — something that his wife introduced him to and something that made the international travel easier — to help eliminate jet lag, with the longtime commissioner telling reporters Friday that he’d been in Australia since Tuesday and “I thought it was a relatively easy trip.”
“We’re going to make it a great experience for the team,” Goodell said, according to CBS Sports. “That’s one of the things we focus on,” Goodell said.
Kyle Shanahan is pictured during the 49ers’ playoff game against the Seahawks on Jan. 17. Getty ImagesThe Week 1 showdown will also serve as a critical game for tiebreakers later in the season, with both the Rams and San Francisco part of a packed NFC West that also includes the Seahawks — who won the Super Bowl in February and return plenty of key pieces for another run.
Over the offseason, the 49ers added wideouts Mike Evans and Christian Kirk to give Brock Purdy another weapon on offense alongside Christian McCaffrey after a 12-5 finish in 2025.
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