Steve Wilks Doesn't Believe his Move to the Sidelines Improved the Defense

49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks called his first game from the sidelines this season against the Jaguars.

Wilks has been in the booth, which is what he prefers. But Kyle Shanahan elected to move him to the sideline as a way to boost the defense. Well, it might've been the key as the 49ers defense looked like themselves again. Jacksonville had zero success offensively and looked like a mediocre side.

“It was fine. I enjoyed the interaction with the players," Wilks said about being on the sideline. "I think, in that regard, it was good to be able to look in their eyes and communicate and create some clarity in my thoughts moving to the next series.”

Shanahan had mentioned that the 49ers are going to try Wilks on the sideline against the Jaguars, but never said it was indefinite. After the results they just had, I doubt he is ever going back to the booth. However, Wilks doesn't believe his move to the sidelines is what improved the defense.

“Believe me, that wasn't nowhere near the reason why," said Wilks. "We got good players and me being down on the sideline had nothing to do with it. I was just really excited once again how they responded. I'm not living in the past. I felt like we were a little tired and we needed that Bye, and you could see when we came back on that Monday that they were fresh with their legs. The attitude was completely different. We played to our standard this past week, and we got to be consistent moving forward.”

Wilks is 100 percent right. His move to the sidelines had absolutely nothing to do with why the 49ers defense looked elite again. What really factored in were the adjustments he made along with the players executing at a high level again instead of underperforming. His forced move to the sidelines was always a desperation move to try to get the defense alive again.

A shame Wilks won't get to be back in the booth where he is comfortable at, especially since it didn't help anything.