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00:00From the game, Ben Bartsch went out with an ankle, didn't return.
00:03Isaac Garendo went out with a foot, didn't return.
00:06Go ahead.
00:08What's the extent of Garendo's foot injury?
00:10We're not sure, possible foot sprain.
00:14X-rays didn't for sure show anything, so we'll have to look into more tomorrow.
00:18I don't remember which is the high ankle sprain, is that-
00:20Yes, yeah.
00:22How much did you guys just need that right off the bat to jump out to the 24-0
00:26lead after what's gone on the last couple weeks?
00:28A lot, I mean, losing that close one at Seattle in the last play at home was so
00:33tough, and then the following two weeks were as bad as it got.
00:35So we had to step it up today, wanted to play well, thought we did play well.
00:39And most important thing was getting a win, and we got it done.
00:42So I was proud of the guys, the way they came out, and the way they finished.
00:46That offensive rhythm,
00:47you think this team's been into the first half especially?
00:50Yeah, definitely, I mean, that first half went pretty well.
00:55So having, I think, over 300 yards in the half, and I think our defense gave up too.
01:00So I don't think anyone in the league's done that in half this year on both sides,
01:03so it was a hell of a first half.
01:04What do you think of the way Isaac played before he got hurt, and
01:07how consciously were you trying to take advantage of his receiving skills?
01:09Those two catches obviously helped.
01:12Yeah, I mean, Brock got to a check down on that first third down.
01:16He was waiting on Kittle to get across the middle, and
01:18that's who I was watching.
01:19And then he went underneath to Isaac, and they just dropped him.
01:21So that was a huge play, but I thought Isaac looked real good today.
01:26Ran hard, affected the game in the past game, and
01:30hopefully we get some good news on his injury.
01:33But it was, so I had mixed emotions on that last drive.
01:36It was nice to be able to go on a 14-play drive to finish it with a touchdown,
01:39kind of put him away, but it was tough losing Isaac there.
01:42What was the difference offensively today?
01:44It seemed like you've been waiting to have this type of a performance all season.
01:47I mean, that's just how it went.
01:49There's not an answer on this compared to the rest of the season.
01:52Guys played well, stayed on the field on third down.
01:56Thought we got the run game and the pass game going.
01:59I thought, I mean, the defense kept getting us the ball back every second in
02:01the first half, so it was easy to stick with it.
02:04And momentum's contagious, not just on the offense, but all three phases.
02:08Were you a little anxious when the ref in the pass there with Brock stayed down for
02:12a little bit?
02:14I mean, yeah, always when any of our players are down.
02:18But they talked to me in my headset and stuff, and
02:20by the time he got to the sideline, they told me it was good, so it was short-lived.
02:24What did you think of the pauses this time?
02:25You kind of asked similarly to what I was going to ask.
02:27But one of the things this season between you guys and
02:29the players is we need to play complimentary football.
02:32And it did seem that everybody was firing on all cylinders in all phases of
02:35the game today.
02:36And I wanted to know, did you think that that was sparked by the offense?
02:38But you kind of just said that you feel like the defense, well,
02:41you said they kept it going.
02:42So do you think it was sparked by the offense?
02:44And do you think that's how you keep that going for the rest of the season?
02:47I mean, we got the ball first and we scored.
02:49And then our defense got it right back to us, and
02:51it kind of went that way the whole half.
02:52So I mean, I think maybe our second series, we did punt.
02:57And when the defense stops at team three and out right after that, and
03:00you get it right back, then you quickly forget about it.
03:02When you punt and they go down and tie it up, the whole game gets changed.
03:05So it's all complimentary football, and the guys were in sync today.
03:08What did you think of Hooponga's first game back, and
03:11what does his presence do for the secondary?
03:14I was just pumped to get Huff out there in uniform.
03:17We weren't sure how it was gonna go this week with him being back for practice.
03:19And we thought he looked real good.
03:21And then when he told me the confidence he had to play on Friday,
03:26I was pumped to start him.
03:27So just to get him out there, I thought was just the emotions of it.
03:32I thought it sparked our team.
03:33It looked like he played real well, just from what I saw live.
03:36I'll see more on the tape, but just the type of guy Huff is, and
03:40getting him back out on the field with us throughout the week.
03:42And then in that game, I think fired our guys up.
03:45You mentioned the other day that before Christian got here,
03:47you've been pretty plug and play with your running backs, and
03:50be able to use different guys for Isaac to step up like he did.
03:52And Patrick Taylor came in and got a touchdown.
03:55If Garendo is hurting, what can Taylor do for you?
03:58I think you guys saw a little bit today.
04:00When we give him Patrick runs, I mean, going back to the preseason and in practice.
04:04He's a good runner, he hits the right spots, he runs hard.
04:07So he's a guy who can definitely help us.
04:09And he had some big carries, I wanna say for Seattle.
04:12I think it was when JP went out, and he was spelling Isaac.
04:15And he had to spell Isaac today.
04:17And when he went in, did a good job on all his opportunities.
04:20What did you say to him earlier, like a raw, raw guy.
04:22But after those two tough games, even three tough games,
04:25as you've mentioned, the Seattle game.
04:26Did you feel a need to speak to your team about keeping the mood up?
04:30Or did you just sense that it was gonna happen anyway?
04:33You mean after the game?
04:34What's it like going into this week?
04:37I mean, yeah, every time you get in a meeting as a coach,
04:40you want to figure out something that's gonna affect the players.
04:43And when I say affect them, I mean make them practice better or play better.
04:48It's very rarely some special words that changes how guys play.
04:53But we did talk about the importance of this where we were at.
04:57Regardless of the result, I wanted to make sure that we came out today and
05:00just showed grit.
05:02We wanted to fight.
05:03And these last two weeks, just not making it a game was something we weren't proud
05:08of, and we were ready to battle today, regardless of how that went.
05:11It went as good as it could, so I mean, the win was awesome.
05:14But I just wanted to make sure our ten and how our team worked were ready.
05:18And you could tell in the meetings last night,
05:20guys were ready for this game, and it came out and it showed.
05:23What was the message to the team?
05:24And do you think you can carry this momentum into Thursday night?
05:28I hope so.
05:29I mean, momentum, we feel good right now.
05:31We played well.
05:33It's gonna come fast.
05:34And the only way we're gonna really enjoy today is if we take care of business on
05:37Thursday.
05:38And then we'll have three days to kind of enjoy it and
05:40come back and deal with our last three games.
05:42But if you don't take care of business on Thursday,
05:45not much to celebrate about today.
05:47So the main message in there is how proud I am of the guys.
05:50And now let's go home, get to sleep.
05:52Those guys take care of their bodies tomorrow.
05:54We'll put in the game plan tomorrow.
05:55And we gotta come in Tuesday ready to go,
05:57cuz we're 48 hours from a game once it happens.
06:00I feel like you were in a rhythm as a play caller.
06:01It seemed like you were calling things we haven't seen that much,
06:03like zone reads and tight end screens.
06:06I mean, called some tight end screens this year.
06:10Zone read, we hadn't.
06:12That's just more of a scheme thing that we thought it looked good and
06:15couldn't believe Brock didn't hand it off.
06:17But once he pulled it, I think that was a good decision, too.
06:20Just we had to overcome that holding call, which we didn't in score, but
06:23I thought we did in the second half.
06:24Well, that's great.
06:25Great, you said you wanted the guys to come out and play with some grit.
06:28When you think about the fact that Malik Mustafa took a hard hit,
06:31looked like he was a little rattled, came to the sideline, went back in.
06:33And he was the guy that broke up that play with Ozunde, or
06:37I think that's how you say his name, when he broke that up.
06:40If he wasn't there, that could have been a touchdown, obviously.
06:42But then also the grip behind Brock Purdy, taking a hard hit,
06:46coming out, coming right back a snap later.
06:48Can you just speak to the resilience of those two guys?
06:50Yeah, I mean, grit is such a roundabout saying, but
06:54we got gritty dudes all over our team.
06:56We got as tough as guys as there is.
06:59I just wanted our team, we haven't been able to battle and
07:01finish a game when things have gone bad there.
07:04And that's what I wanted to make sure, just the whole team that we're gonna play
07:07with grit and show that, not necessarily as individuals.
07:10I know we got gritty dudes all over, but
07:12when you have your backs against the wall like we have had, that's when it's your
07:16opportunities to show that your team can still play with some grit,
07:18your team can have some resilience.
07:20And when we've been in those situations this year where we needed to, we haven't.
07:23I think we've done it a lot in the past, so we know how it looks and
07:27we know what it feels like.
07:28But the opportunities that we've had this year, we haven't got that done.
07:31And I just wanted to remind them that this year's not over, and
07:34today was an opportunity to show that.
07:36And that's not something you can do as an individual.
07:38We got gritty dudes, but as a team, that's collectively.
07:42And everyone's gotta be kinda, I mean, say psychology's contagious.
07:46And you try to think like one and play like one, and I felt that today from our team.
07:52Last week, there's been some rumors over the web that you could be traded to
07:55Chicago, and John called them comical.
07:58Do you have a word to describe those rumors?
08:01I mean, I don't know why they come out, but
08:04that's, I mean, I don't wanna be any place in the world more than here.
08:08And my family feels just as strong, if not a lot stronger.
08:11So I hope he's gonna have to kick me out of here.
08:14So there's no way I'm making that decision.
08:16Without McCaffrey, Bosa, and Trent, that's three captains.
08:20Do you see other leaders, kinda younger players emerging as somewhat as leaders?
08:24Yeah, I think we've been needing that all year.
08:27I mean, when you wanna be a leader, it starts with what you do on the field.
08:30It's gotta be genuine.
08:32And when you have a certain way of playing on the field, and you're out there, and
08:36you do things, guys will start to look to those guys as leaders.
08:39And then it's kinda how you carry yourself, and what you do in those moments.
08:42And I think we've had a lot of guys on this team, going back to even week one
08:47until now, that didn't expect to get a lot of opportunities.
08:51Maybe when we drafted them, or back in training camp, and
08:54they've gotten opportunities fast.
08:55And that's, I think, one of the positives that there's a lot of guys that we do
08:59believe in, that I do believe are getting better each week.
09:02And hopefully, they're gonna be good Niners here for a long time.
09:05How valuable is it to have a guy like Isaac with that kind of speed, but
09:09also enough size to run inside?
09:13I don't get how you can do one without the other.
09:15So if you could just draft track guys to run the speed plays, and
09:19big guys to run the other plays, then that'd be easy.
09:21But you can get hit wherever you go.
09:24So you better be able to run outside, inside.
09:27You better be able to lower your pads and take hits.
09:29And the faster you are, the better, as long as you can do all that other stuff.
09:33You run that screen pass to Kittle, that 33-yarder on the first track before.
09:37And then, just how well was he able to exploit the defense?
09:41It was good.
09:41I mean, we caught him in a zone dog, which helps,
09:43cuz they were matching all the guys down the field.
09:45So there's only kind of one guy looking at him.
09:48Got scarred a lot back in the day calling that, cuz especially people like KJ Wright,
09:54they would just sit and stare at Kittle every time he blocked.
09:56So as soon as he'd catch it, people would drill him.
09:59So sometimes it's hard to get screens to guys who are really good at it.
10:03But that was a good play to open it up, got it versed the right look.
10:07And when you can get George the ball versed the right look,
10:10I think everyone sees how explosive he is.
10:12And we just give him some crap for getting tackled inside the five twice,
10:16but he was unbelievable today.
10:19Brock had bum shoulder in Seattle and had to sit out, and it was a snowstorm.
10:25I mean, it's kind of difficult for him during that three game losing streak.
10:28Did he stay kind of steady throughout?
10:31Did you sense any sort of frustration?
10:33Yeah, I mean, normal frustration.
10:35I mean, we wanna win, and Brock's as competitive as anyone I've been around.
10:38So he was real disappointed about the Seattle game and
10:42how they got away from us at the end.
10:44And then for him to come in Monday and feel the way he did was kind of a shock to him
10:48and to all of us, and it didn't respond very well that week.
10:51And so he wasn't able to come back versus Green Bay and
10:54get that taste out of his mouth.
10:55And when he did versus Buffalo, that wasn't a very fun game for obvious reasons.
11:01So he's been battling, he's been awesome in practice,
11:04he's been great in the meetings.
11:06And I was real happy for him today cuz it seemed like he played his ass off, and
11:09he was decisive in everything he did, and he's always a competitor.
11:13On that second challenge, were they already in the replay review, or
11:17did you throw the flag to try to get them to do the replay?
11:20How did that all-
11:21Which one?
11:22You threw the challenge flag on the second time.
11:24The one, the low catch or the fumble?
11:26The fumble?
11:29Yeah.
11:30No, yeah, once they said it was an incompletion,
11:33then we saw on the scoreboard that he threw it backwards.
11:35So then I just threw it and said it was a fumble, and
11:38I think they overturned it anyways after I did that.
11:41So got my challenge back.
11:43After a couple of cross-country road trips in inclement weather,
11:45how much did you feel the home field advantage today?
11:49I mean, we always feel a home field advantage.
11:51It's so nice to not have to use a silent count, and
11:53to be able to use our cadence, and tee off on the ball and everything.
11:57We don't mind going on the road.
11:59We've been able to play in loud environments.
12:01We've been able to play in cold weather.
12:02It doesn't mean we prefer it, but we always love being at home and
12:07can't wait to be here in four days.