QB Jared Goff – Postgame Press Conference – January 9, 2021

(On how his thumb felt and how the team was able to gut through this win…)
“I guess I’ll get this out of the way first. My thumb is fine. And I’m not going to use it as an excuse for anything that didn’t go my way today on any throw or anything. My thumb is fine. It’s coming along. It’s not 100% because it had surgery 10 days ago or 12 days ago or whatever, but it’s in a good place. I’m very capable with what I have going on right now. From that, yeah I’m very proud of our team. It’s an exciting game, it’s an exciting day. Any time you get a playoff win, any time you get to come to Seattle and beat these guys in the playoffs. I think about two weeks ago, I’m sitting right here in this chair and I have a broken thumb lying to you guys. Coming back here and winning this game in a big way is meaningful. We saw everything. We saw the way that they celebrated, we saw what they did. Like Aaron [Donald] said, we wanted this one.”

(On what the management on this thumb will be like to reduce pain or swelling…)
“There’s no pain to be honest. There’s no pain. It’s got screws in it and it’s a little bit swollen but the pain is not the issue.”

(On what it was like for him when he found out John Wolford would be the starter…)
“It was tough. As a competitor, of course I wanted to be out there and I wanted to play. I felt like I could make a difference. It was tough. It was some long conversations that we had, but ultimately I respect [Sean McVay’s] decision. He’s the coach, he had to make a decision that he needed to make early in the week to get out in front of some stuff. I get it. But as a competitor, of course I wanted to play and I was ready to play.”

(On what it was like to see John Wolford get hurt and have to jump in the game…)
“It’s never what you hope for. I think John’s a good friend of mine at this point and I thought he was doing some good things out there. [He] took a shot there and had to come out. But like I said, I was ready to go and I think my whole mindset throughout the week was to stay ready. You never know what can happen. I’ve played in big games before, I’ve played in playoff games before and have that experience so I tried to draw on some of that with the lack of reps and just trust myself.”

(On how satisfying it was to win after overcoming many injuries…)
“Extremely satisfying. I think guys like [Andrew Whitworth], [Cooper Kupp], Aaron [Donald] fighting through some stuff. Like I said, I was ready to go and fighting through some things in my own way. It was very satisfying. I think again I’ll talk about two weeks ago being up here and losing this game in a bad way, them clinching the division against us and having that sour taste in your mouth. The next day I have surgery and I’m sitting here 12 days later winning a playoff game against the same team. It feels good.”

(On what it’s like to have a defense that can regularly put points on the board…)
“It’s amazing, it really is. I’ve never played with a defense of this caliber. It’s exciting. It makes what we do on offense, I don’t want to say easier, but it gives us a lot more opportunities I believe. When Darious [Williams] is able to take a pick six, it’s amazing. What they’ve been doing this year is amazing. We’ve been able to rely on them in some spots. I’m sure at some point they’re going to have to rely on us. But we’re playing some good ball right now on defense. It’s really exciting to see.”