49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan – Rams-49ers Postgame Quotes – October 13, 2019
(Opening Remarks)
“Had number of guys go out, the returners, we’ll find more about some of them tomorrow. All I’ve got for you guys right now is (49ers CB Richard) Sherman left with a stinger and (49ers CB) K’Wuan (Williams) with his hand.”
(On 49ers WR Deebo Samuel’s injury)
“(49ers WR) Deebo (Samuel), something with his quad. I think it’s… hopefully just a strain.”
(On what it was like for George Kittle battling through an injury throughout the game)
“He battled his tail off. Competed in everything, he did a good job in the pass game when he had the opportunities. But all the guys in the run game, the people they were putting in the box and it’s not fun when it’s two yards a carry but to get 41 runs means that those guys are grinding out there and he grinded that whole game. You could tell he was hobbling there at the end so we got him out of there at the end.”
(On what a win like today means with all the players that were not able to play)
“I thought it was huge. Just the way they battled all day. That first drive, I haven’t been a part of many first drives where you see the team run at eight times in a row just right down your throat. They only ended up with seven, right? Yeah, for that to be it, that’s the way the guys recovered after that. That was a hell of a deal, they kept battling. You guys know we went in with some guys down which was a huge challenge, but (49ers RB) Tevin (Coleman) for times in the game, (49ers RB Matt) Breida, Deebo, (49ers WR) Marquise (Goodwin), there was a lot. We had to use everyone, and the guys toughed it out and it makes it a lot easier when our defense plays that way. Them going 0-9 on third down, 0-4 on fourth down, we played very good defense.”
(On how the defense played in the second half and 49ers Defensive Coordinator Robert Saleh)
“I think he’s done a great job. Take away that first drive, I fell like it was the entire game after that. You get a feel for that, especially as an offensive play caller too, just watching them when they go and it just gives you a lot of confidence watching that. We gave them a chance to get back in the game with the fumble on that one third down, but the ‘D’ stepped it up right again, held them on a fourth down. After that, kind of had a feeling that if you just don’t turn it over, we’ll win this game. Haven’t had that feeling very much in my career and the defense definitely gave it to me almost the whole game.”
(On what the sideline was like when the call on the goal line stayed)
“We were pumped, it’s huge. They got one on us when they got the turnover on the third down. For us, to do that again, that was their chance to get back in the game. Put some ‘D’ in some tough positions and it’s not always easy to run it in on the one. When all your guys commit to it, you fill up those gaps and we hold them like we did, it was their chance to get back in the game. It was great.”
(On if he is an eite team in the NFL right now)
“No. Not going to ever used that word, good trick (laughs). But I’m very happy with how we played. We’re 5-0 which is a great thing, but we’re not playing our best ball. We could do a lot of things better than that and it seemed like our defense played an extremely high level, obviously minus the first drive. We can continue to get better on offense, we can continue to get better on special teams. I also think our defense is just getting started too.”
(On if he thinks today will be a statement game for the people who criticize their record because of the teams they have played against)
“You can ask the naysayers, whoever those people are. That’d be up to them. You get an opportunity every Sunday, sometimes Thursdays, sometimes Mondays, but you 16 of them and you make the best out of it. Regardless of who has helped you, who you’re playing against, it’s hard to win in this league. I don’t care if you go versus the team that hasn’t won or a team that’s undefeated, it’s not much different in this league. I don’t think there’s going to be bad teams, just sometimes teams will play their best and it’s up to us to make sure that happens with teams who are playing against us.”
(On what the next steps are for the defense and what he would like to see)
“They did score seven points. Our defense is playing great, I just got a lot of confidence in them. You guys can see the pass rush. The seven guys behind them are good players too and they’re playing better and better. Especially when they can change their mentality to work with that D-line and how long they’ve got to do things for and I think our coaches are getting used to it and are scheming stuff. I do believe we can keep getting better like I believe we have in the first five weeks.”
(On if he got the chance to see what Saleh did to the defense after the first drive)
“No, I didn’t. I hear a little bit because I can hear it on the headset, but I think it was just not to panic. We’ve got to start tackling better. They had some cutbacks in a few gaps. We missed a few stunts and they gapped us out a little bit. When that happens, you’re going to get a lot of yards before contact. So we just had to settle down a little bit, keep your guys the right gaps and when we did that and there wasn’t as much space and we started tackling a lot better.”
(On how big it was starting the second half with 49ers DL Arik Armstead getting the fumble and 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo got the touchdown)
“It was huge, it was huge. When the game started out, it was kind of opposite there and in the third quarter. For our defense to get that turnover right away and to go ahead and capitalize. We missed a few opportunities down there in the red zone with the turnovers, but that was huge.”
(On if still being undefeated is on the mind of anybody)
“No, not at all. Honestly, not at all.”
(On if being intercepted in the endzone was a poor decision)
“No, we got exactly what we wanted. (49ers TE George) Kittle couldn’t get away from the guy grabbing him. He threw it up to Kittle, thought Kittle had him beat, but he just couldn’t get away from him grabbing him. Then another guy who was guarding someone else came into it. I wasn’t too upset with (49ers QB) Jimmy (Garoppolo) on that play. That was the call that I made and liked the look. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the call. But yeah, wish I didn’t call it after I saw the result. I wasn’t upset with Jimmy after that.”
(On QB Jimmy Garoppolo’s bounce back from injuries)
“(QB) Jimmy (Garoppolo) is a dog out there. We love Jimmy. I would wear his jersey on the sideline if I could. I love his mentality, I love watching him play. He’s had some unfortunate things with just not being able to stay healthy, but when he is healthy, he’s one of the better players. You guys see what he does what he does. He’s extremely physical out there, he’s not scared of anything, he’s not scared to fail, he challenges guys in coverage. It’s been fun having him out there these two weeks.”
(On how difficult of a challenge was it not having both starting tackles Mike McGlinchey and Joe Staley and how proud he was with the offense)
“I’m very proud of those guys. It’s tough. There is a lot of different factors that go in. You always kind of change things up when you’re missing tackles, when you’re missing two, changes with the fullback. (TE Ross) Dwelly did an awesome job with playing fullback most of the day. We gave (TE George) Kittle a couple also, the receivers going in and out. Some of the stuff that they were playing us, just trying to stop the run, that could get frustrating for receivers and stuff because you want to throw it but you’ve got to be smart too. We’ve got a team that’s not just trying to get stats, we are trying to figure out how to try to win the game. I think it makes it easier for our receivers when they understand all the stuff that goes into it. They block their tails off, help to stick with their run, and if the defense plays like that, it’s an easy way to win.”
(On if he ever gets concerned that Kittle would not play)
“Yes, I definitely did. After practice, when was that Friday? Something happened in practice that he was nervous about. Usually when I ask (TE) Kittle if he’s hurting, he always tells me no. So when he was in a little bit of pain, definitely had some concern, and it was legit. I think you could see that in the game when it started to bother him as the game went, but he was able to finish it for the most part except for I think the last series. Hopefully, he will rest up. We’ve got two days off and he will be good to go in one.”