What the 49ers are saying after injury-filled loss to Seahawks
After a tough defeat, the Niners say they're looking forward to playing Green Bay on Thursday night.
The 49ers suffered a disappointing 37-27 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday afternoon, keeping them in last place of the NFC West.
Jimmy Garoppolo, Tevin Coleman and George Kittle left the game with injuries, continuing a theme the 49ers have battled all season long.
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Here’s what the 49ers had to say after the deflating loss:
Head coach Kyle Shanahan
On McKinnon’s wildcat snap on the first series:
“It’s installed because it’s a good play. Not vs. zero. They got us with an all-out blitz. Liked the call when I made it. … Thought it would at least get us into field goal range. Jet had no chance.”
On Kittle foot injury:
“Nothing was broken on the X-rays. We need to check MRIs tomorrow.”
On Jordan Reed’s possibility to come off IR for next game:
“Hoping for Jordan Reed this week. But I’m not sure right now.”
On Garoppolo’s accuracy being impacted by ankle injury:
“You can ask him on the ankle. I know it was hurt once we all saw it and he didn’t go back in on that one play. He had a good week of practice throwing it. But, I mean, high ankle sprains linger. You never know when it’s going to affect you. We’ll wait until tomorrow to see how bad it is.”
On the offense not having Deebo Samuel (out with a hamstring injury):
“We’ve got a lot of confidence in our offense no matter who is out there. You’ve got to play well to have a good game. I don’t think we played well today, starting with me. Made a few too many mistakes. Got it going there in the fourth quarter. We didn’t play good there as a group. When you’re missing a good player like Deebo, that’s always a struggle. But we’ve missed players a number of times and it’s no reason to go out there and not play well.”
On how Garoppolo played:
“I was frustrated with the whole offense, starting with myself. It just wasn’t a very good day for us. The defense came out and played inspired those first few drives. The third-down call that didn’t give us a chance vs. all-out (blitz), we need to do a little better before that. I would have liked to have gone for it on fourth down, but not after we lose it. Both times the defenses gave us a chance and we didn’t come out of anything with it, and we got (the ball) around the 50.
“I was disappointed with the whole group. No one played great. That always starts with me. I’m glad we’ve got a game soon so we can turn the page and get on to Green Bay.”
On trick plays – wildcat by McKinnon, screen to Trent Taylor:
“The screen we’ve hit a bunch but the D-linemen did a good job getting through the O-line. I don’t consider the wildcat a tricky play. I consider it power with a handoff. It’s not very good vs. all-out (blitz). That’s stuff we’ve done a number of time.
“You’re trying to hit some big plays and we missed opportunities early. We didn’t get much with the run game, and tried to get it going. We committed well to it in the first half. When you don’t get big plays in the run game and then had mistakes, you see what happened. We had to get away from it and start throwing it.”
On Jimmie Ward’s penalized hit against scrambling quarterback Russell Wilson, and how to coach that differently:
“No, you just give him the first down, which happens a ton because guys are scared as can be to get those penalties. It’s a big point of the game. If it’s first down, it’s over. He’s very good at what he did, which is waiting until the last second to get done. It’s very tough on (defenders) to hold on it.”
On Kittle’s low number of targets:
“Sometimes you don’t get the ball to him. There’s never a time we ignore Kittle. But (defensive) coverages and fronts play into it. I don’t think anyone had good stats in the first half.”
On Seattle’s pressure:
“They brought a lot of blitzes, and when they brought them early, I thought we had some chances. Usually when they bring blitzes, it’s hit or miss, and a good play for one team and a bad play for the other team. We had a chance to get rid of it a couple times and they just got to us too fast and we didn’t make them pay for it. They were risky with a lot of their blitzes and sometimes you like that. You’ve got to make them pay, though. It took us too long.”
On Tevin Coleman’s knee injury:
“It was the same knee (that he injured earlier this year). He wanted to go back in. We tried and he just couldn’t. I don’t know what the deal is for this week. I’m hoping he’s ready for Thursday but his knee was re-injured and he couldn’t go back in the game.”
QB Nick Mullens
On what they must do next:
“We all just need to take a step forward, go back to work, focus on the details, execute and make plays.”
On comeback attempt:
“Ultimately the goal is to score points but you have to do it methodically. … I was really proud of our fight. The receivers and O-linemen had been battling all game. They could choose to lay down right there but the didn’t.”
FB Kyle Juszczyk
On a tough start to the game:
“Offensively we missed out on some really easy opportunities. We shot ourselves in the foot. … It just kind of snowballed.”
On Garoppolo:
I didn’t notice anything until the final hit that took him out. He’s so tough, whenever he comes in a huddle, it’s hard for us to tell he’s hurting. I know he’s going through it though. Hopefully he’s not banged up too bad.”
On blitzes:
“We love when a team blitzes us. That means we have a chance for a really big play. We did that a couple plays later in the game when Nick got the ball out fast. … I wish I had a good answer why we weren’t capitalizing early on, but I just know that was a big thing. They were heating us up with blitzes and we didn’t respond very well.”
On mounting injuries:
“I’m not immune to it. It still hurts. Even though it happens over and over, guys dropping every game, it still hurts every time. Hopefully we can have some back for Thursday. Man, I’m so glad we are playing Thursday because after a loss you want to get the taste out of your mouth.”
On Shanahan’s message:
“His big thing was staring now, everything we do has to be about getting our bodies ready for Thursday. We probably won’t even watch this film as a team and instead do it on our own. Starting right now, it’s time for Green Bay.”
LT Trent Williams
On offense:
“The turnover inside the red zone, I think stuff like that, it’s kind of hard to overcome, especially when you’re going against a guy like Russell Wilson. Our defense did a great job at the beginning of the game. As an offense, we didn’t complete our side of the deal.”
On Seahawks’ blitzes:
“I didn’t think they’d heat us up as much. Without pass rushers, I felt that is the only way they could get pressure. No excuses. We’ve got to be better. Every other play, it was somebody off by inches and that played a huge part. … It may have been communication a few times.”
On overall view:
“We have an awesome defense but we can’t be naïve and think our defense is going to get a three-and-out stop every time. We’ve got to do our part and get points on the board.”
DE Arik Armstead
On Russell Wilson:
“If you want to come up here and get a win, you have to execute better, myself better. Those crunch moments, you have to execute and get them off the field. We didn’t play up to the level we’re capable of. We didn’t execute at a high level, which allowed them to stay on the field.”
On pressure:
“Rush and coverage, it works hand in hand. Executing and bust and being in the place you’re supposed to be affects your whole defense. We’ve got to play better if we expect to beat a good team like that.”
On Jimmie Ward’s penalty on hit on Wilson:
“Offensively, they’re going to protect quarterbacks in the league. We know that. It’s tough situations in bang-bang plays that you have to avoid. Jimmie was playing fast and hard and got the penalty there.”
On his lack of sacks lining up at DE instead of defensive tackle:
“I’ve been playing about the same, I’ve just got to find a way to take the next step in my career, even though teams are game planning against me.”
On playing Thursday:
“We’ve got to move on pretty quick and get on to Green Bay.”
LB Fred Warner
On challenge of Russell Wilson:
“The explosive plays, not getting off the field on third down. They’re a great offense and Russ obviously is a great player. We didn’t play our best ball today by any means.”
On Emmanuel Moseley’s game:
“I have full confidence in E-man. I don’t care what goes on in a game, they’re going to get theirs. DK is a great receiver. E-man, we’re going to ride with him. There’s no need for me to give him a pep talk. I know he’ll shake it off and be ready for the next game.”
On pressure plan:
“When we got pressure, it made it tough for him to complete passes. We’ve got to get off the field on third downs.”
On defensive holding:
“I don’t know if they were ticky-tack penalties.”
On stinger:
“In the moment, I knew I was going to be alright and just shake it off and my team needs me. I was able to get back out there.”
On his brother, Troy Warner, a BYU defensive back:
“I could talk all day on Troy. Been having a great senior year at BYU. He’s the more talented member of the family when it comes to football. The sky’s the limit for him.”
On blitzes:
“We tried to create as much pressure as we could. We’ve just got to keep going.”