Several San Francisco 49ers players spoke with the media following Sunday's 39-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams at Levi's Stadium. Below are some key quotes from those players.
Quotes provided by the 49ers Communications staff.
RB Matt Breida
Was your injury one of those things where they just tape you up and you go right back out there?
"Yes. I tried to keep on playing. I have to be smart and not hurt my team at the same time. If I can't go out there and go 100-percent, I have to let the guys that can do it."
Was it your ankle?
"Yes. It was something to do with my ankle. It was a pre-existing injury. I just try to get out there every week and play. I am just trying to get healthy now hopefully."
Do you put more pressure on yourself now that RB Jerick McKinnon is out since the beginning of the season?
"I would say that I put more pressure on myself. I just love the game of football. Anytime that I can get out there and help my team to win and I feel like I can help them win, I want to be out there. Even if I am hurt, I am going to want to play."
On the turnover, was that just Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald being Aaron Donald and making a play?
"I just have to have better ball security. I have to protect the ball better. I blame no one but myself for that."
DL DeForest Buckner
The team has had a lot of players go down to injuries. How are you guys going to recuperate from that?
"It is part the game, guys getting injured. We lost a lot of guys early on in the season. Honestly, it is next man up. We can't use that as an excuse. Everyone in the NFL is getting hurt. The next guy just has to step in and do the job."
You guys were not able to get Los Angeles Rams QB Jared Goff a whole bunch, but you hurried him a few times, you sacked him, and you were able to stop the run. Is that a positive for you guys?
"Yes, but at the end of the day we lost. It doesn't matter how well the defense played, we still lost. We lost the turnover battle in another game. We have to do a better job to find more opportunities for our offense and take the ball away."
Do sometimes guys try too hard to make a play?
"No, I feel like guys for the most part are doing their jobs a lot better today. We've just go to get better field position. We've got to do a better job bowing up as a defense and not letting them in. Guys just got to do their jobs and make the plays that come their way."
DB Adrian Colbert
With as much talent that is in this locker room are you shocked to be a 1-6 team?
"It is about the process. It is about trusting the process and getting the product at the end. Right now it is tough. We are going to keep working and keep fighting. No matter how many people go down, we are going to keep fighting and believing in each other."
How do you emotionally come back from this?
"Next week. It is a game after game process. You can't go ahead and get better by thinking about what is going to happen in a couple weeks. It is a one game process. That is how we have to take it, one day at a time, and one game at a time."
TE George Kittle
Actual wide receivers in this offense combined for 35 yards. What did you see out there from the wide receivers? Are they not getting separation? Was it a schematic thing? What did you see?
"I was running routes, so I wasn't paying attention to those guys. I expect everybody to get open on every single play. That's just me and I'm optimistic, so I don't really see much."
What has to happen for you guys to cut down on the turnovers?
"Hold on to the ball. That's about it. That's on all of us. That's a mindset by a team. If you don't get the ball on defense and you turn it over on offense, you can't do anything. Minus four is rough and you can't expect to beat one of the best offenses in the league giving them the ball at the 50-yard line."
Late in the first half where you guys were struggling and you started getting involved in the passing game, that one play where you were running down the sideline, it looked like almost you were trying to send a message that you guys weren't going to give up. Take us through that play. What was your mindset? Were you angry at that point? What were you feeling?
"It's football. You've got to play angry. If you don't play angry then you're not playing. It's easy when you're angry and you're having fun. If a guy is going to not throw his body at me and he looks like he's just going to sit there with his chest open, I'm going to put my helmet through his chest. That's his fault if he's sore in the morning."
T Mike McGlinchey
This was your first time going up against Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald. How much can he wreck a game plan?
"He is one of those rare breed types of a player. I didn't get to see him too much today because he plays primarily on the inside but he is a phenomenal player. He puts it on tape each and every week and he is a force. That is all that you can really say about him."
A lot of these games you guys can point to something and say. That there is something to build on; what do you say after a day like today?
"You just have to be better. As cliché as that sounds, you have to be better from top to bottom. We can't start the way we started today. We had too many turnovers and too many missed opportunities early and we can't give an offense like that, that many chances. That is what happened. We just have to clean up the small things. It's not a huge overhaul of things that need to be corrected. It's just little things here and there."
RB Raheem Mostert
The game plan seemed to unfold pretty well. Can you put your finger on what stopped you other than the turnovers?
"Ourselves. That's really what it was. Outside of turnovers, we were playing well, but those turnovers are key. We just have to minimize them the best that we can and go out there and keep fighting no matter what."
At this level against a team like that, turnovers make for an uphill battle.
"It does. They're a good team. Kudos to them and what they do because when it's a good team like that you cannot turn the ball over. Unfortunately, we had four of them on our own and then we didn't get any, so it's an uphill battle."
Once again the injury bug hit the team. Is it one of those things where it's two steps forward and one step back?
"It's one of those things where we just have to keep fighting. We have the right guys in here. When a guy gets hurt, we have to have another guy come in and fill that role, no matter what position it is. We all have to step up like we've been doing, but those turnovers are just costly. We can't have those. We have to eliminate them. On the same page, we have to get turnovers."
C Weston Richburg
It looked like Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald had a really good game today. How tough is it to stop him when he is on like that?
"Well he is a good player. We have to be prepared to play against players like that. We didn't come prepared and we have to do a better job, obviously next time."
What happened on that pop-up snap?
"It was just a miscommunication. We were off on a couple of things. We have to be better prepared next time."
One of those things where you can replicate in practice but when you are facing the real thing, it is just ramped up even more?
"Yes and we have to be better prepared for that and today we weren't and we have to do a better job."
With all of the turnovers, how do you address that?
"We just have to do a better job in practice. We have to practice it, be intentional about it and make sure we hold on to the ball."
T Joe Staley
Is there anything from this game that you can take?
"It was a bad effort. We control what we do up front. What our job is as offensive linemen was a poor job today. No excuses there. We just didn't get it done and didn't give [San Francisco 49ers QB] C.J. Beathard time. He was under a lot of duress the whole game. We have to do a better job of opening up the run game. Holding onto the ball has unfortunately become a theme the last couple of weeks so we have a lot to work on."
When you look at C.J.'s line, what do you put that on?
"We put that on us. As offensive linemen, our job is to protect the quarterback. You always strive for a clean game, and obviously today was not a clean game at all. A lot of credit to them, but we have a lot of faith in our abilities as well, and that's not the standard we're trying to have here."
Was there any carry over on having a tough loss Monday night and having to play that team on a short week?
"No. That doesn't have any bearing on it. Each week is a new week. We're professionals and we know how to handle that stuff. We've been doing this for a while now. You play short weeks in college and short weeks in the NFL. No excuse there."
How impactful was Los Angeles Rams DT Aaron Donald across the board?
"I don't think there's anybody that's been like him in the NFL. He's in a class of his own. At the end of the day, he's still an NFL player and our job is to block him. He was really impactful today. We'll go back and watch film to see what we can do better the next time we play him."
