San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo spoke with reporters on Thursday as the team prepares to play the Cleveland Browns on Monday night. Here is everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
What are some of the challenges that the Browns defense has to offer for you?
"It starts up front. They're very talented, have some guys up front who can just flat out go. And then across the board, their scheme overall, it's pretty complicated, so it'll be a good challenge for us."
How is it complicated?
"They just tie a lot of things together, do a good job of disguising things. They just make it difficult on you."
Is that from some of the homework you put in? I guess head coach Kyle Shanahan said you stayed around during the Bye Week to do some extra preparation.
"Uh, yeah, normal stuff. But yeah, just part of the weekly process, I guess."
You didn't go home, you were going to and then scrubbed the plans?
"Yeah, I ended up staying here and everything just to try and keep this thing going."
The defensive coordinator was the head coach in Arizona last year. You didn't face them, but you prepared for his defense before, right?
"Yeah, it kind of stems all the way back to that Carolina stuff and [Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator Steve] coach Wilks does a great job of it. They gave us a lot of challenges last year when he was with Arizona and I'm sure it'll be a lot of the same."
Is it mostly zone coverage?
"It's a mix, yeah, but they do mix in man."
Did it just seem like it was too early for you to get away from the Bye Week, just three weeks in?
"Yeah, it was weird. It's not the best weather in Chicago I heard, so, it never hurts to stay here in this California weather. Yeah, I don't know. I've never had one this early before, so I thought it was the right thing to do."
Did you hook up with some of the skill guys?
"A lot of the guys were traveling and stuff, but we had a couple guys here."
What are you looking forward to most just about making your starting debut on Monday Night?
"It'll be exciting, a lot of juice. Levi's was rocking last time when the Steelers came and wouldn't expect anything less from the Faithful. It'll be a fun atmosphere, that's for sure."
You mentioned you stayed to put in that extra work to keep this thing going. How important for you is it to make sure that you guys come back from this early Bye and continue this winning way?
"Yeah, I think it's always important. Every week, we try not to put any more emphasis on one or the other, but we just try and go 1-0 every week. This week's no different. Got a good opponent coming in, going to give us a lot of challenges, you know, the explosive offense and everything, so it'll be good for us."
Now that you guys are one of three undefeated teams right now in the NFL, what have the conversations been like in the locker room to make sure guys kind of keep their blinders on and stay focused?
"Honestly, we haven't really talked about that. It's a great group of guys in there, great mindsets. It's just another day at work. We're coming in with the right mindset that we're going to go out there and grind and it's what we've been doing all year."
Shanahan said that WR Jordan Matthews came close to making the initial squad. He's back now. What were the things that stood out with him? Could you tell that he was a veteran receiver when you were practicing with him this summer?
"Oh yeah, yeah, from the get-go, too. Jordan was one of the first guys that came up to me in the offseason and kind of wanted to learn the intricacies of the offense and everything and how it's all tied together. Just his work ethic is incredible. There's not many guys that I've have been around like that, so it's great to have a guy like that back."
Is it good to have a guy like that, particularly playing out of the slot for quick passes, things like that?
"Yeah. He's got great hands, can catch everything. As the possession receiver he's going to go make those tough catches for you. As a quarterback, you love to see that, especially out of a big guy. Just gives you confidence to throw those."
People are talking about you playing more comfortable in the offense, you usually associate it with passing. How much more comfortable if at all do you feel as far as checking out, learning the plays and seeing what you see?
"I feel good with it. Every week is very different in the run game. The coaches do a great job of scheming that stuff up and putting us in good situations and as a quarterback it's my job to finish that."
How much do you enjoy the balance that the offense has, also sort of playing to the defense, just the fact that you guys lead the league in rush attempts per game and the running game has been so effective?
"It's awesome. When your offense is clicking, that's when both the run and pass can play off of each other. When you have that, it makes it tough on the defense and makes it tough to call the right defenses and everything. So, I think we're in a good spot right now, we've just got to keep it going."
Are there ways you can prepare during the week for maybe a team taking one of those things away from you?
"You try to always have a plan, I guess, but you go into the game with the mindset that you're going to make it work. It's good to have a plan and everything, but we've got to play our game at the end of the day."
When you face a defense that specializes in disguising coverages, what are the keys for you as a quarterback? What do you need to be mindful of to be successful?
"A lot of film work. A lot of film work, try and pick up their keys, tendencies, body language, anything you can while watching film. Whatever those little things are, try to see them on the field."
Who do you watch film mostly with?
"Who do I watch it with?"
Yeah.
"I mean, we watch it all over. Sometimes you're with a receiver, sometimes you're just with the quarterback coaches. It's multiple different things."
Is it a lot with Kyle Not much one-on-one?
"He's in the quarterback meetings, yeah, he's in those."
Did you see Houston Texans QB Deshaun Watson explain the Panthers cover-four?
"I heard about that. I didn't actually see it."
Okay, well that might kind of ruin my question.
"Sorry. He did pretty good though, right, I heard."
Yeah, he did. As a quarterback, do you say that's a lot of information to be giving out?
"I mean, if you know their defense, they know their defense, obviously, so you're not saying anything that they don't know, I guess."
After Monday night, can you please explain what you were seeing?
"Yeah, you've just got to remind me of that, but I've got you."