San Francisco 49ers running back Raheem Mostert recently spoke with Kyle Shanahan. The head coach wanted to gauge where Mostert felt his teammates' mindset was after suffering a devastating Super Bowl defeat seven months ago and as the team heads into Week 1 of the 2020 season.
There has been a lot of talk about the 49ers' mindset entering the upcoming season. They feel they have some unfinished business. You've probably heard the term "Legendary Revenge Tour" several times by now.
While the team carries the Super Bowl loss with it, the loss is not going to impact its focus on the now. The players and coaches know nothing will be handed to them, and every game, every play, and every inch will need to be earned.
"It's nice because everybody's on the same page," Mostert told reporters on Monday. "Everybody feels the same way."
Mostert did have a message for his coach, though. It was that the team has a lot of trust in his abilities.
The running back told Shanahan just to draw up his plays and continue doing the great job he's been doing for years, and the players will help take them a long way again.
"We're here for the ride," Mostert added. "... It's nice that you have a head coach who can open up and tell you, 'Hey look, this is what the staff is talking about.' And vice-versa. I can open up and tell him, 'This is what the players are talking about, and thinking about, and the moral, and the feeling inside that locker room.'"
Mostert made it clear while there is unfinished business, this week's focus is 100 percent on Sunday's opponent — the Arizona Cardinals.
"We focus on the now," Mostert said. "We're not really worried about what's going on down the road. You want to have 16 games and get into the playoffs. That's ideal. And then to win the Super Bowl, that's very ideal. But for us, right now, we're just focused on one task, and that's one week at a time.
"We can't necessarily get ahead because as soon as you start getting ahead, that's when you lose focus and lose sight of what the actual goal is — to win the championship.
"For us, we have unfinished business. That's our motto, and that's what we believe in. But at the same time, we're looking (at) Week 1 against the Cardinals. That's our main objective right now."
Veteran guard Laken Tomlinson, who will once again be blocking for Mostert, could not agree more with his running back.
"What I can tell you that we're feeling, too, is that we're feeling we've got to win the next game," Tomlinson said Monday. "That's the ultimate focus, and we understand there is no chance to get [to the Super Bowl] unless we win, but we have to win this game. The only thing that matters right now is this game. Everybody feels the same way about that, and we're giving it our all just for this game."