San Francisco 49ers quarterback Nick Mullens spoke with reporters after Sunday night's 25-20 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Here is everything he had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
Why was it so hard to get into a rhythm for you tonight?
"Oh, that's a good question and I'm kind of wondering that myself. We had plenty of opportunities and I really just didn't execute. I feel like the way I'm feeling is pretty black and white right now. I just didn't execute and that's really all it comes down to. Three turnovers, 14 points for them off turnovers and that's really about it. Just didn't execute."
Can you take us through that final interception, what you saw, what went wrong on that play?
"We had a 14-yard stop route. The linebacker, I saw him, I knew he was getting under it, but the ball just didn't come off right. I was going to have to put it over him a little bit, but the ball just didn't come off right. It unfortunately went right to him. "
On the first interception down in the red zone, what did you see on that?
"Oh, it was rolling out to my right. I saw the defender in front of the crosser. I thought he could outrun him and so I tried to just lay it out in front. When the defender came from behind, he cut it off. It's an opportunity ball. It's a risky throw and that's what happens when you take unnecessary risks, especially down in the score zone."
You guys just came back from a two week road trip. Was energy at all an issue during the week, anything that you can point to that you can say, 'Well, we could kind of see this coming earlier in the week?'
"No, I don't believe so. I feel like we had a really good week of practice. Mentally, I felt really sharp. Throughout the week of practice, I thought we were working hard and executing well. Even during the game, the defense executed at a very high level. I feel like if I would have completed the passes, we would have executed at a very high level. So, no, I don't think that was an excuse."
Why weren't you able to connect with the receivers more often during the first three quarters, especially?
"I just didn't. I just wasn't as accurate as I needed to be and felt like we could have just taken advantage of some opportunities when they were there. Create a little bit of a rhythm. We were in some second and long, third and long situations and no drive was very rhythmic except the ones that we scored on. I need to execute better."
It seems like TE George Kittle isn't always open when you throw the ball to him, but he gets open eventually. He somehow maneuvers his body. Is that something new that you've seen from him?
"Is that new? No. I feel like even if he's covered, he's open. That's what he's very talented at, yards after catch. He did a great job of that tonight. He had a lot of YAC tonight, I feel like. So, it was awesome to get George back on the field and he definitely did his part."
What was the challenge like facing that Philadelphia defensive front today, particularly on the pressure coming up the middle?
"Yeah, they had a pretty good pass rush, but I thought our guys up front did a really good job, actually. I really wasn't too worried about the pressure and things like that. I felt pretty calm back there. Felt relaxed, felt focused, but we were aware of that coming in, but I thought our O-Line did a pretty good job."