San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, and offensive line/run game coordinator Chris Foerster spoke with reporters after Wednesday's practice. The team is preparing for its Week 16 matchup against the Washington Commanders. Here is everything they had to say.
Transcript provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
QB Brock Purdy
Let's get right to it with the Christmas card, what's the story behind it? And then the choice to have OL Alfredo Gutierrez in the back with the Mexican flag, what was going on there?
"Yeah, we originally wanted to get all of us roommates in some Christmas sweaters and then get in front of the tree that we have in our apartment and we have lights up and everything, stockings with our initials on them. That's what I wanted to do, but then I don't know, they were sort of in a rush to get the card put together, so we just found a picture of Nick and I, and then we had to throw in Alfredo, separately of him holding the Mexican flag, so it was sort of put together last minute, but I'm honestly glad the way they turned out. Yeah, it was great. Great Christmas touch."
How are you feeling?
"Yeah, I feel a lot better compared to last week going into the game. Just compared to how I felt going into the game and then obviously having a good three days before doing anything of just rest and recovery, I feel a lot better."
Was there a doubt that you were going to play in that game as you started the warm up even in your mind? Obviously, outwardly you're going to say you're going to play, but when you took the field to warmup, were you wondering?
"I knew that I was going to start out the game. I didn't know if I got hit or if something happened. If things got worse with my oblique and whatnot, if I would have to come out of the game, that kind of thing. I knew that I was going to start the game and roll from there and see how it felt, but there was never a question of if I was going to play or not."
How much do you rely on your pocket presence and mobility to protect yourself in those situations?
"Yeah, I think it's nice to be able to use my legs a little bit, get out of the way in certain situations and have a good feel of when the ball needs to get out, that kind of thing, rather than just being a statue and trying to go through my reads, but sort of being elusive in the pocket and getting the ball out to guys like [RB] Christian [McCaffrey] or [TE] George [Kittle] on check downs and whatnot, so I feel like that definitely helped me play throughout that game and play safe."
You got hit a couple times, I assume that didn't feel great?
"Honestly, with the adrenaline that I had from the game, I was fine. Even with the sacks or taking a hit off the edge from a safety, it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Just the blood was pumping, I was in game mode, so those kinds of hits were fine, so it was just after the game, the next day, you feel a little sore from those kinds of things, but that's it's like every game."
It seemed like you saw significantly less blitzing than you did the previous two weeks when you went back and watched film. How did you feel in terms of getting through progressions and things like that since you had a chance to sit in the pocket?
"Yeah, I feel like for the most part, we did a solid job across the board making sure that I was able to go from one read to the next and get the ball off on time, so that was positive to see, but there's also a couple plays that we have out there, that I have out there personally where I could do a better job of getting through the entire progression, so those are things I can continue to chip away at practice and in the meeting room and [quarterbacks coach Brian] Griese, [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan], all those guys, they're real with me, they're like, man, you have to get better in this area or that area, so I know I have a lot more room to grow."
How would you describe QB Jimmy Garoppolo and QB Trey Lance's contribution to you? I assume they're in there in the quarterback room with you, going over things. Your skillset is a little bit different than Jimmy's, which is a little bit different than Trey's and Kyle kind of tailors the offense to it, but how is it put together?
"Yeah, I think everyone plays the game a little bit differently, but at the core we're running the same offense with Kyle. His mindset in terms of the progressions and where we need to be and where the ball needs to go, so we all have a different perspective of it, but we know what the main goal is, which is awesome because Jimmy's been in the offense for a while now. Trey obviously has had a whole year under his belt, so he helps me out with things that he experienced his rookie year and whatnot, but all those guys, man, all the input that they have and it's been great. I'm very blessed and thankful for their perspectives on things, but at the end of the day when you go out and get the snap, you are your own player, I'm not Trey, I'm not Jimmy, I'm myself and same with them. We all play the game slightly differently, but we play in the same system, so we just trust in Kyle and his progressions and the way he teaches us, so it's really how we go about things."
You mentioned Griese, there's also assistant quarterbacks coach Klay Kubiak, there's offensive passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik, it seems that Kyle has built quite a robust room of coaches to work with the QBs. How well do they work together? Obviously, three different starters this year, you and Jimmy have both been playing really well. How much do you kind of attribute that to the coaching room that Kyle's built for the quarterbacks?
"Yeah, honestly the foundation that they have in terms of the system, the way they coach, the things that they believe within the offense, they don't waver in it. They stay true to themselves and they stay true to how they coach and that's honestly helped all of us. Trey was doing great all throughout camp and the first couple games and then Jimmy came in and then myself, so definitely a credit to those guys in terms of preaching and coaching the same things and honestly, they all help each other out with things. It's not just one guy in there preaching the same thing. They all get each other's opinion on things and there's no ego. All those guys, they want to win and at the end of the day, they do what's best for the team, so definitely thankful for all the guys in the room. It's not just one guy."
It's Griese's first year as a coach, so I'm kind of curious how you've seen him grow as a coach, and aside from his ability to relate from his past experiences, does he go over fundamentals and the landmarks with you on what you need to do?
"Yeah, Griese is awesome in terms of footwork and rhythm and seeing safeties, structure, just all that stuff. He obviously played the position and he can relate to us, which is great, but I think even from the day I got here until now, him speaking the terminology of which Kyle teaches and everything, you could see him like even growing as a coach and he loves it, man, you could just tell every single week is a challenge for him and he loves it, so he's done a great job as a coach and we've all seen him get better as a coach, so I'm excited for him moving forward."
You mentioned no ego of the quarterback coaches, but there also seems to be not a lot of ego in the locker room, which is filled with a lot of stars. Is that something you guys talk about that there's a goal in mind and personal goals maybe take a backseat?
"Yeah, 100%. Like you said, we have all these Pro Bowl caliber players and at the end of the day it's not all about the stats and the receptions and touchdowns and sacks or whatever. Those things come and go. At the end of the day, this team we have the goal of winning the whole thing and so, all those guys are doing what it takes in terms of they may not get a lot of catches this game, but they're going to block their butt off for the guy running the ball and things like that, so definitely no ego and that's across the board. It's rare when you get a team like this with the amount of talent that we have and so you only get so many opportunities to win the whole thing and I think the guys in the locker room understand that."
When you got here, how much did you kind of sense the sense of urgency of a team that's in a window and has guys who have been close and haven't got over the hump?
"Yeah, I feel like I sort of sensed it just from the jump. The way meetings were run, the way we went through OTAs and the structure of it and the intensity from guys like [LB] Fred Warner and [DL] Nick Bosa and then obviously the older guys, like even [OL] Trent [Williams] when he got back. All those guys man like, they've got paid, they've done it all, and them coming in and the fire and the drive that they had in their eyes, I was like, 'man, there's something different about this place.' I could tell they have one mission, everyone's hungry to win the whole thing and, it hasn't changed."
I have a couple more Christmas questions for you. What are your favorite holiday traditions and what's your favorite Christmas song?
"I would say Silver Bells is my favorite song by Dean Martin. I love that song. And then some favorite movies I do like the Grinch, I like the Family Stone and one more would probably be Home Alone. It's a classic."
It seems like taking command of the locker room and the team comes extremely naturally to you. Has that ever awkward here though, given the fact that you're a rookie and you're not like the franchise guy yet? How do you balance that?
"Yeah, I feel like one, my goal coming in was to earn the respect of the guys that have been here and as a rookie, you can't just come in and be a rah-rah guy and try to act like you're the guy already, so I just try to do my part, pay my dues and earn my stripes. And that still hasn't changed. I still have to do that kind of stuff as a rookie now, but my whole thing was man, I'm going to go in and support the quarterbacks, compete and push them to make them better. And if my opportunity comes, then obviously make the most of it. And I feel like the guys have seen that, the older guys have seen that, and they respect that. And so, I appreciate them for that. And honestly, we all want to win and if that takes a rookie quarterback, so be it. You know that kind of thing."
Defensive Coordinator DeMeco Ryans
You had a chance to watch DT Javon Kinlaw for the first time in a while, what did you see from him today? How did he look?
"Yeah, really excited to have J.K. back out there. It's just refreshing to see just his presence, to be out there and it's it's cool to just see him get back into the groove of playing football again. I know he's been on a long pathway to get back and there's a lot of struggles along the way. If anybody has been injured, they understand how tough it is to battle back from that and I just commend J.K. for his effort, his persistence throughout the rehab process to make it back at this point."
I'm assuming he was in meetings and stuff still throughout this, how much can you help him in terms of film throughout that?
"Yeah, the biggest thing with him is just getting the body right. I think when it comes to ball and playing ball, guys naturally just kind of sync back into football mode, but it is really just overcoming the mental hurdle of being injured. That's the biggest thing for injured players is the mental aspect of it and how much it drains you doing rehab so much. Once you get over that and you get back out to on the field with your brothers and you're out there playing football again, all that stuff just goes out the window, now you can get back to focusing on your techniques and getting better at your job."
The Commanders, I realize it's the NFL and everyone is physical and violent and all that, but do the Commanders have an offensive mentality or style that they're going to try to match you guys and your physicality and come right at you?
"Yeah, we know. Washington, they've done a really good job of running the football, controlling the game. They're first in time of possession. They do a good job of just trying to stay on schedule that way, of protecting the football, running the football really well with two really good backs, a good offensive line, so it'll be a really good matchup for us and when it comes to the run game, probably the best run game we've seen since Atlanta, so it'll be a really good matchup for us."
Your defense clearly has very few weaknesses, but if there was an Achilles heel, it seems like it might be the quarterback scramble on third-and-long. Would you consider using a quarterback spy in certain situations against certain mobile quarterbacks, or is that something you don't like to do?
"I think every team, every situation calls for whatever it takes to win, so for me, if it's a quarterback spy that we need, we would use that if we felt like that would help us to win that game or win that down. When it comes to that, yeah, sometimes the quarterback does get out and even scrambles and make plays on us, but it's it's not something that anybody is just totally freaking out about. It's just that we have to make plays when it comes down to it, guys have to be sound and where they need to be, and if the quarterback gets out, we have to go get them down."
You were able to move CB Charvarius Ward on Seattle Seahawks WR D.K. Metcalf a lot last week at different spots. What does that do for you as a playcaller, having a guy that you can do that with against a number one wide reciever?
"Yeah, it's confidence that Mooney brings to our entire defense. When you have a guy who can go and match up against a top receiver in this league, like Metcalf, it's just confidence for everyone. You know Mooney is going to go over there, you know he's going to do a great job no matter who he's lined up against, so it's a breath of fresh air knowing that he can handle the top wide receiver on the other team."
When you acquired him, did you have that in mind as that could be a way you could use him or did that kind of emerge naturally through conversation?
"It just emerged. From a gameplanning standpoint of what we need to do to win the game that particular week versus Seattle, we felt like that's what we needed to do and that allowed us to win the game. Mooney played an, outstanding game. He challenged their best guy and he went up and made plays, so I'm really happy for Mooney and for him to go out and play that way that allowed us to be NFC West champs. All the credit, hat off to Mooney for the job that he did, it was awesome to watch."
You guys have a fair amount of stars on defense and it seems not a lot of ego and that seems to be the case throughout the team. Is that something you guys talk about a lot or is that naturally the kind of people you have?
"Yeah, it starts with the people that you bring in and it's also about the guys geling together with the leaders that we already have here. When you have [DL Nick] Bosa, [DL] Arik [Armstead], [LB] Fred [Warner], guys who are not big ego guys, guys who are team first guys, it's just the culture that [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] and [general manager] John [Lynch] have created here in our locker room. Just overall. When you come in, nobody is bigger than the next man and the only way that we thrive as a team, as a defense is everybody just doing their job and playing together. That's what makes us a really good defense is when we play together, I always tell the guys, no one needs to play hero ball. You're not on the field by yourself, so if you take that mindset that all I have to do is my part, do my job, then we'll play really good football and that's what guys have been doing and nobody is saying, oh, look at me or what I've done or looking at their own personal accomplishments. It's all about us collectively as a unit."
What's are the dangerous aspects of Washington Commanders QB Taylor Heinicke and same goes for Washington Commanders QB Carson Wentz if he comes in to replace him?
"I think Heinicke has done a really good job of just managing the game for them. I think here in this last game, you've seen him take a few more shots down field, so I would anticipate them trying that on us. Taking some more shots down field. They have a really good receiving core, I have a lot of respect for it. Those guys can go up and make plays on the ball, so we have our hands full, not only with the run game, but also with the receiving core. They're a really talented group of guys, so Heinicke can definitely push it down field and get the ball to those guys."
DB Jimmie Ward seemed less than thrilled at first to be playing nickelback, but now it seems like he's playing the position at a really high level. What's your assessment and how much do you appreciate him doing that?
"Yeah, he's gotten better each week. Jimmie, he's a very gifted player. He can do a lot of different things that most defenders can't, whether it's safety, nickel, Jimmie has played corner, not that we're asking him to do all that, but he is the guy who has the flexibility, he has that God-given ability to go in and play the slot for us and he's done a great job and he's getting better each week. And Jimmie is making even more plays. I feel like every week he's making a play. He's around the ball more, making more plays for us, being a big-time playmaker for our defense and it's scary to say this, but he can get even better. He can get even better in there, but it just comes with the more reps he gets, he'll continue to get better and make even more plays for us. Jimmie, he's definitely climbing, he's doing a really good job for us in there and for him to unselfishly go in there, it just speaks to the man Jimmie is. It goes back to the ego question. Like it's no ego, it's just what can I do to help our team win games? And that was the attitude that Jimmy had about moving in there and he's been outstanding so far."
What enables someone like Armstead to miss all the time that he missed? I think it was eight games and then come back and be impactful now. Like right away, it doesn't happen that way all the time.
"Yeah, the first thing is you have a very dominant player in Armstead and he's been a great player in his league for a long time, so it doesn't take him long to get back going or to get back into football mode. Once he hits the ground, hits it running, he's affecting the game. When it comes to our pass rush, I feel like it is different when Arik is in there because he can just do things that other players can't. And Arik, he has been a good player for many years now and he's just always steady, always consistent, always around the ball making plays. And the cool part about Arik is, he makes everyone around him better, so I feel like our defensive line, our defense in general has played better by having Arik back and I'm just happy to have him back with his presence and his playmaking ability has allowed us to play even better."
With three games to play, does Fred, any other team leaders have to say anything this week to make sure that nobody sort of you know, exhales with three more weeks to go?
"Yeah, I said some things. It's a great accomplishment to win the West. It's a great accomplishment, but everyone knows that's not our goal and also to that, we didn't play our best in Seattle. There's a lot of things that we can do much better. If we want to go where we want to go, we have to play better on defense and guys understand that wasn't our best game, and if we want to be a great team and move on, we have to play better defense and guys got that message and they understand what we need to do, so there's no take a breath, take a breather. There's none of that. There's no time to relax. It's actually a time to pick it up for everybody, for us."
I have a non-football question for you. What are your favorite Christmas traditions and your favorite Christmas song?
"Favorite Christmas song would be Silent Night by The Temptations. Favorite Christmas tradition, I would say it's when I was younger, my family would always have a huge gathering on Christmas Eve and everyone would always exchange gifts no matter, it didn't matter about the how much the gift costs. It was a matter of giving and everybody just being thankful for what they had and it was just a really cool time for the family to get together. And I think that's what Christmas it is all about. Just family, being around each other, loving each other and just having a great time. A time of giving, that's what it's all about. Time of giving and not just receiving, but it's always about giving and just being thankful for what we have."
Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator Chris Foerster
In the beginning of the year, you talked about changes that you have to do on the fly on the offensive line and how you have to be ready for them. Now, recently you've had a good run of having people in their spots. Can you see that in their play?
"Yeah, knock on wood with that one. The guys have worked really hard. I don't know what it is, it's kind of the luck of the draw. Some teams they can't keep the same five guys on the field. I've been through years like that and in other years you go through some bumps in the road. I don't want to say it's luck, but it's been nice and I do think that as guys play together more and more and more, I noticed on the sidelines, I think there's a lot more understanding of the whole group of understanding exactly what we're trying to accomplish in a game. And there's a lot more talk between themselves, adjustments that need to be made and more of sometimes asking when they get to the sideline, like 'Hey, we were thinking about this or thinking about that,' where early in the season, it wasn't as quite much that way because we did have some younger starters, so I think there is beginning to be a little bit more ownership from the guys that haven't played a lot of football before and then the group plays together. Early on we talked about you really don't know about a group of guys until they play and as they're playing during the course of the season, the group gels and becomes what they're going to become and so we are where we are today and it's a good group right now. They're working well together."
Much earlier in this season, a lot of articles were written about the three unknowns on the interior and obviously didn't know for sure, have they surprised you at all with how apparently good they've been?
"Well, it wasn't like we rolled it out there and said we hope. We hoped, yes, but we also talked about they all had a skillset that said they could do it, so is it a surprise? No, the guys are playing to their skillset and still with room to grow, so with that being said, it's not a surprise. Just glad that we were right at this point, that the guys that we thought could play and be productive in this offense have been able to do it up to this point. There's still a lot of football left to play, so guys have to continue to grow, continue to sharpen their skills and hopefully be ready for the rest of this season and beyond."
What challenge do those guys have this week with those two defensive tackles?
"Every single group we play has been something that presents a challenge. And these guys, obviously their two interior players are outstanding. Their edge rushers are very good. This is a really good defensive football team. The stats are the stats, there are a lot of reasons for statistics, but when you get this far into a season, when a team is ranked high statistically, they're there for a reason. They've done a good job. They've obviously statistically done a good job. They play good complimentary football offense, defense, special teams in how they do it. And this group defensively, you can see they're very sound in what they do schematically. They're very well coached. Their techniques are very good. They've got skilled players on that front four, five. They are outstanding players, talented and they reflect the toughness and mentality of their [Washington Commanders] head coach [Ron Rivera]. He's a tough-minded guy and they reflect that in how they play. When they come to tackle you, you know you're getting tackled. When you hit one of them, you know you hit one of them. It's a stout group. They bring it every single week and they present a great challenge for us up front on the offensive line."
When you look around the locker room, there are a lot of stars on this team, but it feels like not a lot of the ego. Is that something that has been talked about or is it naturally just what's happened with the people you guys have brought in?
"Well, that's a nice observation. I get that feeling, but sometimes they just kind of tell coach what coach wants to hear, so it's good to hear it from you. I think from the beginning point of the players that we put on this football team, I think [general manager] John [Lynch] and [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] do an outstanding job of getting the right kind of guys there that just like playing football. It's not about who gets the credit, they're just football players that like being part of a team. Obviously, it's professional football and players want to be paid for what they do and if they do a good job, they want to be paid a lot. I understand that. We all understand that and so do they, but they understand that sometimes being on a good team, being part of something special is something that's important too and we have a bunch of guys that it means a lot to, that way. Not a bunch of guys that are just here for a paycheck and trying to figure out where their next spot is. They're legitimately vested in trying to see the 49ers win. The organization treats people well and if you bring the right kind of people in, which we have, I think that's reciprocated and so, it's really a cool group of guys to work with. My guys are amazing and it does run throughout the locker room."
When T Trent Williams went down with the high ankle sprain in Week Three and he only missed three games, how has that ascent back to his all-pro form gone? It looks like he's back.
"I can't remember how it worked. We were talking about it two or three games after the Bye that he had the ankle and then when he came back, it was like the timing of the Bye Week and everything else just seemed like he hadn't played a lot of football, even when he was kind of healthy, he wasn't back in a rhythm yet, so at this point, he is feeling really good about himself. I know you guys hear me say it and we all appreciate how talented Trent is and what a great career he's had up to this point, but he'll come to me every single Thursday when he does his full day of work with full pads usually and it's like, what do I need to work on today? What do you see in my game that needs to get better? He's constantly looking to work and be a better football player, so to say he's been in any form, he just keeps working to improve. He's done a lot of things to change his game a little bit this offseason and how he looked a year ago. He didn't like some of the things he was doing. We talked about it in the offseason. A lot of them are his suggestions. Some of them are mine and he's worked through it and really is playing well at this point. Another challenge this week though, there's always a week to not look as good and obviously last week was a great challenge, the noise and all the things we had to manage with that, it was really cool for him to be able to go up and have a nice game again."
We asked you a lot about OL Jake Brendel or we talked about the interior a minute ago, but we asked you a lot about Jake Brendel, specifically earlier in the season. How's he going to do? How's he doing? It seems like he's doing pretty good.
"Yeah, he is. Like I mentioned earlier about the ownership that the guys are taking, that really starts with the center position. He's the guy that runs the group. He's the guy that runs the room and obviously you have to deal with Trent and [T] Mike [McGlinchey] who are some veteran players, but Jake has really taken ownership. Jake has been really been good for me because he absolutely wants to do exactly what I want him to do. He and I are close, so that helps me. He's like a coach on the field, I've told him that, but he's begun to take ownership. He's begun to have ideas and thoughts, he's begun to say, 'Hey, maybe we should do this, or maybe we should do that, or this is what's happening, or that's what's happening, I'm trying to do this and this isn't working.' I've watched him develop through that. There are still areas that he needs to improve on, things he hasn't done a lot of. But man, it's been fun to watch him. Him, [OL Aaron] Banks, [OL Spencer] Burford, each week, they just learn and then they grow a little bit from it and they get a little bit better in some areas. Sometimes they revert back. Right now, for example, Aaron, if we don't have a full week of practice where we get the full Wednesday, Thursday, Friday routine, his games when we had the short week, you come off a Monday night game, his games weren't as good, not as clean, maybe not noticeable, they just weren't as clean. The same thing could be said for Jake. Not that he takes a step back, but it just takes time to now they're going to start to get into in groove. We're towards the end of the season now, you hope that this now carries on, but it's still a learning curve. Things are still adding up, and nothing is set in stone yet with these guys. Although they are getting better every week. Jake included, it's been really cool to watch him develop and it's not easy because from his perspective, he could have some mental errors early in the season that you'd be like, 'gosh dang man, this is not good,' but then to fight through those bumps in the road and to come out the other end of it, learning from it and getting better. He's doing that."
