San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, quarterback Brock Purdy, and others spoke with reporters after Sunday's 28-16 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Here is everything they had to say.
Transcripts provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
Opening comments:
"Some injuries from the game. [CB] Charvarius Ward had a groin, never returned. [LB] Oren Burks, knee. [DL Javon] Hargrave, hamstring, did not return. [LB Dre] Greenlaw hip, he did come back."
You get a 12-point win over somewhat desperate Seahawks team. What about today's win are you most pleased with getting a win?
"I thought there were some things that were a little sloppy. We're just a little inconsistent throughout the day, but guys made a ton of plays, got enough points. On the two turnovers the defense caused were huge. It wasn't the perfect football by any means, but our only goal is to get a win and we found a way to do it."
With QB Brock Purdy, were the Seahawks daring him to beat them over the top?
"No, they're actually pretty soft in all their coverages. They have deep guys all the time, one off schedule breaking out the touchdown to [WR] Deebo [Samuel], just their hooker stopped on the play. So, when you do that, there's no one by him, he saw. I think it was 33, he stopped, and Brock saw him and that's why he got a wide-open touchdown."
The big runs that RB Christian McCaffrey has almost every time he goes left. How hard is it to resist just going left every single time or do you always try to work to try to hit the left of Christian?
"No, it's not always like that because sometimes I don't know whether it's going to balance or cut back. So sometimes when we go to the right it cuts back to the left too. So a lot of it depends on hashes and stuff and how we're playing. Yes, it makes sense to run to the left a little bit more if everything's even, but it doesn't always work out that way like it might've come off."
This team is so explosive today and it's showing more and more of that. Have you had a team that explosive before in terms of getting a big chunk of yardage?
"We got so many guys who can get such big plays on little plays. We went for a big play early in the game, tried to get [TE] George [Kittle] and [WR Brandon Aiyuk] BA down the middle and the two hook defenders were deep in the safety. Some of my favorite plays by Brock in the day because he just went to a checkdown which was the right answer and Deebo was the five-yard checkdown and he got 30 on it. So that happens on a lot of our stuff. Then the more they come up then you can kind of get those easy big plays. I mean the one to George was huge just because they're honoring the run. The play before that you could see them blow the run up and with George and [TE] Charlie [Woerner] over there and 22 personnel and they're coming up aggressive and you could tell they did it again. That's why they tried to grab George going by him, he was able to fight through the holding and get the touchdown. So got a lot of explosive guys, but when you're not just one dimensional in that way, you hope it's a matter of time and just how it plays out."
Deebo described his play last year as awful. How would you describe his play so far this year?
"It's been very good. We're not done yet, so there's a lot more football to play, so we'll see at the end of the year. But I thought Deebo came into this season very ready to go. I thought he was looking really good those first couple weeks. He didn't have all the stats to show it, but that was just the way the ball went, but he was really ready to go. Then he had a huge setback with his injuries which took him a while to get back from him and when he did, it still took some time to get back in the football shape. But starting a few weeks ago you could see it and I think he's at the top of his game right now."
Is there any indication injury wise, if any of those will be long-term?
"No, I mean Ward not sure. We just have to look into it because he's had some stuff like this in his past, so we're not quite sure. Oren was able to still play. Hargrave was the hamstring so I'm assuming he pulled it, but we got to find out for sure. You never know with the D-Linemen, how long they'll be out on that, but we'll know a little bit more tomorrow. Greenlaw was able to come back."
Was the fake punt P Mitch Wishnowsky's call?
"No, I just knew that it would look good right there. So, I just called my first fake punt."
So you called one?
"No, and I didn't today either for him. I don't really know what happened on it. I think he just hesitated a little bit. I haven't got to talk to him personally. I don't know if he thought it was going to get blocked or if he bobbled the snap a hair or he just had a glitch, but it was a good one because when he paused and stuff and saw the edge, it was obviously a clean look and he didn't hesitate for it. I was just told he hit over 20 miles per hour on it. So that's real cool. I know [WR] Ronnie [Bell] felt bad about it, but wish we could avoided that."
You lost Ward on the first series, so how do you feel the defense responded, especially the secondary?
"Yeah, I thought they were huge. I mean just such a challenge going against their receivers, all of them, especially, [Seattle Seahawks WR Tyler] Lockett and [Seattle Seahawks WR] DK [Metcalf]. You know how good Mooney has done versus them, especially versus DK here in the past. To lose him early in the game was stressful, especially when they hit him a go route on that series too, to get the touchdown, but that was about it after that. I thought [CB] Ambry [Thomas] had a hell of a game. I think he's been playing his best football here, so proud of him not getting that penalty, not retaliating back. I thought [DB Deommodore Lenoir] Demo was unbelievable today. I wish he would've got that pick. I know [DL] Nick [Bosa] feels a little bit bad about that, but hated his retaliation, but we'll deal with that on our own. Then I thought [CB] Isaiah [Oliver] stepped it up too. We had to move guys around and Isaiah's been a stud. He's ready for everything at any time in the game. Last week versus Philly, he had to go in and play safety on the second play when [S Tashaun] Gip [Gipson [Sr.] went out. Then it was kind of the same thing this week, just we had to bump Demo outside and get him back to nickel and those guys had a real good game."
First half after they had the illegal forward pass. Did you consider declining the runoff? It looked like you were talking to the ref about it, did they not let you? What happened?
"No, we went back and forth on it. Then I ended up not liking my decision. It's kind of right in between there. I had enough timeouts. We, said no, then we said yes. Then I was confused because when they did take the 10 seconds off and it was after an incomplete completion, I couldn't figure out why they were running it again. None of us knew. So, it was just an unusual rule. So, I just talked to the ref and he said it is a weird rule, but that's how they do it. Even if it's a dead ball, you take a ten second runoff, they can still start the clock. And once that started happening and we were surprised by it, then we just let it go in half."
Brandon Aiyuk hit the thousand-yard receiving mark and now in back-to-back seasons. What does he continue to show you week-in-and-week-out?
"Just every year he gets so much better just on the football field and and also off the football field, which leads to the football field in terms of how mature he is. He's one of our leaders in there. I think BA's come a long way in terms of he gets so amped up for the games and sometimes he won't get a ball for a little bit and then he gets it late and sometimes it happens early. But just BA this year, it really doesn't matter with him. He plays the same way down in and down out and carries over in the run game and the pass game. With the type of football player he is and how talented he is, it's always feels like it's a matter of time he is going to get a thousand, but he deserves it. He's been great for us this year."
What is your view of LB Fred Warner there at the end and the ejections? What was the explanation you were given for Lenoir?
"I was told he threw a punch. I saw all the Fred and DK stuff. It was an awesome job by Fred, just keeping his composure and just taking it, so he wouldn't get ejected. Then after that and we were all excited, but I know there's a big scuffle after that and I didn't see after that. But I was told Demo threw a punch too."
S Ji'Ayir Brown's been showing up against the run and the pass. He seems like he's getting better every week. What are you seeing?
"I see the same thing. He doesn't shy away from contact. He loves to be downhill and hit people. He's got really good vision on the ball. There's a couple times today that the ball hung up in the air and he had one pick, would've had two, but Fred intercepted it from him. I think it was him back there, but Fred ended up going like this. It was awesome job. I think it was Ji'Ayir letting up and not both of them going for it at the same time because then it would've been incomplete. But he got his opportunity as we stated a month ago. He'd been ready for his opportunity, the way he's been handling everything. That's why now, just the more experience he gets, the better he gets."
How well is OL Aaron Banks?
"Aaron Banks is playing very well. I thought he did for us last year too. He had a big injury to come back from, which took him some time. But Banks is extremely consistent in everything he does. He's also got a lot of size, which is nice for us. We don't always have that. Each week he gets better. It was tough when he did have that setback. But the way he played last time versus Seattle on a real short week when he wasn't sure if he could go. I thought followed by last week, versus Philly and then today. I couldn't be more happy with Aaron."
49ers QB Brock Purdy
How cool is it for you to know that any pass you throw, regardless of depth could end up in the end zone with some of those guys?
"Yeah, I mean, I'm a part of a special group. Any one of our guys, any one of our eligibles, you get the ball in their hands and then they can go do the rest, break tackles, obviously have pull away, breakaway speed. I mean, we see it every game. So, to throw like a five-yard pass or even a deep ball, it doesn't matter. We've got playmakers."
WR Deebo Samuel said that his play last year was awful. Do you see a different level from him than you were seeing last year?
"I feel like he's just more intent with the little things. And then, obviously his effort when he is not getting the ball, carrying out fakes to open up [RB] Christian [McCaffrey] or play-action pass, he's doing it right. Last year was my first year with him, so I didn't really know a whole lot. I thought he balled last year. You get the ball in his hands and he still killed it. But, he came back this year in great shape, looking good and then has given everything to this team. So, very proud of him. And obviously when you do get him the ball, he's the same old Deebo, makes plays."
How big is it for you guys to be able to beat Seattle twice in one season?
"It's huge. Especially playing in the same division as them, the rivalry and all that kind of stuff, but they're a good team. And so, for us to be able to say we beat them twice in the same year, it was huge for us. But like I said before, we play and take every game one week at a time. So, they were on our schedule twice and that's how we handled it and that's how we looked at it. But, they're a great team."
Today, you had three really nice deep balls and last year people were saying you've got an average arm. Maybe people weren't expecting you to throw deep, but it seems to be more and more a part of the team's arsenal.
"I feel like we've always sort of had shots within plays. If the defense gives us a look, we take it. Was I afraid to go deep or anything like that last year? I don't think so. This year I feel just more aware of what our offense is and where guys are supposed to be and if a defense gives us a look I'm more ready for it and aware of it. So, I have taken deep shots this year."
Head coach Kyle Shanahan said his favorite throw of yours wasn't one of the deep ones, but a short one to Deebo that he took 30 yards. Is that yours too or do you have a favorite?
"I mean, that one felt good. Just going through the progressions and hitting Deebo and we talked about that all week. Obviously if the defense gives us the longer, deeper throw, great. But, we have to be disciplined and have to play with conviction to be able to go through my progressions and be willing to take checkdowns like that. And obviously when you have Deebo Samuel as your checkdown, it's pretty good."
You have the CMC play that goes for 72, you have a number of big plays, I think you averaged over 10 yards a play today. Do you guys come out in the huddle thinking any play can be a touchdown?
"Yeah, I feel like that's our mindset with this team. Like I said before, we have playmakers across the board, so if you throw an outside zone to Christian and you can take it 70, you can throw a checkdown to Deebo Samuel and he'll take it 50. So that's how we do look at it. We have guys across the board that can make anything happen at any time and that's our mindset. But, obviously you get in situational football, you have to be smart and not just throw deep or anything like that, but we have guys that can score at any moment. So, we know that."
Do you feel like the Seahawks were daring you to beat them over the top today or were you just extra aggressive?
"Honestly, the last couple games we've played them, it's sort of been the opposite. They've done a good job of taking away the deep stuff and have really forced me to throw checkdowns. So going into this game, we understood that. But I mean, they still gave me some ops and so I think we took advantage of them."
On the Deebo deep pass, he wasn't the usual option on that in practice. What did you see on that and why did you go to him on that?
"I saw [Seattle Seahawks S] Jamal Adams, he didn't come down like really, really hard, but I sort of saw his feet coming down. He was sort of flat-footed, and I was like, all right, with Deebo moving, I was like, we can get over the top here. And so, I took my drop. He wasn't necessarily the number one guy in the read, it was actually [WR] Jauan [Jennings]. But the way Jamal Adams came down, I was like, this could be a big one, so let it rip and let Deebo get under it."
Are you guys trying to still look at the at the possibility of the first-round Bye and the top seed, if you guys can just win out each one of your games?
"I mean, yeah. For us, if we handle business and take it one week at a time, obviously who doesn't want to play as the first seed with home field advantage? So, I think everybody in the league knows that. We know that here and like I said, we're taking it one day at a time and everything will fall into place that needs to."
Christian just called you a silent assassin. Would she say that that's an accurate description?
"Man, I mean I'm sort of going to not answer that. I respect that. Thank you, Christian. But yeah, appreciate it."
49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk
What's been the biggest key since the Bye? You guys haven't lost since the Bye Week.
"Just trying to get back on track, play football the way we knew how before the Bye. [It was] not that clean today, but we figured out a way to win. So, five [wins] in a row."
You said 'not that clean,' but you guys hit them with a lot of explosive plays. How big was the fact that you guys hit a lot of big plays?
"It was big today. Like I said, a little bit sloppy on and off, so the big plays kind of helped us get down the field again, get in position and get in the end zone. We started off the game with a big play. I think our second touchdown was a big play again -- so explosive."
Was it important for you guys to be able to win a game specifically that was grittier than the other wins?
"We knew what type of game it was going to be: a .500 team in Seattle that we know a lot about. We knew what type of game it was going to be."
49ers DL Nick Bosa
How would you describe how you won today?
"Just scrappy. We had a lot of guys go down. We had to pick up the slack. Hopefully nothing too bad, but just sticking with it and playing physical like we always do, and our offense is pretty good."
How do you feel like your defensive line group did with DL Arik Armstead out today?
"You definitely miss him. That's for sure. He is a great player, but I think we stepped it up pretty good. It's hard for me to tell when I'm out there what guys are doing, but we made some good plays. I'm excited about [DL] Kalia [Davis] and [DT Javon Kinlaw] JK coming along and [DL] Kevin [Givens]."
There was some creativity in the alignments up front. There was a play where you lined up over center and there was one where you and DL Chase Young were on the same side. Both of those were very effective. How much did you enjoy being a little bit more versatile in that regard?
"I like that. Yeah, it's tough without a camp because over the years I've been on the edge so much and, it's definitely a lot quicker and different inside, so I'm not always super confident about it. But I think if I could continue to get reps in games and get a better feel for it, I think it could be a really good change up now that we have guys like Chase and [DL] Randy [Gregory]. They deserve ops. Yeah, it's good for us."
49ers S Ji'Ayir Brown
What did you see before that interception?
"I was reading the Seattle Seahawks QB [Drew Lock]. I had the opportunity earlier to get an interception and I didn't. My footing wasn't right and I was just waiting on my next opportunity to go get it. I went over there, made the play on the ball, and made the play for the team."
Was this your best game so far?
"Yes, I think I was settling in this game better than any other game. There have been some good games I've had. I had a great game against Philly. I'm just trying to keep it together for the team and be there for the team."
What do your coaches say about your position being in the right place? Do you feel good about where you are?
"Yes, as a safety you always want to be in the right place. You are the last line of defense and if they get past you that it is most likely a touchdown. I just try to do my best to be in the right place at the right time for the guys in front of me and execute the game plan."
49ers LB Dre Greenlaw
LB Fred Warner has been quite good for a while but do you think he may be having his best season?
"I don't know. [LB] Fred [Warner] has had a lot of good seasons so it's hard to say that this is his best. But the way he's getting the ball, communicating, and running around from the start of the season until now, I can say it's probably one of his best seasons. It just looks like he's confident and having fun out there."
When you are chasing down the one seed like you are, how intense does the focus have to be every day and every game?
"You have to be intense and focused in this league because if not you are going to be fired. We are chasing that one seed but we are just trying to get better as players, as a team, and that's going to come naturally. We are chasing it but we are also just trying to enjoy every day and every game because we can't think too far ahead."
Are you able to balance chasing the one seed and having fun at the same time?
"We're not chasing it. We're just working every day trying to get better every game and then it's going to come naturally. If you chase something a lot of times you don't get it."
49ers DT Javon Kinlaw
What can you tell us about today's performance?
"It was a great team effort. Great defensive line play. All around solid performance, but we have things to clean up."
Just tell us about the emotion with this team. You guys see each other a lot. They're a prideful team.
"It's like that you know, but it's the game we play. There's a lot of tempers flying at all times, but I feel like we did a great job of keeping our cool and they got a little more flustered than us. Shout out to the team."
Is your goal still to try to get that first round bye and get home field throughout?
"Most definitely."
49ers TE George Kittle
Three guys went over a hundred yards today: what can you say about your complementary offense today?
"We always talk about 'there's a lot of mouths of feed,' but whenever these guys get their opportunities, they make the most of them: breaking tackles, getting [yards after catch]. It's awesome. I was 25 yards away, so I almost got in that category, but I'll take a touchdown. It was awesome. We didn't play our best ball today by any means. We had a couple turnovers, got stopped on third downs, had some negative plays, but our defense played at a high level and our offense was able to gut it out. But honestly, my favorite play was [P Mitch Wishnowsky]'s run on the punt. Too bad that got taken back. That was pretty special."
Did you have a good view of that?
"Yes. I was sitting there like, 'oh, okay.' And then all of a sudden, [Wishnowsky] just takes off. I was like, 'yes, Mitch!' Because you've seen him tackle. So I was like, 'he's going to truck stick somebody.' He didn't, but maybe next time he'll do some tight end drills with us.
Wishnowsky hit 20 miles an hour.
"Did he really? Bull!"
That's what they said.
"Who's that? I'm not [NFL next gen]. Who's they? It's the hair. That's what it is. It's the hair. He just flies in the wind baby."
49ers RB Christian McCaffrey
That first play, when did you know that it was going to break loose like that?
"I mean, you never know until it does. You kind of just read it one gap at a time and trust the guys in front of you. That was amazing blocking. I got a score there, but that was a great job by those guys up front, all day. BA [WR Brandon Aiyuk] blocking down field, 75-yards down the field again, which is just becoming routine for him, so I appreciated that. It was a great job by all those guys up front."
What was it like for you to take it to the three and then see San Francisco 49ers RB Jordan Mason take it the rest of the way?
"Yeah, it's a very interesting set of emotions because you're like, 'I'm going to punch it in' and then you see him [RB Jordan Mason] coming so you're like, 'Aw man.' But, I have to score. If you don't want to get taken out after a long one, you have to score. They're trying to save your breath and make sure you're good to go. So, I get it, but yeah."
Have you always been good at running to your left? Do you feel like a natural left runner?
"Hopefully, both ways. But no, I never look at which way I'm better at. A lot of it is just play dependent."
49ers WR Deebo Samuel
Do you feel faster this year?
"I wouldn't say I'm faster. When I'm in the open field, I think I just have another gear that people haven't seen."
You described your last year as awful. How would you describe it this year?
"This year, since coming back from an injury, I can see the level of play just getting better and better week in and week out. I just take it one day at a time, [and try] to be the best me I can be for the team."
We know that you and you and WR Brandon Aiyuk are close and you are both rooting for each other. Is there any sort of friendly competition on the team?
No, there isn't any friendly competition at all. At the end of the day, we want to see each other succeed. We wish each other to be better day in and day out.
49ers LB Fred Warner
Can you share what happened toward the end of the game after your pick with you and WR DK Metcalf. What was happening?
"I don't know what happened. I told him he tackled really well and then for some reason he didn't like that. I guess what happened, happened. That's unfortunate. He has to learn to keep his composure, but happy we came out with the win."
When you talked about the defense being inspired by what the offense does, you see that today. Does that fire you guys up?
"Absolutely, every time. I've spoken about it plenty of times about how explosive our offense is. It's just a matter of time before they make a big play down the field or a huge run. The way they started the game was incredible. I think as a team we just have to be more consistent. Today was a little sloppy throughout the game, through all phases, and we still found a way to win, which was the most important. We just have to continue to be better."
You lose CB Charvarious Ward on the first series, DT Javon Hargrave goes out, and DT Arik Armstead isn't in the lineup, so it gave other guys an opportunity. How did you see the defense respond?
"Yeah I have to watch it. It didn't feel like our best day, but at the end of the day we did what was required to win the game. I think we had two takeaways total. I wish we could have had that third or fourth one to help out the offense a little bit. We have to tackle better in space and we let them off the hook on some of those big explosive pass plays. There are little things out there. Like I said I have to watch it to really see the full picture but we did what was necessary to win the game."
49ers T Trent Williams
How nice was it when you did that first play, the run left off the loose? Did you feel that set the tone? What was that like?
"Oh yeah, scoring the two plays 75-yards out was a great way to start the game. We were getting our bell cow nice and warmed up for JP [RB Jordan Mason] to come in and cap it off. It felt great, it felt great."
They're running left a lot. How big is the responsibility, knowing that they're going to run behind you when there are important yards to get? Do you feel that way?
"Yeah, I guess I don't think about it in the game but I know any time I hear 'run left' I basically treat it like I'm the number one receiver, I'm getting the ball. It's like that's my target. That's my chance to make a difference and make some plays for my team."
You guys are chasing down this one seed. How intense does your focus have to be every week just to get another win and then hope everything else plays out?
"Well the only thing we can control is coming out and playing four quarters every Sunday and let the rest take care of itself. Right now, we should have blinders on and just worry about one opponent per week, and focus on going 1-0."
49ers P Mitch Wishnowsky
For the fake punt play, did you just ad-lib it and then it got taken away from you by penalty? That's got to make you feel not so good about that.
"That's all right. We ended up scoring. [WR] Deebo [Samuel] ended up scoring. Well, they punted and we scored. So we'll take it."
Is that one of the things on the sideline where Kyle says "No, no, no. Oh, yes, yes, yes?"
"Probably. I think [Special Teams Coach] [Brian] Schneiders was doing the same."
Is it a kind of a badge of courage that you get knocked out of bounds over there and take a hit and draw a flag on that too, when you're the punter?
"Yeah. I've learned to get out of bounds or get down. Get away from the big fellas."
Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll
Opening statement:
"We came in here buckled up, ready to go play these guys, and we just got out played by their guys on offense too many times to win the game today. They had a bunch of explosive plays doing the things that they do. There's nothing new, just stuff that they did. They executed really well. They made some great throws when the guys were open down the field. [49ers QB Brock] Purdy did a nice job with that. There were too many explosive plays to hold these guys in check, so we've got to give them a lot of credit. They're a good club and had we done those things that would've been a much tighter football game. We were able to score and we were able to move the ball a little bit. I thought [Seahawks QB] Drew [Lock] did an excellent job in this game. Going into a game like this, you can expect that there's three or four plays, or two or three plays that you wish didn't happen the way they did. You just hope that they didn't beat you in the game. He did a lot of cool stuff and came through for us to give us a chance and we got banged up a little bit. [Seahawks CB Devon Witherspoon] Spoon got bruised ribs. We don't know how extensive that is. If he could have gone back in, he would, and it was not a head injury. It was a ribs injury and we had already lost [Seahawks CB Artie] Burns. He got banged up a little bit, but should be okay. So we'll see. We came out of it all right, but it's hard coming back. It's been too many weeks coming back on with losses and it's been hard for all of us. Here we go again. We're going against one of the best teams in the NFC this next week. This is the challenging portion of this season. We're going to see if we can make it through it. The fourth quarter of this season is still there for us to do something with it and we'll see if we can. I believe these guys are going to bounce back and be ready to go again. It's a Monday night and at home, and we've got to get ready and have a great week of preparation to do that and see if we can get a game. We've got to get back on track because this losing thing sucks."
You said it was stuff that the 49ers have done already. It wasn't anything new.
"They had some tougher sweepers that went for 70 yards. That's their favorite play. We've been practicing against it the whole time, that's what I mean by that. There was nothing special about them running [49ers WR] Deebo [Samuel] on a deep crosser. He's been doing that his whole career and we saw it and we didn't play it right. We gave it to them, [49ers TE George] Kittle in short yardage, in a play-action pass. Their heavy personnel, he's been doing that for his whole career. There was nothing new about those things. We didn't execute well enough to stop those opportunities. That's the stuff we practiced and we needed to come through and make those plays. We didn't do it."
How close was [Seahawks QB] Geno [Smith] to being able to play?
"He ran around a little bit and threw the ball, but he couldn't go. He couldn't go in one direction with any confidence and if he could've, he would've played for sure. He came out early today and went through an extensive workout. He got a lot of stuff done under control, but he didn't have it. He didn't have the ability to push in one direction. That's classic for a groin injury. It wasn't the right thing to do to just throw him out there under those circumstances. He didn't call it off. He made me call him off, he wanted to go."
What did you think of Drew Lock's performance?
"I thought he did a great job right from the beginning of the opening drive, it was beautiful. That's a really good sign for Drew, it wasn't too big for him in any way. He wasn't too nervous, he wasn't jittery at all. He came right down the field and threw a great ball to [Seahawks WR] DK [Metcalf] to get us in the end zone. And throughout the game, his calm on the sidelines, his ability to communicate about what was going on and how to adjust, and the things that were coming up in the next sequence and the next series, he was on it. He was a real pro about it. So he did a really good job."
With the extra day, do you think Geno will have a good chance of going next week?
"I don't know that. It certainly helps us, and that was part of the thinking that he couldn't play today. He wanted to go out there and slug it out, but it was right to not play him. We'll have to go day-to-day and see how he goes and see how much he comes back. It'll be like Spoon's injury, those ribs, you've got to go day-to-day and see how he can respond to it. We won't know until all the way to game time, I'm sure and same thing with Geno."
How much did it change your offense and team that Geno's injury happened so late in the week of the preparation?
"It's a jolt. We got jolted by that. He tweaked his groin on taking a funky step after stumbling over a defensive player and he stumbled a little bit. You would never have thought that the guy would get hurt there, but he hit it wrong. The good part of it is that it wasn't a violent incident. He'll come back and he can throw, he can move around. He just can't move around the way he needs to play this game."
What is your message to this team and what buttons can you think of pushing that you haven't tried already?
"We have to be in and click into the finish mode here in the fourth quarter of this season. We need to regain our stride and our mentality to execute the way we need to execute. Today we gave them big plays, but those plays should not have happened to us. So that's easily fixed. Not everybody does it the way they do it. They played their game and their style. You saw how they featured their key players and it worked out for them again. They shouldn't even have thrown those balls. We should have been back there. He throws to somebody else, he checks the ball down. So that's stuff that we can certainly improve on."
With all the different stuff that Devon Witherspoon's doing on your defense, all the plays he makes, how much were you missing him?
"Oh no, we missed Spoon. Spoon would've made some tackles that we missed today. He's a ball player, he gets guys on the ground and he's in the nickel spot. He'd be inside, he'd have made some of those plays and he's really good at it. We did miss him, without question."
What was your view of the fracas that happened at the end there with a couple minutes left?
"I saw DK get drilled in the back of the head on the play and then I didn't know what happened after that. I don't know who he mixed it up with or who made that hit even. I didn't see that, but I guess it was number two [49ers CB Deommodore Lenoir] who wound up getting tossed out also. It's a hard time now, and these guys are fighting through and they're trying to figure it out. They're not willing to accept what's going on, so they're going to fight. To some extent, that's what happened. Some of the young guys thought they should go out there and fight too and they were totally in the wrong place at the wrong time and I'm pulling AB [Seahawks OL Anthony Bradford] out of it a couple different times. They want to be upstanding and they want to stand for the toughness and the competitiveness, but they've got to pick out when it fits and when it doesn't. We're learning that, and it's the first time young guys really got involved like that. I thought three or four guys were out of whack a little bit, trying to chest up with people and not knowing what they should be doing. We'll try to learn from it."
The fourth-and-two play late in the first half, what went into the decision to punt there instead of going for it?
"I didn't want the game to be decided right there, you know, give them the ball at the 40-yard line. It's a tough game or tight game. I figured we won't kick the ball and play defense and play it like where you don't just give them the football at the 40-something yard line. I mean, you're giving them that whole first half if you do that. I'm always fine about that one."
Do you think if we'd have more success on those third and fourth and shorts, we wouldn't be as fearful of not getting it there early in the season?
"It's really easy for everybody to say just go for it because if you go for it and you make it, it's fine. If you go for it and don't make it, the issue it's not. If you make it, that's easy, alright. Did we not convert a fourth down in there somewhere? Yeah, yeah. That outlook has to understand from my perspective, you've got to understand what happens if you don't make it and if somebody slips or whatever goes down or you don't make the block or whatever happens, they get the ball right there. It's first down, it's a turnover. That's a turnover. It's just like you threw them an interception right there. What would happen if you threw them an interception right there? Well, you'd be on your heels and they would be gaining the momentum of the opportunity and all of that. So is it worth giving them a turnover to make that first down? No, it wasn't in my opinion. There's times I've gone for it in that situation and more. If you believe in who you are and what you're all about, you should kick the football right there and let's go play some more ball."
How healthy was RB Ken Walker today?
"He looked pretty darn good. I thought he looked phenomenal. His competitiveness in getting after it worked out. The whole process of bringing him back and the way the guys prepped him and all of that worked out beautifully for him to be able to contribute in a huge way. He made some fantastic plays today and those were plays where he was torqueing around so he must be okay. That's all you could say. I have to give him a lot of credit. That was a heck of a game for him to bounce back."
The touchdown pass to TE Colby Parkinson. Was that the play you guys got from them last year?
"It's an old NFL play. It's been around for a long time."
What was your message in the locker room for the guys now?
"About finishing this fourth quarter, hanging and continuing to believe. [Seahawks WR] Tyler [Lockett] had talked to these guys about how valuable and how important it is to keep believing and I just picked up there because I couldn't agree with them more. That's how you get this done."
Seahawks QB Drew Lock
What was it like finding out Thursday night that you were maybe going to start?
"It's something that you always have to be ready for, something that over the last year and a half hasn't happened too often. [QB] Geno [Smith] has been sturdy as a rock and that's just who he is as a player. This week it just so happened that I was going to take a couple of reps on Thursday and Friday and come out here and play football. It felt good to finally be back out there. I know the results weren't what we wanted but it had been a while since I had gone out there and done that and it felt really good."
On the opening drive in particular, for your first start in a long time to go out and march down the field score had to feel pretty good.
"Yeah, that was awesome. That was an awesome feeling. We just kept capitalizing on the opportunities they gave us on that drive and thought [WR] DK [Metcalf] made a heck of a catch on that play and got around, ran around a little bit. Running game, guys were blocking great and to go down after you don't get the ball to start the game and then they get seven. It's a big thing for us to go down and get points on that drive. And I think for us to do that, the first drive, get a little confidence in the guys. I think that was big for us."
After the touchdown to DK Metcalf and then they lost CB Charvarius Ward, did they start covering him maybe a little different at that point?
"Yeah, they started changing things up a bit. I think with seven on the field they were going to be more prone to playing a little more man to man. Then sure enough he goes out and they start playing a bunch of zones, a bunch of two high zones, clouding him a little bit, and giving a little extra help. That's to be expected with that guy. It definitely changed a little bit of what they were doing."
Overall, how do you assess your day?
Obviously, turnovers – can't have them. Left that ball inside on the long ball to DK, put that to the sideline, let him run underneath. It could be a big play for us. The last one just is what it is, but I thought I used my legs well, thought I got the ball to a lot of different guys today. Spread it around, made the big plays when they were there. Stayed confident, stayed calm, nothing threw me off the rocker today. And that was a blast being out there. Again, I'm trying to balance the feeling of, I just finally played again and how good that feels to go out and play. And then also not getting it done. So, it's interesting. But, I did have fun with those guys out there. I thought they came out and played their butts off the whole time. Did a great job tonight. And when guys got the ball in their hands, man, they made plays."
Once Ward got hurt and they go to the two high, what was the counter you were trying to get to?
"When we ran the ball in that second half, they were popping off big runs. That was big for us. We wanted to, in the play action game, kind of get play action calls that attack the safeties a little bit more, knowing that they were going to probably crowd us and not give us the single head looks that we had prepared for a little bit. But, it was easy. It was a quick switch. [Seattle Seahawks Offensive Coordinator] Shane [Waldron] did a great job tonight. I appreciate the way he called that game too. He let me do a lot of things that, with the first guy coming out there playing in a long time, he can get a little scared in the play calling, and he was not that way with me tonight. I appreciate him for doing that."
If you do end up starting next week against Philadelphia, what from this game will you take away, good or bad, that you can use in that game?
"That I can still play football. I can still go out there and do it. It had been a while since I've started a game. I can be confident in my legs, confident in the deep ball, confident in just dropping back and living in the pocket. It's just confident that I am an NFL quarterback. I guess I could take that away and take that into the next week, when and if I do get the chance."
The, the touchdown to TE Colby Parkinson, is that something you guys have put in this week or is that a play you guys have had?
"Yeah, we've had it, we've tweaked it, changed a little bit and brought it back this week. It's a fan favorite in the locker room. We liked it this week and I'm glad it worked out the way it did. Glad Colby got that one."
Did not have as many explosive runs in the second half impact you guys offensively anything?
"I mean, I can think of two plays myself that I know I could have impacted us better on. One, the pick and then our first drive where we went two incompletions on first down, second down, coming right out of the half I think or the second drive. We could add 10 explosive runs that would've helped, but I know those two plays right now in my head. Two completions were there for me on the field, didn't get to the right guy, and we could've converted those and got into a rhythm on a drive coming out of the half."
Was there a miscommunication on the first pick?
"No, no, no. I just left it inside. That was, we had a guy running across, DK taking the top off. He gave us a single high look. Corner's outside, safeties in the middle corner outside, put it over the corner's, head to the sideline, didn't get it done, left it inside. Got it."
So, late in the weeks suddenly having to maybe prepare as the starter, is that any more of a challenge or are you just kind of going to move seamlessly into that?
"Like I said, I try to prepare every single week like I am the starter. Maybe a little more work with [WR] Tyler [Lockett] and DK and Jax [WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba], throwing them a couple extra balls. Working with the O-line on cadence a little more. It just, the little small details I guess, the things that you have to add onto your plate towards the end, where if you just get thrown into a game, it's alright, I have to know what I'm doing, what are my plays, what am I doing this week? It was a little more of the little minor details of like I said, communicating with the O-line, extra throws to Tyler and DK, just those things."
You said you felt like Shane sort of kept things open for you. What do you mean by that?
"I just know that you got a guy that hasn't started a game in a long time, come out with a couple runs. No, we came out, took some play action shots, the touchdown play action shot, let me drop back, let me run around. I just appreciate him letting me go out and do the things that I'm really, really good at."
How important is that for your confidence when he's calling those plays?
"Yeah, it's huge. When you hear those play calls coming to the headset, like you said, it does give you confidence. All right, we're play action shot right here. He trusts me to get the ball to the right place, check it down if it's not there. And it just does give you a lot of confidence. I was, like I said, I appreciated the way he called that game tonight."
Fourth-and-two, late first half, were you thinking maybe head coach Pete Carroll was going to go for that in that situation?
"We're ready for Pete to give us the head nod whenever. But again, that's, that's coach's decision, I'm just there when and if he wants to do it."
You smiled like you wanted to go for it.
"Of course. All quarterbacks want to go for it every single time. But, it just depends on the flow of the game."
Seahawks S Jamal Adams
Can you tell us about San Francisco's offense?
"Obviously [RB] Christian [McCaffrey] is a hell of a player and they got a hell of an offensive line. [LT] Trent [Williams] does his thing and you have [TE George] Kittle and [WR Brandon] Aiyuk blocking. Everybody is blocking over there. They do a great job of playing team offense and it's tough. We have to close those gaps, because one bad mistake can lead to several."
When you're trying to get those cutback lanes filled, is it [RB] Christian McCaffrey's style of running that makes it more challenging?
"You team him up with a guy like [Head Coach] Kyle Shanahan - who is a tremendous coach, who knows how to call their offense, and he keeps defense and players on their toes - with all the bootlegs, with all the fast flow tosses, and gap exchange. All of those things play a part. At the end of the day, we didn't close those gaps like we needed to."
After that opening drive from the 49ers, the offense answered. What kind of spark did that give the entire team when you saw them march the length of the field?
"It was amazing, just to get that juice back because we definitely needed it. Giving up a long run on the first play of the game is not ideal for a defense. We take more pride into it. We just have to be better."
Seahawks RB Zach Charbonnet
Can you talk about the way this offense moved the ball in the first half? You had a couple great runs, a couple 23-yard runs, kind of trading carries there with [Seattle Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III]. Can you talk about that a little bit?
"I think we had a good first half on offense. We just executed the game plan and stuff like that. Then, in the second half, we just came out flat and that's something we have to continue to build upon and not keep saying, 'we're going to.' We have to actually do it now."
There's four straight losses here, but the last couple games have been so close. Is that the mindset here with five games to go in the season?
"Yes. [Seattle Seahawks QB Drew Lock] was talking before the game, 'just believe.' That's the mindset we're going to continue to go with and we just have to find a way to keep working harder. Just like Lock said, 'believe.' We're going to keep believing and trusting the process and keep on growing from here on out."
How would you evaluate [Lock]'s play today? I feel like he was pretty poised, especially in the first half.
"Yes, I think we all did, especially in the first half. We were playing really good, and second half, [Lock] had some good catches, too. But it's how [Lock] was saying after the game: we just have to find a way to continue to build and continue to grow from this."
Seahawks Safety Quandre Diggs
Is part of that frustration [of this losing streak] because you have the talent to do it and you have the guys, but the plays aren't being made?
"I feel like you can have the talent. I've been on less talented defense that's been more technique-sound and more in tune to what's going on. It's cool to be talented. But, I've played this game a long time, not by being talented. I've played this game by being consistent in my approach and what I do each and every week. At some point we got to learn from mistakes and go from there."
Seahawks TE Noah Fant
What did you think of QB Drew Lock having his first start?
"I think Drew did everything he could. I was proud of the way he played. I know that he had some picks but we were in the game at the end and that's all you can ask from a quarterback. I think he did what he could."
QB Drew Lock has to play next week against the Philadelphia Eagles, how confident are you in him?
"I've always had the utmost confidence in Drew, same thing with [QB] Geno [Smith]. Geno is our starting guy and Drew came and filled in. I have the utmost confidence in both of them. They both give us a great shot to win the game and whoever it is, that's who we are going to ride with, whether Geno's healthy or if Drew has to fill in again."
Do you feel like not having the run game in the second half is probably what contributed to the stalled drives?
"I think so. I think we could have done a better job with mixing in some things. Even when we were calling runs, being a little cleaner on assignments. Their backers run very fast, so sometimes it is hard to get off combinations to catch up to them. We'll have to go back and look to see exactly where we had breakdowns in our run game. But we had some good runs. We have to look at that and see which of those plays were good and [where we were] able to get those explosive plays. The film will tell us that."
Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett
Talk about QB Drew Lock's performance.
"He did great. I think he gave us some great chances to be able to win. First drive, went down and scored, which was big for us. I think he did everything that the coaches wanted him to do and more, and I'm just super proud of him for being able to come through, getting this opportunity, and still playing at a high level."
Why did you talk to the team after the game about staying with it?
"That's all you can do. All you have is four games left and regardless of whatever happens, you have to be able to finish strong. You have to be able to continue to play at a high level and understand that there's going to be a lot of ups and downs. I've been here long enough to understand that once things start rolling, it starts rolling, and great things start happening. Sometimes in a football game, especially like this, there's going to be some great times and there's going to be not so great times, but you have to be able to keep on playing because you never know what can happen. We weren't able to get the fourth down when we went for it, but you saw how fast our defense got us the ball back and then we got another chance. So I've been here long enough to know that miracles can happen and we just have to be able to believe. We just have to keep playing and allow whatever happens to happen, but not let that dictate where we're trying to go."
As long as you've been here, you guys haven't lost four straight games. I don't think that's happened under [Head Coach] Pete Carroll. How different does it feel?
"Everybody hates losing, but at the same time, you have to be able to figure it out. You have to learn from it. You have to be able to not just move on, but be able to learn how to move forward. I think we're playing great teams, don't get me wrong. We're playing great teams, but we're a great team ourselves. You have to be able to figure out what it's going to take to be able to win a game because if you win a game, then you could be able to get the ball rolling. But sometimes you need things to happen in your favor. Sometimes you have to go out there and make it happen yourself. I just think we have to stay in it. All we have to do right now is stay together, stay in it, and keep playing with our heads down."
Seahawks S Julian Love
Can you put your finger on why some of those big plays happen, if they're plays you guys have seen before?
"Yeah. They were scheming up some of the stuff we do. But that's a pillar of what we have to do on defense - play top down and not allow explosives. Obviously we allowed too many balls over our heads today."
How do you assess this game? The two takeaways, they punted five times, and you also had all the big plays. It was a mixed bag.
"It's like you said, it's a mixed bag. We have to play complimentary football. When we get those takeaways, [we need to] try to score, play top down, and tackle. It was kind of a gritty game. A lot of good players were out there. But we didn't string enough good ones together."
You guys were fighting too, and now you've lost four in a row. What's the mood of the team right now?
"You have two options right now. You either fall victim to your circumstances or you rally. We have four more opportunities for the end of this regular season and we have to capture them. Everything we can get is in front of us still, thankfully. We have two ways to go and each person in that locker room needs to decide what they're going to do."
Seahawks LB Boye Mafe
How disappointing is it in this locker room?
"I mean, it hurts but you can't really look back at the past. I think we [need to] move forward, and understand that we have things to learn from these games. There are things we can fix and there are things we can work on. We take those things and get ready for the next one."
Can you talk about the explosive plays today? Those are kind of the back-breakers on the defensive side of the ball. Would you agree?
"Yeah, we need to take accountability for those, and understand where we need to get better and what we need to get better at. We have to watch the game tomorrow and understand what we need to work on and solidify ourselves. We have a great defense here. Our defense has been playing lights out. We have to get back to what we know and the ball that we know how to play."
Did you feel like after that first big play, you guys did settle down, especially in the first half? Is that the way it felt to you guys?
"We have to understand that, after every situation, we have to be ready to bounce back. We never know how it's going to start, how it's going to go in the middle, or how it's going to finish. So, [we need to] understand that the guys we have in this room, the guys we have on this defense, you can always trust them."
Seahawks WR DK Metcalf
How much of the lack of running game contributes to those long third downs and then the inability to cover third down?
"We play off the run game so if we really don't have a run game then the play action, the deep passes or the intermediate passes don't really work."
Where do you think this team is right now? You're close. You're in a five point game going into the fourth quarter, you played Dallas right to the bitter end as well, but a four game losing streak is not what you guys are used to in there. Where do you think you are as a team right now?
"A team? I think we still have to answer that question. We've been pretty inconsistent as a team. We have to answer who we really are, who we want to be and we have to use the last four games of the season."
The last play looks like frustration. Was there more to it than that?
"If you want to call it frustration, yes, it was frustration. From my side, he hit me in the back of the head. I just retaliated."
You've lost to the San Francisco 49ers five times in a row. Does it feel like you are behind them or you guys are really close?
"I don't think we're behind anybody. We're an NFL team and you have come to play on Sunday, every Sunday. A team's record really doesn't matter. You have to show up to play every game."
Seahawks LB Bobby Wagner
So, to fulfill the playoff goals, what do you think you need to do to get there?
"We have to find a way to win. We have to find a way to stop having these penalties. You know, when you go against an elite team like that, you can't give them anything. So we have to find a way to execute better."
When you look around this room, there's talent. I mean, it just looks like on paper it's there. What do you think is missing, besides cleaning up the penalties?
"I'm not sure. I just think we have to make plays. I think it's pretty simple. We need to find a way to make plays in key moments."
Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III
I know that QB Geno Smith was a game time decision, but how much work had you guys gotten with QB Drew Lock this week in practice?
"No, we always get work with Drew. He knows the game plan every week. He studies film, just like we study film. So we were confident in him playing and being our quarterback."
Was there anything said before that opening drive? Was there a sense of more determination or anything said before that drive?
"We just got to go out there and execute. That's what we talk about a lot. So yeah, I feel like we can play with anybody, but just go execute. I feel like we said at the beginning of the game and the beginning of the drive."
There's a lot of talent and there's some big plays and then it kind of stalled out there in the second half. Was that adjustments that the Niners made or was that something else?
"I just think we didn't finish. That's it. I feel like it was nothing. We just didn't finish."
Seahawks DL Leonard Williams
Were there too many explosive plays?
"Yeah, I think that's really what it is, explosive plays. I feel like defense overall, drive in, drive out, we were doing a pretty good job stopping them. We had a few three-and-outs, a few takeaways and everything. I feel like overall we put a big point of emphasis on their play makers, 23 [Christian McCaffrey], 19 [Deebo Samuel] and 85 [George Kittle]. I feel like overall we let them make too many explosive plays."
They got that big explosive play, did you make adjustments?
"I don't really think we made too many adjustments that we didn't practice throughout the week. I think really we just messed up on that opening play and they took advantage of it, got down the field and it gave them a lot of momentum."
This team has been so close yet, you look up and there are four straight losses. It has never happened under Seattle Seahawks HC Pete Carroll. How close do you guys think you are right now, looking from the outside in, to the playoffs?
"I think that's the toughest part about it, how close these games have been and how much talent I know this team has, how much passion I know this team has, and how much want I know this team has. I don't think we're lacking in any of those parts. And there's just something about it that we're not being able to finish out these close games and we really have to figure it out."