San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and several players spoke with reporters after Monday's 32-19 Week 1 win over the New York Jets. Here is everything they said.
Transcripts provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
Opening comments:
"Injuries from the game. [WR] Jauan Jennings had an ankle, he returned. [OL] Aaron Banks had a calf contusion, did not. That was it."
RB Jordan Mason ran with a ton of conviction against a really good defense. What were your thoughts of his performance?
"I thought he ran like he always does. When you get him the ball, he breaks tackles, usually gets more than we block for. When we had the good lanes, he always hit them and got a bunch. JP was awesome today."
What happened with RB Christian McCaffrey?
"Just the same stuff that was bothering him all week. There was a little too much today, game-time decision. He came in, just talking to him about it, it was still there. Thought it was going to be smart to keep him out and glad we did."
Jordan said after the game, that he was told on Friday night he was going to start. When did Christian start feeling awry?
"I never told Jordan he was going to start. I told him he had to be ready a bunch, but that might've been [running backs coach] Bobby [Turner] or somebody trying to pump him up. But I knew he was going to have to play a lot and I told him that he was going to have to, wasn't going to be like usual, he was going to be a number two back, that was splitting a lot of the time. But no, he didn't know he for sure was doing that until today."
Did Christian have some sort of a setback on Friday?
"No, he didn't have a setback. It was on and off throughout the week. He was able to practice throughout the week, just it was always bothering him to a degree and sometimes it goes away, sometimes it comes back. And today, it was bothering him a little too much to where we didn't feel good about it."
Is there a concern that this is something that's going to linger over the next couple of weeks?
"Oh, always. It's been lingering the last few weeks. But it's getting better and better. Hopefully it'll be better next week."
Is it one of those situations where if there's any soreness pre-game, you'll air on the side of caution?
"Not any soreness, but if there was too much soreness."
Did Jordan's performance tonight kind of give you some reassurance that you could allow Christian to maybe heal more?
"Not really. We always, we think very highly of JP. When he's been in those situations, that's what he's always done. You always want Christian out there. What he brings to the run game, also what he brings to the pass game. It's huge to have Christian. But at the expense of losing him for more games."
With what went on with this team this summer with the holdouts and then obviously a shooting and so much going on in the last few weeks, did you ever worry about the hope of the team? Did you always understand this is what could be possible in Week One?
"Yeah. I'm with our team every day, so I know there's lots of news stories and stuff with holdouts and things like that and when are people coming back, but our guys have been awesome in practice. They've been very focused. Anytime guys don't get a lot of practice in, I wish we could have more. I wanted to mesh more with those guys who just got here this week, but being able to get four practices in with those guys, having the extra day, things like that, was great for them. Still got a long way to go. Today by no means was perfect. There were some parts that were sloppy but just overall, all three phases played really well together. Being able to score there at the end of the half and with the field goal, run the clock out, score the opening drive of the third quarter, our defense getting the two turnovers, our kicker going six-for-six, being able to have 37 runs. I look at that as a complete team goal that we try to do. I was real happy with just the team overall."
How did T Trent Williams and WR Brandon Aiyuk look to you?
"They seem fine. I'm sure we'll see some things when we watch the tape but nothing that cost us."
What do you think about the defense, particularly against the run? You guys had some changes over the offseason on that side of the ball, some injuries obviously, it seemed like a strong person impression.
"I was really happy watching the defense from the sidelines. I thought they were running and hitting. That's the thing that jumps out the most. They got a few big plays on us on a couple drives that got them moving. But for the most part, I thought we were winning most of the downs. Gave up a couple big ones that we have to clean up. But I was real impressed with our defense today."
Offensively, you guys started three-and-out and then you scored, I think, on eight straight possessions after that. Did you expect it to go that productive without Christian?
"You don't really have expectations like that. You try to score every time you get the ball. I don't expect to go three-and-out, ever. But it still happens. I didn't know that we did that until they just told me and it kind of made sense that I don't remember seeing [P] Mitch [Wishnowsky] very much, and so that did make sense. Not having Christian is huge, but we have a team that really commits to running the ball. We have 10 guys out there who block for whoever the running back is. And we have some running backs and some receivers who know how to lower their pads and run the ball too."
What did you see from QB Brock Purdy in his first full game without Christian?
"He seemed very good. There were not many plays that he left out there. I thought he made some big-time plays. There towards the end, got a little conservative, just felt that we had the game and wanted to focus on winning the game, so we didn't have him do a lot there at the end. He was very smart with the ball and made sure that there was no chance for them to get back in the game."
Jordan got a lot of snaps in the summer, a lot of first-team snaps. Did he get better throughout the summer and did your confidence in him grow throughout the summer?
"No, I don't think so. I think Jordan has looked the same as he always has. Not just losing Christian, but we lost a number of backs. The coolest thing for JP, he was in such good shape going to camp, that when a lot of guys go down and a guy has to do a little bit more in practice, then the next thing you worry about is him going down. And if he wouldn't to come to camp in such good shape and so ready to go, it would've been hard for that not to wear him out. And it never phased him at all. Every day in practice, he was the same as he has been in the past and carried it over to the games. To me he looks like he always does."
Are you as comfortable as you've ever been going for field goals of 50 yards or longer?
"Probably for the distance, yeah. That's the difference with [K] Jake [Moody], is he does have a big leg. I get a number and where we can attempt it from. I don't really think much different of it, whether it's 50 or 47. I don't think it's too big of a difference for him."
Pretty much a turnover to start each half. How did that energize the entire team?
"It's huge. Anytime you get a turnover, it fires everyone up. I wish we could have scored touchdowns off of both of them, but to still get points, that was one of the reasons we got the two-score lead and never gave it back."
What did you think of defensive coordinator Nick Sorensen game calling? It was his first time as the defensive coordinator. What'd you think of some of the dialogue there?
"I thought it was great. I've been on that side of the headsets throughout the preseason, I am a lot during the games, just listening to communication with those guys. Nick's done a great job, with all the position coaches and everyone there. They have a real understanding of what we're trying to do, and they communicate well. I've been very happy with that side of the ball."
In training camp, Bobby Turner said, looking at Jordan's rookie year that he needed to grow up and maybe Bobby Turner says that about every running back. But, in what ways has Jordan kind of matured, not just as a player, but off the field?
"Jordan has always had a ton of confidence, since the first day he got here. I think, the most part is getting use to Bobby coaching him. Realizing that he is not always angry, he just kind of stays that way and kind of learn to appreciate it. And I think Jordan has really pushed himself, each year, of just the way he's worked off the field. Being more conditioned, he's never been badly conditioned, but he's, we have some guys in our building like Christian, guys like [LB] Fred [Warner], [FB Kyle Juszczyk] Juice, [TE] George [Kittle], guys who are very obsessive with how they work out, how they condition themselves, how they eat, how they sleep. And I think that stuff has really rubbed off on JP over the years."
There's a report that you guys were ready to trade Aiyuk before it all came together and that even he had to have a meeting with you and then you had to try to run up the stairs and try to make sure he wasn't traded. Is that all true?
"Most of it, yeah."
So you were ready, coach Kyle Shanahan was ready to trade him?
"That sounded a lot more aggressive. You just pointed at me and said you [laughing]."
Did you have to break up a trade?
"No. It was that I wanted to make sure he wasn't traded already. But no, it's how I kind of reported you guys throughout the whole time. You guys would ask me stuff about it and I'd say, 'Anything could happen.' There were reports that we almost traded into some teams and then we didn't. Some were true, some weren't. But all options were open and it was a tough thing to kind of get to the final spot of it on both sides. And when it was all said and done, I'm glad that we had the patience. I'm glad that it worked out the way it did, because I love having B.A. here."
With the next two games on artificial surfaces, will that play a factor into what you do with Christian? Particularly, the last time you played on artificial surfaces?
"Not totally. I don't think that was because of [LB] Dre [Greenlaw]. The game, I thought it had to do more with the practice week. But you can make the stuff with turf and everything, I'll ask the player how he's feeling. If they feel good and they're ready to go, they're ready to go. If they say, 'I feel good on grass but not on turf,' that's usually the way of saying that you don't really feel that good. We'll see how he feels tomorrow, we'll see how he feels the next day and we'll see how he feels on Sunday."
There was a report that Christian probably wouldn't play against Minnesota just because it's a short week and on turf.
"I'm saying it's amazing that person must be God. Because we just found out he wasn't playing today, and I have no idea how he's going to feel tomorrow or the next day. I thought he was playing this whole week, until today. I don't know who knows that he's not playing next week."
How did Trent and Brandon perform, given what you expected of them to, given their limited practice time?
"I thought they did a good job. I'm glad they got through it healthy. It's always easier to rotate skill guys. I've never been in that position with a tackle before, so I didn't totally have an idea of how to handle it. It would've felt real weird rotating a tackle throughout the game, and it would've felt even weirder, Trent standing next to us with the offense out there. I think he managed most of the game. He went in for an IV, I believe sometime in the second half, and missed a couple plays, but not too much. I thought it worked out real well for the first time back."
49ers QB Brock Purdy
With all the comings and goings and just not having the whole offense out there through the entire training camp, how did it feel from the beginning?
"I thought there's some things that we could all probably do a little bit better at, myself included. Just the live speed and having everybody in together tied together with everything, shifts, motions, operation, going against man coverage, finding ways to get open and being on time. There's just that the sense of urgency that I think that we can be a little bit better with. I think we found that as the game went on, but
definitely feel like we could all still get better."
With your first game without RB Christian McCaffrey, did it seem weird to you to not have your guy there?
"Yeah, Christian does a lot, I think, in the pass game, dropping back and either going to him as a first option or knowing that he's my last option and there's a really good chance that he's open. But with [RB Jordan Mason] JP, I think JP did a good job coming in and there was some third downs and stuff where I was able to hit him on some check downs and him doing the same thing Christian has done. So obviously, Christian is the best in the league at running back and what he does. I'm not taking anything away from that. But I think JP did a good job of coming in and filling his void and doing his job to allow
other guys to get open and allow us to run our offense."
Not that this team needs confidence but given what you guys went through in the offseason, what happened to WR Ricky Pearsall last week and that traumatic experience, no Christian tonight, to have a convincing win like this against what we all believe is probably going to be a good team. What does that do for the company?
"Yeah, I think it's good for us. We've been through a lot as a team, just with signing guys, trying to get guys back, Ricky's situation and Christian and there's a lot that goes on. It's the NFL. Some crazy stuff can go on, but just our culture, our team, what we stand for and how we all come together and find ways to win and rally around each other. We do it right here and that's something that I stand on and firmly believe in and we all do. I'm very proud of the guys to be able to fight through just all the adversity and stuff that we've been going through in the last however many months. But we're just going to keep pushing together."
With Jordan Mason, how have you seen him grow in the three years that you've been with him? What was it like to see him have the success that he had tonight?
"Yeah, just coming in rookie year trying to learn the playbook together, he and I would like meet a lot and go through everything. So, he's always had that drive to learn. I was the last pick and he was undrafted and knowing that we weren't going to have a lot of opportunities and we had to make the most of the opportunities that we got. So, he knew that and we both did. And so, to see him over the last two years, just push the envelope more and more every year and then get an op this year at camp and do well with it. And obviously in the first game of the season, he did great with it. So really, really excited for him. He's earned it. He's the kind of guy that was not given to him. And so to see him go out and do what he did tonight, I'm so happy for him and I know he is going to keep pushing."
Mason bought that jugs gun and told us about it and it seems like it's improved his catch radius this summer. Have you noticed that?
"Yeah, I think just him getting out of the backfield, reading the defense, like a quarterback does and what Christian does really well. JP grew in that area. And then obviously just with his hands getting better. He's just smooth, soft. Sometimes running backs can be a little, bobbly on check downs and stuff, but he's the kind of guy now where he looks things in, gets it tucked in really well, and then he is off and going. So that's an area that he definitely got better at and we saw it tonight."
Were you aware that you scored on all eight of your series after the opening three-and-out? Are you disappointed that K Jake Moody got six field goals?
"I didn't know that. I'm happy for Moody. But yeah, for us as an offense, it's like, we want to score touchdowns. We're hard on ourselves about, I think it was like a third-and-eight or third-and-10 and coming up short. There's areas where we want to push each other and get a little better and that starts with me. But, I'm glad Moody got some good work in and he did a great job tonight."
49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk
How much did you want that touchdown catch back at the end zone by QB Brock Purdy? It looked like a dime.
"It was a dime."
Brandon, running out onto the field, hearing your name called, knowing that you were still playing at Levi's Stadium as a Niner, what went through your head during that moment?
"I was just super excited, ready to play."
Did you feel that from a cohesiveness, you guys had that offensively, was it still kind of a feeling out process at all for you guys?
"I think the offense did a great job."
When did you guys know that RB Christian McCaffrey wasn't going to play?
"I just found out before the game."
How much does that change the game plan when RB Christian McCaffrey was ruled out and that RB Jordan Mason was going to step up? Did he need words of encouragement going into the game?
"He's a great running back. He's stepped in and done great multiple times before, so it was the same thing."
49ers DL Nick Bosa
What do you think makes this team so impervious to outside influences and talk? You held out last year, you guys hit the ground running fine. You had two hold outs this year, stuff's going on and people think maybe it's kind of a bad vibe this year, and can you come out and play like this?
"Yes, our ownership really takes care of us. You have to, when you have really good players and we have really good players at every position. When guys aren't there, we have their back. We know that when they get back they're going work their butts off. So it doesn't change when they're not here, we're working and when they come, we're working."
What did you think of the defense as a whole? It seemed like you guys controlled the line of scrimmage and stopped the run pretty quickly, even though they kept trying to run.
"I'm really proud of how we came out with energy, [LB] Fred [Warner] making that play early kind of set the tone. If we could stop the run like that, we will obviously clean up more things and we will have a lot more rush ups in the future."
Last few years, and you guys have been good defensively, but against the run particularly, you've been top five, top seven. What drives that? What about this team allows you to do that?
"Well, that's just our main focus every year because if you could make teams one dimensional it's huge. It's always a number one focus every single year, especially with our D-line scheme and the way we play our linebackers. We take a lot of pride in it and last year we weren't as good as we needed to be. We had to improve."
49ers DL Maliek Collins
The Jets were tearing down on you guys. You set the tone early but did you feel them feeling you out as the game went along?
"For sure."
How fun was a win like this tonight? Obviously, there was a lot of talk about the return of New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers and the Jets' defense and offense. How good did this feel?
"That was the goal the whole time to go out there and win. It was fun, though."
What did you think about Levi's Stadium and the 49er Faithful?
"It's dope."
Have you experience something like this before?
"Nope, nothing like this before."
49ers DL Javon Hargrave
How did it feel? Did you feel like their offense was getting tired out there at all?
I'm not going to say tired but my offense kept scoring so they kind of just tapped out at the end."
Is it weird for you guys to sit on the bench that long?
"No, we are actually used to it here. We know we're going on long drives here. We know we have to make our plays when we make our plays because the offense is going to run the ball a lot."
How did Defensive Coordinator Nick Sorensen do in his debut?
"Oh, I think it was pretty good. We knew we had to stop the perimeter runs and kind of slow the run game down. I think we did a good job at that from that standpoint."
Did it feel like a season opener?
"Yes, It was lit. It was definitely fun to see all the people. It was so loud in there. We couldn't really hear any of the calls in the beginning."
You guys stifled the run today and was an area that had some issues last year. Was that a big point of focus this off season and during training camp?
"Of course. I think that's where it starts for our defense. When a team can run the ball on you, they can kind of do everything. So we definitely focused on that this year."
49ers WR Jauan Jennings
Now offensively, without RB Christian McCaffrey, you guys were incredible hitting on all cylinders. RB Jordan Mason obviously had a big game. What does that say about this offense?
"JP Ski [RB Jordan Mason], he played his tail off. And it just shows how much we expect the next man up to come in and do the job as well as the first one."
How would you grade the offense today?
"Offense, today, we did our job. We got the win. I'm not a coach, so I'm not going to do grading."
A lot has been said about this Jets defense. They've been top five in the league the last couple of years. New York Jets CB Sauce Gardner, I saw him yapping a little bit. How good was it to go out there and put up?
"Honestly, I didn't hear him yap a lot. I was on the sideline. That's what I was telling my teammate, you know, maybe if they were up we would get more out of them. No yapping this whole game."
49ers TE George Kittle
You guys seemed to get a good spark on that third drive with TE Eric Saubert, going two tight ends. How did that go?
"It was a fantastic combination. I've always been preaching that we need more tight ends on the field and never to take Juice [FB Kyle Juszczyk] off. I'm a big fan of two tight ends and two running backs with one wide receiver. Don't let [WR Brandon Aiyuk] BA hear that. We had a great game plan. We were able to really run outside zone, we were able to get them in looks that were really good for us. It was nice too. Eric played with Houston and he played with Miami. He was coached by my old tight ends coach for a little bit, so he knows what our offense is like. So seeing him out there succeed - that was awesome. I really appreciated him and his work ethic tonight. He did a great job. Then the way that our whole offensive line and [RB Jordan Mason] JP ran for like 147 yards. That's not bad for your first career start in the NFL. So happy for him and hopefully we can just keep rolling on that train."
What does Mason add to this offense? He seems a lot different compared to RB Christian McCaffrey.
"He's very different. Like I told Christian, literally the only good thing that came out of him not playing is that our playbook shrinks just a little bit, which I'm always a fan of, the shrinking playbook now. [Head Coach] Kyle [Shanahan] can make all these awesome plays and the cool thing about Christian, is you can do all these things that no one else in the world can do, but we really just ran the most simple outside zone all day. Whether it was a weak side run at [OL] Trent [Williams], [OL] Colton [McKivitz] or you had two tight ends in there and just run an outside zone, it worked really well and I was happy for that. What JP also does is he's just such a downhill runner and he's a dense dude, sturdy, that'd be a good word for it. He's a dense, sturdy guy and he just runs downhill very physically. You guys saw that in the first preseason game versus Tennessee. He had about 70 yards on six carries. Hopefully he can just keep doing that and there'll be a very good substitute for Christian so we don't have to play Christian for a hundred snaps a game."
How good does a big win like this feel over a team that was expected to come out and do more?
"It feels great. Winning is awesome. There's nothing better than winning a football game. I mean, don't tell my wife that there are other things that are better, but in a football building, winning is the best. Besides that, what all we preached the entire week and a lot of the off seasons was just focus on one game at a time. That's all that we can focus on because if you look down the line at the lofty goals and expectations, there's distractions and stuff like that. We're going to focus on one game at a time. We're going to have this one tomorrow and then we're going to focus on getting our bodies right. Then we'll be focused on the Minnesota Vikings and Kyle's going to have a fantastic game plan."
49ers WR Deebo Samuel Sr.
When did you know that RB Christian McCaffrey wasn't going to be able to play tonight?
"I got the news earlier today and we went from there."
When that happens, are you told that you're going to have to perhaps line up more in the backfield or that you're going to have the ball in your hands a lot more?
"Yeah. [Head Coach] Kyle [Shanahan] came to me and said, 'You're going to contribute a little bit in the run game,' and you know me, I'm all for whatever helps the team win."
What did you think of RB Jordan Mason's performance today?
"It's no surprise for me with the way he's been working in camp and how hard he runs. He's going to break tackles. That's just the standard of our team. He came out here and had a great day."
Did you have a favorite moment in the game where you said, "Yeah, we're back and we're rolling on offense?"
"No, I was just going play by play. We scored 32 points and were moving the ball on offense."
Were you surprised you guys did put up 30 plus against this defense tonight?
"No. I'm never surprised with our offense and the position our defense puts us in."
49ers LB Fred Warner
It was game one for Defensive Coordinator Nick Sorensen calling plays. How do you think he did?
"He called a great game. I love the way that he approaches the preparation, the way that he leads our group, ultimately goes out there and calls a flawless game. There's things to clean up on our side as players execution wise but I'm proud of the way that we fought."
You used a right hook to punch the ball out. Did that send the message that you wanted to?
"Yes. It's something I practice all the time. I'm trying to do whatever I can to help our team win games. I know how important it is to take the ball away. We always shoot for three takeaways. We got two, so we need that one extra one going in the next week."
When you say that he called a flawless game. What do you mean exactly by that? Are you guessing along with him and thinking, what's he going to call into your helmet next?
"I'm not sure. I think we kind of go throughout the week of me and him talking about his mindset throughout the game. It was a unique preparation because we didn't know exactly how they were going to come out and attack us. We could go back and look at the Packers stuff. We tried to look at the Jets games from last year, but having [New York Jets QB] Aaron [Rodgers] and the Jets together, it was going to be a unique combination to try to see and fill it out. I just think he kept it pretty simple, allowed us to just go out and play free. We continued to communicate throughout the game, so it was just good to kind of get that first one under our belt."
49ers T Trent Williams
What makes this team so impervious to outside noise and influences? When the guys are holding out or you have an almost near legit tragedy over the last weekend, and you guys always seem to be able to zoom right back in.
"We have great leaders in this locker room and we have people who follow the leaders and we have leaders that echo what the coaches are preaching. I think that's the reason the locker room is able to stay focused."
You've been able to see RB Jordan Mason kind of grow up here over the last three years. In what ways has he grown up and what was it like seeing him do what he did tonight?
"You saw it. Honestly, every time he touched the ball in my recollection, he looked like he did tonight. I mean I'm sure he's grown up over the last couple years, but he came in pretty mature and he was always ready for his opportunity. Even being third, fourth back. He was always ready and he came and closed a lot of games for us and ran tough and he earned everybody's respect."
How did you feel game one versus other game ones? Was it a market difference for you?
"Yeah, it was uncharted waters for me. I've never been in a situation where I didn't have the luxury of being able to knock the rust off in camp. I've never come off a six month layoff right in the game week. That was new for me. I really didn't know what to expect. I mean, obviously, I've played a lot of football, so I knew it would come back to me. I just didn't know how long it would take. Obviously, there was rust involved. I had to get in football shape. I hadn't played football. You can't really replicate the exhaustion that you put yourself through during a football game, especially old linemen, it's like pushing a truck every play. I honestly didn't know what to expect tonight. I have a lot of confidence in myself to go and play at a high level, but like I said, it's uncharted water, so I didn't know how much that would affect me."
Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh
They were able to run the ball really effectively, especially on the edge. What were the problems you were seeing and having in those situations where you couldn't get those stops?
"They still have a stable of backs but, at the same time they're very, very good upfront and from an efficiency standpoint they beat us up front. Plain and simple."
We saw CB Sauce Gardner go out in the second quarter, and apparently it was not injury related. Could you provide more details?
"He finished the half. He was just trying to catch his breath."
Did he get the wind knocked out of him?
"I couldn't tell you exactly. I just know he was fine."
How did QB Aaron Rodgers look to you?
"We never really gave him a chance to get in the rhythm. Defensively, credit to San Francisco, they did a great job running the ball. They were very efficient in the pass game. Even in the second half when we felt like we made some adjustments in the run game and they, minus one explosive, thought we did good in the run game. But, they were really good in the pass game too. They're an elite football team and I know they were missing [RB] Christian [McCaffrey], but they still have [WR] Deebo [Samuel] and [WR Brandon] Aiyuk and [WR Jauan] Jennings and a really good O-line and a really good quarterback. So, credit to them. They executed a heck of a lot better than we did, and we have to be better."
You guys weren't able to get to QB Brock Purdy very much with pressures and hits and sacks. What do you believe contributed to that?
"They were very efficient on their end in terms of getting rid of the ball pretty quick. Never really gave us a chance. There was a lot of third and short, third and fourth, third and five, and third and twos. So, we never really got an opportunity to get after the passer and the opportunities that we did get a chance to get after the passer they did a good job being efficient hitting his back foot and getting rid of the football. So, credit to them. I thought they executed very well today."
WR Garrett Wilson was hot early with the four receptions and then I think it was about another quarter and a half before he got a target. What happened there?
"Like I said they, they played keep away. I felt like our offense could never get a chance to get in rhythm. The first drive had a chance to extend it and I thought [WR] Allen [Lazard] had a really good game minus the first third down. Then we had the fumble on the second drive. Then we had a really nice drive. Then from there it felt like it was a forever before our offense saw the ball again. So I'm not really concerned. I feel like offensively we did a lot of really nice things. Especially for Aaron on his first game back, we'll definitely be better."
You talked about not getting to that rhythm on offense obviously, but just from what you saw from Aaron after not getting to see him, in this setting ever, what did you think he looked like?
"I thought he looked fine. His command was fine. We will be better a hundred percent. I'm not worried. Like I said give San Francisco a lot of credit. I'm not worried offensively. I'm not worried defensively. We'll get it fixed."
Is it disappointing that the defense did not play like you're used to?
"Yeah, anytime you get run on like that, and credit to them, it's a championship outfit and they introduced us to some championship football and we'll get that fixed."
The second drive you were able to put together a sustained 12-play touchdown drive, outside of that, a lot of three and outs in the first half. What about the Niners on defense made it so difficult to sustain drive outside of the one in the first half?
"Like I said, when you're playing keep away and they're sitting on the sideline, for what felt like forever, it's hard to keep rhythm and like I said we'll get it fixed."
Until the second half was really just Garrett and RB Breece Hall. Do you have to get more people involved in the offense?
"Yeah, I think that'll come naturally. We had 49 plays on offense and I think that'll happen organically. When we're able to possess the ball and have a couple of opportunities to drive you go to all plays and then from there you're just not seeing the field as much as you want. But all of it will come together. For the first game for Aaron and for the offense and all that stuff, I thought there's going to be some good things that we can take away from. Now we just got to figure out a way to get better from Week One to Week Two."
Sustaining drives was an issue last year too. We talked a lot about you guys just not having the opportunity to make plays, not getting enough yards first and second down to make third. Is it alarming at all?
"No. Because I think we were six of 10 on third down. The disappointing one was the second and one that we did not get a first down in the second half. It was second and one, third and one, fourth and one and didn't convert. But there was a lot of promising things from a team standpoint. All three phases we've got to be better, especially defensively and we will."
Where's New York Jets WR Mike Williams in his physical progression?
"He's fine. We're going to be smart with him. We'll find ways to continue to implement him and get him going in the offense. But he's fine. He's in a good place."
On the short yardage offense there was a third and one in the fourth quarter, it was Breece Hall and he didn't get it in. In the second half there was a two point conversion that was Breece Hall. What about using the rookie RB Braelon Allen?
"Yeah, it's something we'll look at. We could use him in those situations. I know that the third and one in the fourth quarter we were on the ball and trying to get a quick one, but he could definitely be used in those situations."
Can your offense be effective with Aaron only attempting 21 passes?
"It could be. I think our run game's going to be fine, but at the same time, that's 49 plays total. We never really got a chance to establish what we were trying to establish today."
What happened with CB Michael Carter II?
"Michael could have finished the game. We just held him."
Is that the same ankle he was dealing with in training camp?
"Yeah, it's going to be something all year. When you got a high ankle sprain, you're going to get zingers. It's just something that he's going have to deal with all year. He could have come back in. We just held him up."
Jets QB Aaron Rodgers
How hard was it for the offense to get going when you didn't really have that many plays?
"We were just bad on first and second down for a lot of the game. We had a couple of drives where we converted third downs. Overall, I feel like we didn't have any third-and-10 pluses tonight, so that's always a good thing when you look at the stat sheet. But we didn't convert those third-and-mediums. We had a drop, we had a couple of penalties, had a bad throw. We have a lot to correct, but overall I feel good about our guys and thought the protection was really good tonight. We were just a little bit off in the run game. We couldn't get [RB] Breece [Hall] going and couldn't give him enough space. We have a lot to build on."
How do you feel physically after being out there for the first time in so long?
"Yeah, it's been awhile. I felt great. A lot of gratitude just to be back in pads. So many people helped me get to this spot. I'm really thankful for my surgeon, my PTs, my loved ones, my friends, the staff here and the training staff to help me get back was really cool. Obviously, I wanted to take a shot and feel the physicality of it. Once I threw a couple balls and took a shot, it felt good and like I was into the game."
When you had the seven-minute drive for the touchdown, I think there were three straight third down conversions. When you have a drive like that early in the game coming off your long layoff, are you thinking to yourself, 'I'm back here, this feels right,' or what's going through your mind when you execute?
"It felt great. We had some on-the-ball plays where I had a menu to choose from. Luckily, I chose the right ones in those situations and made the proper reads. I felt like the protection on that drive was especially good. It was great all night, but on that drive, I had a lot of time to throw. They [49ers] didn't bring a lot of pressure and played a lot of soft coverages, a lot of two-I stuff. They mixed in some man here and there, but overall, they were stopping the run with their front and they were playing pretty soft in the back end. But we had to do a better job, starting in the second half, to get back in the game. We put our defense in a tough spot."
I know you guys had all of camp, but there's a lot of new pieces that haven't played games together on the line, new pieces at receiver you missed last year. Does that contribute to some of the struggles you guys had?
"That's an excuse for sure. I'm not going to use that. I don't think we should. We expect greatness when we step on the field. There were moments that felt really good, but not sustained. We felt like if we could just get a first down, we'd be rolling. We had those three-and-outs which really hurt us. I think a lot of stuff is correctable, which is great for coaches but frustrating for players. We know how close we were/are, but there's no time for that. We're going to move on to Tennessee quickly and then we've got a game four days after that. This is a tough opener for us, travel wise and schedule wise, but no excuses. We have to play better. I have to play better. We'll bounce back next week."
Are you not happy with the way you played tonight?
"I can play better. I missed a couple of throws. I missed the one to [WR] Garrett [Wilson]. The last drive I was in, the pick. I missed slightly inside on that one. I felt overall I was getting the ball out pretty good. We had some opportunities I'd like back."
What happened on that series where you had three second, and one third and one fourth-and-one? Why weren't you able to convert there? I think that was your last series.
"We had a completion on second-and-one and G [WR Garrett Wilson] just didn't get his foot down. Third-and-one, we had a good play. They slanted a line. It kind of blew us up. And fourth-and-one, they played jam front. We had a nice play call and I just missed the throw low."
With the running game struggling the way it was, would you have wanted to throw the ball more?
"I always wanted to throw the ball more, but we've got a great line. We were running well all camp, so we expected to hit some of those. We just missed some targets. We were just a little bit off."
That touchdown drive, you and Garrett connected quite a bit. There was a long gap before you did again. Was that just a lack of plays?
"I think so. We just didn't have a lot of opportunities. I'm always trying to look for him, moving him around and getting him in spots. The offense is around getting him and Breece the ball. I want to highlight [WR] Allen [Lazard]. I've been talking about him for a lot of camp. He had a drop on the first third down. I thought he played a nice game, made some nice plays for us and I was really proud of him."
Was it extra special that your first touchdown as a Jet was to Allen?
"He was open. He put his hand up. To be honest, I thought they were going to blow the play dead. They do that a lot of times, but I guess it was slow enough to where he was trying to get back. I just looked over to the left to make sure he was offsides. The next thing I saw was Allen putting his hand up, so I threw the ball.
Head Coach Robert Saleh called the 49ers a championship-level group. As someone who's seen a lot of talented Niners teams, would you say that's a fair assessment?
"I would. They're a championship-level group. I hope we see 'em there."
Jets CB Sauce Gardner
What did you think of the defense's performance tonight?
"We've got to be better, especially on third down. We got them to third down, whether it's third down and short, third down and medium, quite a few times. We've got to execute. We've got to make sure we get off the field."
With RB Christian McCaffrey out, I think a lot of people would think the Jets are going to dominate against the run and then their RB Jordan Mason had 147 yards. How surprising is that for you guys?
"Obviously, we don't want to allow that. We've got to continue to get better. They're a good football team. They just played in the Super Bowl. So obviously they're not going to want the drop off to be that huge when it comes to Christian McCaffrey and their backup. But at the same time, we know what we are capable of doing. We've just got to execute."
What positives do you guys take out of this, especially on defense?
"Obviously, we just played Super Bowl contenders. We've just got to do whatever it takes. We've got to find out why we lost the way we did and when we figure that out, do we know what it takes to be able to get to a Super Bowl and to be able to compete against a team like the 49ers?"
Jets RB Breece Hall
What were the 49ers doing that gave you some problems tonight?
"They just played harder than us tonight. Honestly, we didn't do a good job of sustaining drives. Obviously, I take that personally on myself. I had a drop and a fumble, so I feel like I cost us two sustained drives there. We played a great defense that did their job very well. Part of it was us beating ourselves and not being on top of the details but hats off to them. They did a great job."
When you say that they played harder than you guys, is this a little bit of a wake-up call? You know what that team has accomplished and that's what you guys are trying to accomplish.
"I feel like we have all the talent and pieces that we need in place. Obviously, you need that type of game sometimes to see what you need to do and the standard you need to be at. We're going to learn from it and just get better. I'm not too worried about it tonight. 16 teams are 0-1. 16 teams are 1-0."
Why aren't you worried about it?
"Because we know that this isn't our standard. We know that this is not how we should be playing. We're going to all come back tomorrow, forget about it, watch the film, take constructive criticism and just get better from it."
Jets LB C.J. Mosley
What were they doing that made their running game so successful? Is it scheme? What led to it?
"Not sure. To start it off, I definitely have to watch the film to see. They didn't change their game plan. They didn't change their run scheme. I knew they were going to do a lot of perimeter, obviously, [RB Christian] McCaffrey wasn't there. But [RB Jordan] Mason's a good running back. He showed it on film. He showed it tonight. They have a great offensive line and when you're playing with a lead you can afford to just run the ball. So, at some point, they're going to break some plays.
Were you surprised when you heard that McCaffrey was scratched?
"I heard just a few days ago that he might have been injured, but, before that I had no idea. Like I said, it didn't affect us because we knew they were going to stick to their game plan."
They're obviously a very good team, but how shocking is that for where you guys pride yourselves as a defense?
"Well it's not shocking because we have to get off the field on third down. Sometimes they had good runs or good drives on the first or second down. Sometimes we put them back on first or second down. But at the end of the day, good teams extend drives. At some point, you know, they're going to score whether it's field goals or touchdowns. We just have to look at the tape and figure out some of the schemes we need to get better at. And the things that we did well, just keep getting better at those."
Jets DL Quinnen Williams
How were they so successful on the ground today?
"They were running the ball well. I think they were just running hard, blocking it up on the right way and you've got to give it to them. They ran the ball very well today and that's something we've got to get fixed. We've got a short week. We've got to look at the film, learn from the film and get it together. I think we've got the team and we've got the coaching staff to be able to get that fixed quick. We have the players in the defense to get that fixed quick and we have the players in the defensive line room to accept responsibility to get it fixed. I think that's the biggest thing."
San Francisco 49ers head coach Shanahan has been the more creative and successful rushing offenses and rushing schemes for a reason. Was it a little bit different than what you guys expected?
"Oh no, it was exactly what we watched for him on. It was one of those things that we knew coming into this game that we'll have to go against this explosive offense. Whether they have [San Francisco 49ers RB Christian] McCaffrey back there or the guy who ran the ball today back there, they have the explosive scheme and an explosive offense. He did a great job running and they did a great job blocking it up. That's something we've got to get fixed immediately."
What did you know about the runner, San Francisco 49ers RB Jordan Mason?
"He was amazing, man. We watched him on film, running hard, downhill like all San Francisco running backs, they've had in the past. They hit the hole hard and they run it like they're supposed to. In the outside zone, they're hitting the point immediately and hard. In the inside zone, they're hitting the point immediately hard. It was an amazing job by them and an amazing job by him."
Jets WR Garrett Wilson
Why do you think you guys just couldn't get anything going offensively other than that one series?
"They have a good team and a good scheme over there. The boys were flying around early, especially making a lot of plays. When you don't get rolling early, when you don't go down and do something on the first drive, you have to find it. We didn't find it. We have to be better. That's the bar. We had a great opportunity this past week to match up with a team that is at the top of the league, so we know where we have to get to and we have to build on what we did do well this game."
Did that scoring drive feel like a taste of what this offense can be?
"Yeah. When we're rolling, I know what that can look like. We weren't rolling throughout the game, but we found it in spurts there and we have to find a way to bottle it up and take it to every drive. Maybe that's what it can look like. I feel like it can look a thousand ways. There are a million ways to skin a cat, but it felt good at the time and we have to get back to that."
What was it like having New York Jets QB Aaron Rodgers back in the huddle?
"It was awesome. It was great. To see him out there and to hear him in the huddle, just all of it. We're going to get better. As far as seeing him out there and him being healthy, staying healthy throughout the whole game, it was a good feeling."
