Opening comments:
"The injuries from the game. [DL] Jordan Elliott hurt his knee before the game, never played. [CB] Chase Lucas had his stinger on the first play, returned. [WR] Ricky [Pearsall] had his ankle and knee, didn't come back there at the end. Came back after the ankle. [OL] Spencer Burford, ankle, returned."
You guys dominated the time of possession. You held the ball for over 37 minutes. Was that part of the gameplan coming in to try to possess the ball for that long?
"No, just I think we did well on third downs and had some long drives. I was glad we played well on third down and usually when you do that and stay out there for a while, that happens. So, it's a good job by the guys."
Ricky did some really good things tonight and then goes out at the end. Is there any indication whether those injuries are serious enough to keep him out?
"We'll know for sure tomorrow. But I mean, he hurt the ankle on the first play and returned and played with that the whole game. And then the knee thing I think was just him most likely irritating his PCL from the past. Those linger. So, I would expect it to be all right, but he was battling through a lot today."
What did you think of Ricky coming into the game? It was more about his targets, how many he was getting and what he was doing. He has a pretty decent game before he got hurt.
"Yeah, I mean, got hurt on the first play, but I don't think Ricky was much different than this last month. It just worked out and the ball came that way and he made the plays when it did. You know, having to play through the injuries and stuff in that game, and he probably physically was struggling more in that game. So, I think it says a lot about him to still be able to fight through it, get out there and still have a very productive game."
How did RB Christian McCaffrey injure his back? Was that a factor at all today?
"He just woke up Saturday and it was stiff. So that's why we put him on there. He was pretty adamant last night he was going to be all right and woke up this morning with it all right, so no issue."
We haven't talked to you since you guys put WR Brandon Aiyuk on the Reserve/Left Team List. Did you have to do that right now? Why right now was that move made?
"We haven't seen him in forever, so I mean that's just the decision they make. It's been pretty simple for me. I haven't seen him in a month, and same with our team, so it hasn't been an issue with our team at all. We've kind of been plugging away and no big deal or it's just something we've been used to for a while, but I know it's new to you guys, so I think they just officially had to do that yesterday."
You and president of football operations and general manager John Lynch, both said you hoped he was going to come back, that you still wanted that to happen. Do you have enough receivers? What do you think about your receiving group that you've got going on without him now?
"We've been playing with our receiving group all year. I really have been hoping he would come back all year. But, not one point was I really planning on it. So, that would've been a great bonus. That would've been awesome and would love to have B.A. out there, would love to have that type of player. But, that was something I realized early on wasn't going to come for a while and there was nothing that made me sit there and think it was happening soon. So, I think the rest of our team also."
Had he communicated to you or anyone else that he wasn't going to come back? Has there been anyone that's been in touch with him at all?
"Not that I've talked to."
Is he out the picture for the 49ers now and in the future?
"I wouldn't say that's for sure been decided. I literally haven't had to think about B.A. or had a reason to think about him in a long time. He is under contract next year. B.A.'s a guy, we've had a relationship for a while. We've always liked B.A., everyone knows how good of a player he is. It's extremely unfortunate that it's gotten to this point, but when this year's over, we'll see where we're at."
How would you describe QB Brock Purdy's performance today? Seemed like he was in control from the very start.
"Yeah, I thought Brock did a good job. Made a lot of plays, made a number of off-schedule plays too and protected the ball. I thought the one turnover was unfortunate, but I thought he did a good job with the ball all day."
He did a really good job scrambling around out there. On that 26-yard run down the left sideline, were you hoping he'd step out a little earlier or were you cool with him going?
"I mean, no, I was totally cool with him going. You're protected right there. You get as much as you can and looks like he did a basketball pump fake move or something like that. But I mean, I don't see it until the last second. I'm looking downfield and trying to see where the ball should go and then I look back and he is running down the sidelines and I think he ended up getting about 30-yards or close to 30-yards on it. So, I think that was the drive we went 95-yards on. They pinned us back there and that was a huge explosive to get us going."
Along those lines, we've seen Brock hit the Dougie, we've seen him do the pump fake and the ball in his face. What have you enjoyed as his coach, just seeing him show a little bit more of his personality on the field?
"I mean, Brock's pretty consistent. He did the Dougie because he promised the guys that if he scored, he would do the Dougie, and he's not a liar so he had to do it. Brock does get in, I mean the first time Brock scored in our stadium, his first preseason game we were playing I think the Packers, he did the discount double check, and we had no idea he had a personality like that. So, I think he does do stuff on the field a lot, just he does it subtly. So, we love Brock."
Have you taught him the jump-pass touchdown?
"No, not at all. We give him crap for it a lot, but when it works, we call him [former NBA Hall of Famer] Michael Jordan, so it was a hell of a deal today."
Have there been ones where you're like, settle down that didn't work?
"Yeah, always. We like cleats in the ground and being able to drive the ball like that, but sometimes somebody's got to use another club and it's cool that he's got that one."
The challenge on the kickoff, it looked like pretty clearly, he caught it in the end zone. What were you thinking?
"I didn't even see it, going off of other people. Not to throw anyone under the bus, but I kind of just did. But, the rule has changed. It's a little bit confusing. We think that you needed, you need both feet in the end zone or it's a minor touchback, which goes to the 20 instead of the 35 and we didn't think he had both feet in the end zone when he did it. We were extremely confident with it upstairs and we'll find out tomorrow why it didn't work."
Brock was saying that he hasn't been driving the ball the way he wanted to. Today, it looked like he did. Is that what you saw from Brock, the way he threw the ball?
"Yeah, I think Brock had a hell of a game. I think he's driven the ball in other games too. When someone says that because there were a couple picks versus Carolina where he left it hanging too much. So, there's the time and place where you want to throw over people and there's the time and place where you need to drive the ball because there's no one to throw over. He found that balance very well today."
As far as the injuries, any sense whether Elliott's knee is serious and whether Burford's is a high angle?
"We're not sure. I mean, Jordan's thing was totally random. It was him just getting loose in the locker room and just felt something in his knee. So, that was a big deal, it happened at like 11: 20, so I was really proud of [DL] Kevin [Givens]. He was told last night he is not playing and just hanging out in the locker room and then all of a sudden he's got to put his pads on and get ready for an NFL game. So, it was huge by him to step it up. And Spence, I knew his ankle was bad early and the sign that he came back and played the rest of the game, you hope it's not a high ankle sprain. But, we haven't ruled that out yet. So, we'll see tomorrow."
You guys are at 10 wins. When do you start thinking about the number you need to get to make sure that you're in the playoffs?
"When the number's right in front of us. When we play a game and we can do the math and it says if you win this game, you're in. If not, you don't really think about it"
WR Jauan Jennings has fought through a lot of stuff this year, but is he right now, for him anyway, in good shape? The way he plays, he gets beat up, but he has been looking pretty good these last couple weeks, he's fresher than he was earlier.
"Yeah, J.J. getting hurt, I want to say versus Seattle and then re-injuring the next week, it was about two weeks ago that we felt J.J. was getting back to over his injuries and had got enough weeks in a row where he got all the stamina and everything back. We felt like J.J. has really been J.J. these last couple weeks and it looked like that today too."
You've been generally okay with some tight-window throws, but are you especially okay with some tight-window throws to Jauan? You know, those goal line passes were pretty tight coverage. Is that something like, okay if it's Jauan it's a little bit better when you do that?
"Jauan has earned that. Jauan does a good job attacking the ball and everything like that. So, when receivers are that way, it gives the quarterback a lot more confidence to throw tight windows. But, I'm very okay with tight windows. If you don't throw in tight windows, you're not going to score a lot of points."
On the drive out of halftime, it was a pretty open window, Brock found Pearsall on the crossing route. That looked like that pass had velocity on it. Was that a similar route that Washington Commanders WR Deebo Samuel Sr. had last year against the Rams, the one he dropped?
"No, it was a different one. Ricky ran that same route earlier this year, I want to say versus Jacksonville. But, it was really good protection. It was a fake rollout and Ricky was able to come across the grain and awesome route by Ricky, good throw. Ricky was upset he didn't score. I told him he had the excuse of the hurt ankle and knee though, but he'll get his speed back when he is feeling healthy."
Any plans for your birthday?
"Probably go home and have a couple drinks. I usually hate my birthday, not in general, but on Sundays. I haven't had a lot of success on it, so it was nice to win a game on my birthday and actually now I can maybe enjoy it with my family tonight."
Any chance you'll take another Vespa ride?
"If they got me one, I will. They got me a Vespa in 2015 and the first time I rode it again after we moved from Cleveland was in Los Gatos in 2020 and I got pulled over because there was a 2015 license plate on it, so we got rid of it. So, hopefully they got me one today."
