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00:00The fact that it means enough to them that when Kyle asked him to speak that they
00:03say yes, I would love to speak in front of the team.
00:05And so I think just that in itself definitely motivates the boys.
00:09Coach Kittle.
00:12Coach Kittle is my father.
00:13What's up?
00:13Well, maybe you all understand, but I have a question.
00:17When it comes to complimentary football,
00:19you've been one of the main guys kind of talking about the need to play that way.
00:23Yes. And today you guys played that way.
00:25I asked Jenahan about it.
00:26He said a lot, but he also said this season's not over.
00:29So how does a game like this kind of galvanize you guys to kind of feel that
00:32way, knowing you're on a short week headed into the L.A. Rams?
00:35Sorry, I'm sorry.
00:37No, it's totally fine.
00:38You only missed two questions.
00:40And then you're walking right in front of her as she's asking a question.
00:44Now I'm distracted, Eric.
00:46How do you show up on time?
00:47It's crazy.
00:48No, I feel mildly offended.
00:51You know what?
00:51I would say the last couple weeks it just hasn't felt like we've been playing
00:54Niner football, whether that's flying to the football, the turnovers,
00:58converted on third down, the energy.
01:00We just kind of not felt like ourselves and
01:04really just wanted to play off of each other.
01:05Like, hey, offense, you take care of what you have to take care of.
01:08Every drive, try to score, don't turn the ball over.
01:10And defense will feed off of us and then vice versa.
01:13And you kind of felt that.
01:14We go out, do we score on our first drive?
01:17We score on our first drive, defense comes out, crushes them.
01:19We go down, I think we punted the next one.
01:21But we just started really starting to roll right there.
01:24And I was pumped.
01:26I thought Coach Jenahan had called a hell of a game.
01:29But then at the end of the day, I think we executed a hell of a game too on offense.
01:32And when you just put those things together and our defense gets what, six sacks?
01:35That's pretty awesome.
01:36Love that for the boys.
01:38But we're finally playing team football.
01:39And I thought our special teams played really well.
01:43And just when you're playing the team football,
01:45that's the Niners football that we want to put on tape.
01:47And I thought the guys really responded well.
01:49I was really pumped too, sad for Ben Bartz.
01:50I don't know what his injury was, but he's been,
01:52I thought he played really well last week against Buffalo.
01:53But I thought Spencer Brevard came in and played really well too.
01:56So the offensive line was playing well.
01:58And how about Juwan, looking great out there?
02:00Your first catch was 33 yards screen.
02:04It was.
02:04How long have you guys run that play?
02:07In the last five years, twice.
02:09Right.
02:11At the most, yeah.
02:12When was the last time?
02:14Probably like 2021.
02:17How did that show how you were gonna exploit the Bears defense?
02:22Just the defense that they've had, and
02:24every time we've played against their, cuz Iberflus was with the Colts when we
02:28played them in 2021, and then they've been with the Bears.
02:32And they do a lot of stuff with their defensive ends, how they stunt.
02:34They do all these pirate stunts to try to increase their pressure.
02:36And we knew that if we could catch them in one of those on a screen,
02:39that they'd be completely out of whack.
02:41And I don't know if we caught them on the first one, but
02:44the defensive end just played completely upfield.
02:46And our offensive line did a great job blocking for it.
02:47But just the way that they got upfield, kinda like how our defense does,
02:51we just thought we could exploit that.
02:52And I thought we did a good job of that.
02:54What are your impressions of Isaac?
02:57Say again?
02:57What are your impressions of Isaac?
03:00My first question was when he was gonna start, I was like,
03:03how well can he catch?
03:05Because that's a big thing on our offense.
03:06And I think he proved that today, that he can catch that one down in the sun.
03:09You could not see anything in that corner.
03:12And he caught that, which was awesome, and
03:13pumped that Brock gave him an opportunity on that.
03:15And then he ran his tail off.
03:16So all I've been preaching to Isaac is, hey man, just run really, really fast and
03:20hold on to the football, and you're gonna get a lot of yards.
03:22And I thought he did a really good job of that today.
03:23But you're only simplistic to say, when it's a tough season,
03:27the way the team plays at the end is a sign of whether it believes in what's going on.
03:32But today, was that a little bit of a sign that everybody in the locker room
03:36still believes in what's going on?
03:37I mean, we still have everything in front of us to play for.
03:40I know certain things might need to happen, but if we win every single game,
03:44I think we'll put ourselves in a very good position to either win the division or
03:46somehow sneak our way into a playoff contention.
03:48And I thought, everyone just focus on this one week.
03:52Hey, everybody lock in, forget the whole season.
03:55Whether you've played like crap the entire season,
03:57whether you've had missed opportunities, whether you have a bunch of touchdowns,
03:59whatever it is, flush all that and just focus on this one game.
04:01Put all your time and effort and energy into this one game.
04:04And then we'll live with those results.
04:05And I think the whole team did that the entire week.
04:07I thought we had a great week of practice.
04:08Everyone was dialed in.
04:09And then we went right into this game and ran the heck out of the ball.
04:12Brock found a rhythm, our defense was on fire.
04:14So just playing team football.
04:16And I definitely think everybody in the building still believes.
04:20Our coach said it was excellent.
04:21Coach Shannon had dials of great game plans.
04:23And our execution day was, I thought, really, really well done.
04:25And so, if you can just combine those two things, our offense is pretty good.
04:29Yes, sir.
04:30First of all, just as a reminder,
04:32was that accomplished high school wide receiver?
04:35I don't do those scouting reports.
04:37I just say hi to all the rookies when they show up.
04:41Thanks, I feel bad now.
04:42So you, in 2018, you were very close after the first half to the all-time single game.
04:50I was four yards off, yes.
04:51Yeah, any thoughts on that record?
04:57I had no idea how many yards I had until someone told me,
04:59and I got pulled out in the fourth quarter.
05:01So I thought I was sitting at like 80.
05:03I didn't realize a lot of those went for like 30 plus.
05:04So that was really fun.
05:05That's a fun surprise to have at the end of the game.
05:09No, I'd never do.
05:13Can't, man.
05:13Just try to stay locked in each play at a time, man.
05:15Don't trick me into that.
05:16You were talking about Isaac, did you sense, I mean,
05:19he obviously has the physical skills, he's got incredible speed.
05:22As Eric said, he played receiver in high school, but his first start,
05:25did you see any, I mean, what was his mood, his demeanor like today?
05:30Totally fine.
05:31I mean, nothing that would stand out out of the ordinary.
05:33I mean, I think he's done a really good job as our backup running back the entire
05:37season, when he was splitting reps with J.P. Mason early.
05:39I thought he's been really good.
05:41He just shows up.
05:43Bobby Turner does a great job of getting those boys locked in.
05:45They're all prepared for all the protections, all the runs,
05:47all the routes, everything.
05:49And so when you are that prepared by your coach, you go into every game confident,
05:54because you're not worried about anything except for, hey,
05:56I know what I'm doing on this play, run really fast, get downhill.
05:58Is there a unique value in a guy like that size,
06:02220 pounds, that they can still run as fast as he can?
06:05When you run 0.01 seconds faster than Raheem Moatster,
06:09you're doing something right.
06:10And then you throw a little build on to that, too, so you can take some hits.
06:13That's all great.
06:14We just gotta keep running him.
06:15And so he gets more and more confident in both his ability and in our offense.
06:18So he sees all the lanes and stuff like that.
06:21And just really happy with his performance today.
06:23And then when Pat came in at the end, too, I was so pumped for
06:25him, too, to score a touchdown.
06:26George, you don't ever seem to demand the football.
06:29But after last week, you did mention that you didn't get to run that many routes.
06:32And when you did run the routes, you felt open.
06:34Do you feel like Kyle got the message?
06:36Last week, to our game plan, I thought I was gonna have 100 yards and
06:40two touchdowns, and that's just not the way it happens.
06:44And I very much believe in the football gods.
06:49If you just go out there and you play your best, no matter what happens,
06:52receiving wise, that the ball's gonna eventually find your way.
06:54And I kinda think that's just what happened today.
06:55And I try to be as reliable as I possibly can for Kyle and this organization.
07:01And Kyle just called the plays today, and I found myself open on all of them.
07:05Can I get two more guys?
07:06Relax, jeez, you're next.
07:09With Ricky, he's obviously missed a lot of time.
07:12Yeah.
07:13He and Brock were on just different pages on that one misconnection.
07:16You're obviously close locked.
07:17Why talk to him?
07:18How do you keep his confidence high when he's not getting stats and
07:24not as involved as maybe he'd want to be?
07:27You know what's great about Ricky is that he hasn't brought that up once.
07:30He shows up every single day to practice in the building with a huge smile on his
07:33face, and is very eager to be in the meetings, very eager to get on the practice
07:37field and just go run routes, which kinda stunk was this practice.
07:42I'm pretty sure you guys were there in OTAs, and
07:44Ricky had 150 yards a day just cooking people.
07:46That was his week of practice this week.
07:47He had 100 plus yards a day running great routes and stuff like that.
07:50So I think when you're young, and this is a very complicated offense with a bunch of
07:56alignments, formations, aiming points, and stuff like that, it just takes a while to
08:00find your groove, and you don't wanna think too much.
08:04And so Ricky's, I think he's just finding his stride in that.
08:08And the more reps that we can get him in practice,
08:09the more routes that he can run, he's just gonna get more and
08:12more comfortable, cuz he's a freak athlete.
08:13He can do all the great stuff.
08:14He can make great catches.
08:15He can break tackles.
08:16He can make guys miss.
08:17So I think just give him a little bit more time, and
08:20I think you're gonna see some pretty awesome games from Ricky.
08:22Not worried about him at all.
08:23George, in the last month, you've been targeted 18 times.
08:28You've caught 16 of the 18.
08:31Do you feel like you and Brock right now are, I don't know,
08:34maybe on a different level as far as your communication,
08:37that you guys are really maybe the best that you've ever been as a combo?
08:43Yes and no.
08:44I think Coach Shanahan, he's calling plays.
08:47And when you call plays and you guys try to get certain defenses,
08:50that's how you just end up wide open sometimes.
08:53But no, I think Brock does a really good job about, hey,
08:56I'm gonna throw you the ball whether you're open or not.
08:59And I love that from Brock.
09:00And he also, he sees the coverage and he knows that, hey,
09:02while I might be the third read in the gameplay, hey, if it's this coverage,
09:06I know that he's the first read.
09:07Like you saw in the third and seven where he just kinda hit me right over the middle
09:09and I was able to kinda fall forward for like ten yards.
09:12Like that play, he's supposed to go like one to two to three and
09:15he went just one right to me.
09:16And so I think he's just very comfortable in this offense now, and
09:20I've been running it for eight years.
09:21And so it's just, it's fun to be back there and know that, hey,
09:24I know on this coverage, I'm getting the ball no matter what.
09:25So when I turn my head, the ball hits me in the chest and
09:27I gotta go rumble, bumble, and stumble.
09:28But yeah, I think we're pretty much in sync right now.
09:30It could be an Iowa thing, I don't know.
09:31Is this three questions?
09:35Holy cow, 20 bucks a question.
09:38Remember I charged you $40 to tell me facts the other day?
09:44Or is that you, Kim?
09:46You owe me 40.
09:48You said you expected 100 yards last week?
09:51Well, I expect that every week, but last week is specifically, yes, I did.
09:53What did you expect here, Andrew?
09:55Were you patrolling in a blizzard?
09:57Like, did you expect that?
09:58I was waiting to have the best backyard game of my life last week.
10:01I couldn't wait.
10:02This doesn't happen sometimes.
10:03It is what it is.
10:04Do you have time?
10:07I was on there, I didn't have time.
10:09Four questions?
10:10A fourth question.
10:11A fourth question.
10:12Only if you say please.
10:13So, please.
10:14Yes, ma'am.
10:14When it comes to this team, obviously,
10:16you guys have always talked about playing for each other.
10:18But you guys have experienced tragedy this season.
10:23And then to also see Christian McCaffrey post on social media and say,
10:26this is just not my year, knowing how hard he's taking that,
10:28because of how much he loves football.
10:30In that conversation where the leader spoke, was that part of the conversation
10:34and wanting to play harder for each other than you guys have earlier this season?
10:38I think the message was, we need to play with more of a sense of urgency,
10:43and play desperate, because you just haven't really sensed that.
10:47And I've been on teams where it felt like, was it two years ago,
10:51we were on an eight, nine game win streak, whatever that was.
10:54And it literally felt like every play, people were just scratching, clawing,
10:57and fighting for everything.
10:58And I'm not going to call anybody out.
11:00We've all not taken a playoff, but just not fought our hardest on every given play.
11:06And that was kind of the message, guys, just put it all out there.
11:09Because we have the players, we have the playmakers, we have the play call,
11:13and we have everything to win games.
11:15But we have to do it out of desperation.
11:17And when you're playing desperate, and you're playing like, hey,
11:19if we don't win this game, our season potentially is over,
11:21that desperation fuels guys in different ways.
11:25And it's just how you take that and how you channel that energy.
11:27And I thought our guys did a great job of that today.