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Executive Vice President/Head Coach Mike Shanahan
On his message to the fans and team after losing four in a row:
“I told our team — collectively, we’ve got to get better on offense. That’s the obvious. For an offense to work you have to have eleven guys going in the same direction. We’ve got a few different pieces of the puzzle that we’re trying to put together and you could see the end result today. I thought defensively we did some good things. [Defensively] we played well enough to win. I thought the intensity was good. I thought our players played extremely hard. But when you make that many mistakes — you have a few turnovers on offense, especially with pretty good field position — against a team that runs the ball extremely well and plays a good rush defense…You can’t have that many mistakes.”
On quarterback John Beck’s play today:
“I thought he did some good things. I think he had some opportunities that he’d like to have over, just like most quarterbacks. It’s a learning experience for him. He’s going to get better as time goes on. I thought he had some opportunities to make some good plays in there. I thought he got rid of the ball quick. Like I said, collectively, you’ve got to do it as a team. You’ve got to do it as an offensive unit and we made too many mistakes collectively to move the ball consistently.”
On starting three players for the first time today:
“Well, [wide receiver Leonard] Hankerson has been practicing pretty good through the last few weeks. We wanted to give him an opportunity. I think he’s a difference-maker in this league. He’s got a chance to be an elite receiver. You can see it in practice — his ability to beat bump coverage one-on-one. I think down the road it will pay dividends for us. [Running back Roy] Helu has got the speed to make some big plays and we’re going to have [running back] Ryan [Torain] kind of substitute for him when he gets tired. I think you can see he’s a pretty good all-around back. He made some plays… Obviously he’d like to have that fumble back. [Guard Maurice] Hurt... anytime you lose a couple players you have to find the best combination. With [tackle] Trent Williams coming back at the left tackle position, we thought Will would be a lot better at center, because he’s a much better center than he is a guard. We thought that would help us and then we moved Maurice over there; between him and [tackle] Sean [Locklear] during the week, we thought Maurice did a good enough job to earn the position. And then obviously [tackle] Jammal [Brown] went out early so then Sean went in there and it was hard for me to tell but I thought overall he probably did a pretty good job with no practice time at that right tackle position.”
On his confidence in quarterback John Beck’s ability to lead the offense:
“That’s the problem. Regardless of who’s the quarterback, sometimes it looks like it’s all the quarterback and it’s understandable. When you lose a few pieces of the puzzle the quarterback is going to look pretty average. We’re playing pretty average as a group. We’ve got to get better. We can’t make the mistakes that we made during the game, like I mentioned — the three turnovers. Without talking about anybody’s play, you can’t win against a team that plays defense like that when you turn the football over in good field position.”
On if Beck will start next week:
“Yeah, we’re going to stick with John”
On the offensive mistakes:
“I think I told you that anytime you shuffle people in and out of there, there is going to be some inconsistencies. When you don’t shuffle people in and out of there and you’re inconsistent, that means you’re a bad football team. Anytime that you have as many guys move around to some different positions and you’re playing some young players there are going to be some mistakes made. You could see some of those mistakes made today by some young players. It usually looks like it’s always the quarterback, which we understand. It’s always going to appear that way.”
On the decision to go with short passes today:
“They’re a zone defensive team. What you have to do is consistently throw the short passes. They played only a couple of plays in man-to-man coverage. They weren’t going to give us a chance to get the big play throughout the game…probably the fewest plays they’ve played in man coverage all year. They wanted us methodically to move the football down the field and get first downs, thinking that they could keep us out of the end zone or we would make mistakes before we got down there. And some teams will do that. There’s a lot of teams that will play zone defense and they’re good enough defensively over the year to put you in the situations that they want to do. But you cannot make mistakes like we did and beat a football team with that type of defense.”
On if he considered switching to quarterback Rex Grossman today:
“I’m trying to explain that to you. Everybody looks at the quarterback position saying 'that’s the guy.’ You take a look at one of the best pass rushes in the league, best rushing defense, number one in fewest points given up… it’s not always going to be the quarterback. Not saying that John [Beck] played the perfect game — I’m not trying to go that way — but as a head coach I know that you’ve got to have 11 pieces of the puzzle and if you don’t everybody looks pretty ordinary… No.”
On the importance of being patient with the team’s progress:
“Well that’s what you have to understand. As I tried to point out, there is going to be inconsistencies when you move a lot of people around to different positions. You could see that inconsistency today but these guys are gaining valuable experience. Not only the quarterback, but also the wide receivers, the running backs… Eventually it’s going to pay dividends when some of these young guys get some playing time. As a group, when you have that many new pieces—and without a guy, an extra tight end, different guys that you’re trying to work in—it does look a little rag-tag and that’s the reason why we were so inconsistent today. Hopefully, with eight games remaining, we can get better each week and some of these guys are getting some valuable experience, are ready to start playing at a high level and will start feeling more comfortable playing with each other.”
On right tackle Jammal Brown’s hip injury:
“I really don’t know but he just went out because of it. He couldn’t go. He tried to go and then came out the first play. At this time I really don’t know how bad it is but it was bad enough for him to not come back in the game. For a guy like Jammal, he doesn’t usually do that, so it had to be serious.”
On his comments to left tackle Trent Williams after receiving a penalty:
“I just talked about keeping your poise. What you’ve gotta do in this game is keep your poise. They always see the second hit, they never see the first hit—if there was a first hit, I don’t even know that. But I told Trent, 'We’ve been down this road before, you’re a second year player’…keeping your poise in the National Football League is hard to do but that’s how you win football games.”
On the decision to have kicker Graham Gano kick the long field goal:
“It was against the wind, too. That was the only question mark I had. I thought it was right in his range because when he kicks 50 yards, you can see when he kicks them, that thing is usually good by ten yards. He’s been doing it pretty consistently in practice. We’ll put him in situations where he kicks 50, 52-yarders and it’s got at least an extra 10-15 yards. I was just happy that he got an opportunity and took advantage of it. Usually those guys nowadays, because of spotting the ball where you kick it, don’t get those opportunities to take advantage of it. I was happy for him and it was a clutch kick.”
On the defensive progress since last year:
“Like I said, I was really pleased with the intensity we had out there. We were playing hard. They had a couple mistakes out there on defense but you could see the mindset there—front seven, front eight—those guys were playing extremely hard. We came up with a turnover when we had to and you could see that there was a lot of great effort out there. That’s what you’re looking for—guys playing extremely hard to give you a position, to give you a chance to win, put you in a position to win…I thought our defense did that today.”
On if it’s difficult to hear 'boos’ coming from the stands:
“No. If you’ve been in this league you understand. It’s about production but you have to have a goal. I think we’ve improved in a lot of areas. Right now if you take a look at the offense—it’s tough to take. It’s tough to take for me but I understand how this thing works. We’ve got a look of young guys with some talent that right now are collectively not on the same page, but with all of this valuable experience with some of these young guys, hopefully, it pays off shortly.”
On the perception that the offense has regressed:
“Everybody wants wins. You ask how it regresses? Just what I said. When you see something happening good — maybe in the preseason or the first couple of regular season games — collectively, we didn’t lose anybody. We were pretty sharp. We were working pretty consistently. All of a sudden that consistency goes with a few players—well, that’s why you’re not consistent. Everybody wants the answer and I wish I could give you one but that’s as close as I can get.”
On Brandon Banks’ kick returns today:
“When we talk about his game—you’re accountable for everything you do. Brandon, every time he touches the ball, he wants to make a big play. Sometimes he’s got to really think about the decisions he makes because you can’t fumble the ball on the 3-yard line and you can’t turn the football over on a punt return. You can see he kind of picked up his eyes as he was catching the ball looking for a lane…ball security first.”
On if he hoped to be further along at this point in his second season with the Redskins:
“No. Well, obviously, you’d like everything to go perfect. You’d like everyone to be completely healthy and you’d like everyone to be playing at their best and we’re not doing that right now. As I told you when I first came here — it wasn’t going to happen overnight. I think I shared that with everybody. Especially when you’ve got a few guys go down [with injuries], sometimes it doesn’t look very bright. I promise you — we’ve got a lot of character on this team. We’ve got a lot of football players. We’re not where we want to be right now but we’re going in the right direction. Like I said — they played extremely hard and that’s the first thing you look for.”
QB John Beck
On his assessment of the game:
“Well, ultimately, when you lose… That’s the main objective; is to win. Regardless of how it’s done, you want to win the game. Having not won the game, objective number one wasn’t completed. Looking back on the flow of the game, we obviously didn’t get things going the way we would have liked to in the first half, and even at the beginning of the first quarter and that is something we can improve on.”
On what the problem was today:
“The line did protect well today. Especially against a team that we knew had a very good front seven. We lost Jammal [Brown] in the game, so I thought for Sean [Locklear] to jump in, I thought the line did really well, but you want to get points. That’s the thing we can improve on, because you can’t always put it on the defense.”
On what didn’t happen today:
“I have a few answers to myself right now, but I can’t pinpoint it on one thing. There’s a lot of things I can improve on as a player that I can do better at and that’s my main focus right now.”
On if he understands that if he continues to struggle the coaches could turn to Rex Grossman:
“No question. And I don’t want it to continue. I want to put my foot down and I want it to stop. We have too many good players on this team. We have good character. We have guys that believe. Losing like this shouldn’t happen and I don’t want it to happen any longer. Unfortunately today we didn’t win. I felt like when I stepped onto the field today we were going to win. I felt like this team felt we were going to win. To come off the field not having won is not the situation you want. I’m doing everything I can to end this and to get us winning again.”
On what is stopping drives:
“It’s that third down. To continue drives, to keep the chains moving, you have to convert on third down. When drives stall off, that’s usually the case. Unless there’s a turnover or a penalty that knocks you way back and then you’re in a third and very long, those are very difficult because teams can drop everybody off there and you’re forced to just pick up something and play the field position game. But we had our opportunities to convert on third down and we didn’t. That’s something we need to improve on.”
On if he was getting good looks downfield:
“There were some there. We came back and looked at the photos that they give us on the sideline and there was a few where I could have waited a second longer and had a shot at something. That is my first glance. You don’t get to see the full play right afterwards. I’m going off what I saw, and when you look at the picture, there were a couple there. [Offensive coordinator] Kyle [Shanahan] and I were standing on the sideline and we said 'Hey, you know what? Just wait a half second longer and it’ll get into this hole and we can shoot it there.’”
On running back Roy Helu’s team-record 14 receptions:
“He had 14? We screened the ball a lot today. There were some times where they would force us to check it down and he was the check-down guy or maybe we were trying to play underneath some of our deeper routes and get it to him. It wasn’t in the game plan to get it to him that many times – I didn’t even know it was [14 times]. A lot of times on two-minute drives you get a handful there. Teams are playing back and they soften up underneath and you can get a little bit.”
On what it means that Head Coach Mike Shanahan has confidence in him:
“It means a lot, but at the same time I know that it;s about getting stuff done. Right now, for me, I don’t want to think about tomorrow right now, I want to think about today. What happened? What took place? How can I improve? Because we do have to get better and it starts with me. Me being the quarterback, I touch the ball more than anyone on the football field, so it’s, 'How can I get better?’ I’ll work as hard as I can to get better.”
On his ideal passing balance on offense:
“[Offensive coordinator] Kyle [Shanahan] talks about balance. Balance with the run and the pass game, using the run to set up the play action. That’s what we go for when we head into a game. We want to be balanced. But, I think some of it might be skewed because of the situation at the end of the game where you’re trying to come back and put points on the board fast, you have to throw the ball more and try to get it in chunks. We had a couple drives there at the end with a two-minute mode. That will always tend to knock the pass attempts up.”
RB Roy Helu
On passing Hall of Famer Art Monk for the team record for receptions in a game:
“I care [more] about my brothers on this team. And they’re hurting because I can’t make plays on the field.”
On fumbling the ball:
“The bottom line is the guy stripped [the ball from me], the ball came out and I can do better.”
On feeling more comfortable after more playing time:
“I know that when getting the ball more, I can be more in sync with the offensive line and with what [opposing teams] are doing on defense… Like I’ve been saying all day, we can’t get frustrated. I just need to make plays when the ball is in my hands. The stats look good, but I had a fumble and that was the biggest difference in the game score-wise.”
K Graham Gano
On kicking his team record 59-yard field goal:
“I didn’t feel like I hit it well. I felt like I undercut it. I wasn’t sure if it was going to have the distance. It was on line, but I had to wait and see if the referees put their hands up. But I’m just excited I got that opportunity, and used my God-given ability to go out there and kick.”
On kicking the record-setting field goal during a loss:
“It’s exciting, but I think everybody hates losing, so it doesn’t mean as much since we lost.”
On Head Coach Mike Shanahan judging his leg strength:
“I think that’s something we judge in practice. [Coach Shanahan] is well aware of what kind of leg strength I have. We attempted a couple from 68 [yards] a couple of weeks back, so I think from hitting those he understands what kind of strength I have and he can judge from that.”
OL Jammal Brown
On the slow start for the offense today:
“I felt that we were moving the ball early, we just weren’t finishing drives. So, in a way, it did feel like the past couple of weeks.”
OL Maurice Hurt
On what he thought he did well today:
“It’s hard to tell without going back and watching, but just playing hard. That’s what got me here. I try to make the least amount of mistakes possible and just play hard.”
On if he was ready for the speed of the game:
“I think I was. Guys are pretty fast and strong in practice. The tempo was fast today and it may have taken me a second to adjust to it, but I think I did OK.”
On if he knows whether or not he will be starting for the remainder of the year:
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see. Whatever they want me to do, I’ll be there.”
On if there were any surprises today:
“Not really. The guys that I practice against prepared me well. The speed of the game was a little different and I was pretty amped up. All in all, I think I was OK. Nothing shocked me too much.”
OL Trent Williams
On if the injuries have had an impact on the team:
“Injuries come with the territory. There is nobody that plays football that doesn’t get hurt. Any team can make that excuse.”
On what it will take for the offense to get back on track:
“It’s going to take all 11 of us. We’ve been going most of this season not coming together and if we want to turn this thing around, it’s going to take all of us coming together.”
On if the team came out with a sense of urgency in the second half:
“We played hard. We’re always going to play hard. Coach Shanahan, he coaches well, and we’re always going to play hard. Losing and playing hard really doesn’t do anything for you, so we’ve got to figure it out.”
WR Jabar Gaffney
On if the amount of young players playing now has had a negative impact on the team:
“All the young guys that are here are capable of making plays. We believe they can make plays. They have to step up and make plays in the absence of veterans and some of our leaders and as long as everybody else steps their game up, we’ll find our way out of this slump.”
On if he was getting open today:
“I feel like I was getting open out there today. A lot of times John [Beck] would go through his reads and not come to me but that’s for coach to talk with John about. I just try to get open and make plays when it comes to me.”
On if it is frustrating being open so much and not having many balls thrown his way:
“It is, especially in a loss. I’m a guy that’s always looking for something to do to help the team win. I’m happy if we win and I don’t have a catch. When we’re losing though and I feel like I’m open and I feel like I can make a play that’s when I really want it. Right now, we need to make a play. Everybody needs to get their confidence back. That’s what we’re missing.”
LB Lorenzo Alexander
On seeming to play with urgency only towards the end of the game:
“I know the guys are trying their hardest to get something going early, but at some point we need to play 60 minutes and we haven’t done that yet. It’s just about having mental toughness and getting out this funk, stepping up [from the start of the game] and getting it going.”
On if the 49ers looked beatable:
“They are beatable. They came out and played their game the way they play. They run the ball effectively, have a strong defense, and didn’t make too many mistakes on offense. We turned the ball over too much and we allowed them to run the ball. It’s just frustrating, but at the same time we had a chance – we gave them the onside kick, we have to come up with that and give our offense a chance to go out and tie the game.”
DL Barry Cofield
On the 49ers:
“If you hold certain teams in this league to 19 points, you feel you did a great job. I don’t think that’s their type of offense. I think we could have played better. I think we made mistakes. They are a ball control, defensive team. They are the type of team we strive to be and they have been doing it well.”
On the team feeling down when getting off to slow first half starts:
“The leadership and coaches on this team won’t let us take that approach. I feel like we have a tendency to play better in the second half. The team seems to bow up and realize that the situation is dire. Hopefully we can have a better start, create some turnovers for the offense and put them in great positions, play better special teams-wise and get some wins.”
49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh
On winning the game:
“I am proud of our team. We did a great job and it was a hard-fought win. [There are] a lot of guys to point out and give credit to. I am going to start with David [Akers]. He did a heck of a job. We had a lot of drives that were good drives offensively and ended in a field goal. Bruce [Miller] did a heck of a job. The ball was thrown up to him and he ran under it caught it and put it in the end zone – very good for a rookie. Also, Alex [Smith] made a heck of a throw. Defensively, I thought they played lights out again and did a heck of a job.”
If this is a playoff ready team:
“I think we are just better off just keep doing what we are doing – seeing if we can’t get a mile an hour faster where we can. Certainly the players that we have and the coaches we have let them go and do what they have been doing because they have been preparing extremely well and our focus has been there during the week. Physically, they work extremely hard at it. They get themselves emotionally ready to play and motivated to play so let’s see if we can’t get a little better tomorrow than we were today.”
If the defense is playing better now then a few weeks ago:
“I don’t know if you can compare them, they are playing really good football. They are playing unselfish football and keep showing up time and time again. The team counts on the guys the way they play, they are not looking for statistics like tackles, interceptions, and sacks. They know that helps us win but they are doing the unselfish little things. When a defensive tackle is made, it is a team tackle.”
The team being 4-0 against Eastern Time Zone opponents:
“It’s a good thing, we are proud of that.”
How quarterback Alex Smith played:
“I thought he was on. I thought Alex threw the ball really well. He was going through his reads, exceptionally well, and from the beginning of the game he was on the money. He protected the ball again extremely well. A blindside hit he didn’t even see coming, I don’t know how he holds onto those. It’s uncanny how a quarterback holds onto the ball like that. He has had that happen probably half a dozen times this year but he keeps possession of the ball. He made the big play when it was presented. [He] had a couple that could have been big plays that we didn’t make big plays on, but I thought he played extremely well.”
On Smith:
“He’s easy to coach. He’s so smart. He’s talented and he’s very tough. He just does everything that you’d want a 'team’ guy to do in that position. It’s like a pitcher in baseball – wins and losses – and he’s the guy out there doing it.”
On the possibility of first year coaches struggling because of the lockout:
“I don’t really have any thoughts or answers about that. We just spend all the time asking questions: Are we good enough to keep winning and keep learning? Are we tough enough? Competitive enough? Half of the games are over, half the games are still to be played. So we need to see if we can get a mile an hour faster someway, somehow.”
On Braylon Edwards’ big catch:
“That was clutch. I thought it was a heck of play by Braylon and a really great throw by Alex [Smith] in a clutch situation. Again, that was a key play in the ballgame. It kept that drive alive and allowed that field goal.”
On running back Frank Gore:
“Frank, again, was well over 100 yards and I looked up there at the scoreboard at one point in the game and he was over 100 yards. It was a tough 100 – a consummate team 100. He was not running out of bounds, he was in there getting every yard that he could get. He was in there with pass protection, first, second and third down, you know, just doing what Frank does. One thing I do say is that I see our players having a lot of fun out there playing football and I enjoy that.”
On the delay of game penalties during the game:
“Well, we went no huddle and Isaac Sopoaga and Alex Boone went to declare themselves eligible and they could not get the referee’s attention. He just kept standing over the ball. Usually, normally the umpire stands over the ball. You’re allowed to give the other team the opportunity to substitute but that goes on only so long. They don’t have the right to line up to whatever formation you give, so that whole mechanic was just so far drawn out in my opinion and our players didn’t have the opportunity to get his attention. They were trying to… So I thought that mechanic was mishandled. Then I called a time out before the ball was snapped and they said they didn’t hear that either. So that was a big occurrence in the game when you go from third-and-1 to third-and-6.”
On the fourth down play:
“We went through a legal shift and they called us for simulating a snap, which I still want to get that explained to me how that was any different from any other shift.”
On his philosophy of going for it on fourth and 1 early in the game:
“It has to do with the flow of the game, the situation of the game, whether we think we can make it. They’re not always the same, it’s not cut and dry.”
On the running and throwing ratio:
“Well, we really strive to be a 50/50 team; you know, throw the ball 50 percent and run the ball 50 percent. I think we came into this game we came into this game about 47 percent throwing and 53 percent running. And I don’t know what the percentage will be after this game, nor do I really care. I think we’re striving to do both well and we feel like we can do both well.”
49ers QB Alex Smith
On the big hit in the beginning of the game and how he was able to hold onto the football:
“ didn’t see him. Fortunately I held onto the ball. Better fundamentals, better ball carrying, holding the ball higher above my chest, better ball security.”
On the success of the team:
“We are playing good football and that’s no secret. Defense is playing great and special teams is playing great. Got off to a slow start today on offense, but we picked it up. I think we still left a lot on the field. We got a good rhythm running the ball well. Guys are protecting up front and we’re making plays.
On the defense:
“One thing we did in the first half is switch field position. We were winning the field battle. We did get first downs and we moved the ball to midfield. Defense was playing great and we were getting the ball back well. We got first downs early but we just couldn’t keep them going. We capitalized at the end of second quarter. The defense got the turnover and we scored. From there, we came out of the third quarter pretty good.”
On the touchdown pass to Bruce Miller:
“Ted [Ginn] did a great job and Bruce went on his match up. Protection was great and my part was easy. Ted is kind of the unsung hero.”
On the team’s record:
“[Being] 7-1 means we have got a chance to be 8-1. All that matters is the 'W.’ We are not into the style points or anything like that. We got the win, that’s what we came here to do. We look to take a step and get better and get ready for next week.”
On how much fun he is having compared to playing in college:
“I’m not comparing it to anything like that. It’s fun. We’re playing football. I mean I don’t know what else to say. There’s nothing else. We’re just playing ball. [We’ve] got a great locker room of guys in there, I think the character in the locker room is something special. The guys in there, that’s the reason why all of this is happening. The coaching staff putting us in the position to succeed and we’re just playing football.”
On not having any interceptions and not throwing risky passes:
“I think I’m just better. I’m just making better decisions. I pulled the ball down a few times today, took a couple sacks today. Those are situations where I look at in the past that I wasn’t doing as much. Really in the last couple of years, I didn’t fall down as much. Being in line to check down, helping the team out, although they might not be conversions on third downs, they help. So I think little things like that is the answer.”
On giving himself credit:
“I’m not worried about credit as long as we keep on winning, ultimately that’s what a quarterback is evaluated on, I’m not worried about anything else, yards, rating or any stuff like that.”
On play calling and his success as a quarterback:
“I’m there to execute plays - run or pass. When the pass is called, I go execute it. I think when we were losing and behind in the third and fourth quarter I threw for a lot of yards in the years past and when you’re ahead and you’re up multiple scores in the third and fourth quarter, guess what, you’re going to run the ball and that’s what’s going to happen. So people can talk about whatever they want about yardage, numbers and things like that, but we’re winning games.”
On what he attributes to his growth:
“Just playing better football, there’s no magic. Coach [Harbaugh] is putting us in a great situation, the guys around me are playing football at a high level. I think they deserve the credit.”
On struggling in the red zone today:
“I guess right now it would be tough for me to tell you. Obviously, I think we struggled down there kicking too many field goals. I just couldn’t tell you right now without looking at it.”
49ers RB Frank Gore
On the comfort of knowing the defense is playing well:
“It is a great feeling. We know we have a great defense. We know watching them that Washington has a great defense, too. We just had to settle down and get things together, take one play at a time. Late down the track, we started rolling.”
On the feeling in the locker room:
“It is a testament to all the guys that have been here a while. We are happy right now, and we are going to take it one day at a time and try and get better every practice. We are going to come every Sunday and try to execute.”
On the mindset of winning five straight games:
“I am just focusing on winning. It is a blessing. I am very happy that we are 7-1.”
On how they rank among other teams:
“We are just taking it one day at a time. The longer we feel like we are getting better every day taking small steps forward, that’s what we have to do. We are not worried about no other team in the NFL, we are just trying to take care of the 49ers and come on Sundays and get wins.”
On if defense gets confused by so many different offensive alignments:
“The [offensive line] did a great job; I owe everything to them. They have been busting their behind every day, on Sunday busting their behind. The offensive line coach has done a great job. We are now looking forward and taking one game at a time. As long as we keep doing that, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
The effectiveness of the new coaching staff:
“I think our coaches do a really great job of believing in us, and when you have that, it is tough to stop. We really have faith that they know what they are doing.”
On his favorite plays to run:
“I have faith in whatever the offensive coordinator calls. It doesn’t matter; I’ll run whatever.”
49ers CB Carlos Rogers
On how it felt to play against the Redskins:
“It was great man. A total team effort. Our defensive coach talked about it do on defense it all started with me we talked about it last night. It was just something special to come back in this place. Fans still love me, I mean some still talk a little junk on the sideline but to get this win this team win I can’t ask for anything better right now.”
On how far a 7-1 record can take the team:
“It can carry us a long way right now, but like coach always reminds us, just stay humble stay focus on what we have to do, because it’s just seven wins. If we don’t win no more we won’t go nowhere. So we got to continue to do what we do, coach keeps us humble and keeps us on the right track, keep working us and we just trying to get better each and every week.”
49ers C Jonathan Goodwin
On what it took to get this win:
“A lot of hard work, a great job by our defense once again and, offensively, we were able to get points when we needed them. [It was] a hard fought game a tough physical game but we were able to come out with the win.”
On how far a 7-1 record can take the team:
“It can only take us to 7-1. We have to go a week at a time the goal now is to get to eight and one, but in this league there’s still a lot of games left a lot of football left to play. So it’s nice to get off to a great start but it’s all about how you finish in this league.”
49ers LB NaVorro Bowman
On how it feels to get this win for Carlos Rogers:
“He was with this team so going to a new team and winning he’s excited about it and he wants to come back and show them that they made a mistake. So we wanted to pride ourselves on getting Carlos this win… So this game means a lot more than just getting a win.”
49ers FB Bruce Miller
On how it felt to catch that pass at the end of the half:
“It felt good, too. I was able to do something to help the offense get going and move the ball and able to get in the end zone. It felt good to just add to what we were doing on offense and put some points of the board. Teddy [Ted Ginn] ran a great route that helped me get open and get down the field.”
(Courtesy of the Washington Redskins)
On his message to the fans and team after losing four in a row:
“I told our team — collectively, we’ve got to get better on offense. That’s the obvious. For an offense to work you have to have eleven guys going in the same direction. We’ve got a few different pieces of the puzzle that we’re trying to put together and you could see the end result today. I thought defensively we did some good things. [Defensively] we played well enough to win. I thought the intensity was good. I thought our players played extremely hard. But when you make that many mistakes — you have a few turnovers on offense, especially with pretty good field position — against a team that runs the ball extremely well and plays a good rush defense…You can’t have that many mistakes.”
On quarterback John Beck’s play today:
“I thought he did some good things. I think he had some opportunities that he’d like to have over, just like most quarterbacks. It’s a learning experience for him. He’s going to get better as time goes on. I thought he had some opportunities to make some good plays in there. I thought he got rid of the ball quick. Like I said, collectively, you’ve got to do it as a team. You’ve got to do it as an offensive unit and we made too many mistakes collectively to move the ball consistently.”
On starting three players for the first time today:
“Well, [wide receiver Leonard] Hankerson has been practicing pretty good through the last few weeks. We wanted to give him an opportunity. I think he’s a difference-maker in this league. He’s got a chance to be an elite receiver. You can see it in practice — his ability to beat bump coverage one-on-one. I think down the road it will pay dividends for us. [Running back Roy] Helu has got the speed to make some big plays and we’re going to have [running back] Ryan [Torain] kind of substitute for him when he gets tired. I think you can see he’s a pretty good all-around back. He made some plays… Obviously he’d like to have that fumble back. [Guard Maurice] Hurt... anytime you lose a couple players you have to find the best combination. With [tackle] Trent Williams coming back at the left tackle position, we thought Will would be a lot better at center, because he’s a much better center than he is a guard. We thought that would help us and then we moved Maurice over there; between him and [tackle] Sean [Locklear] during the week, we thought Maurice did a good enough job to earn the position. And then obviously [tackle] Jammal [Brown] went out early so then Sean went in there and it was hard for me to tell but I thought overall he probably did a pretty good job with no practice time at that right tackle position.”
On his confidence in quarterback John Beck’s ability to lead the offense:
“That’s the problem. Regardless of who’s the quarterback, sometimes it looks like it’s all the quarterback and it’s understandable. When you lose a few pieces of the puzzle the quarterback is going to look pretty average. We’re playing pretty average as a group. We’ve got to get better. We can’t make the mistakes that we made during the game, like I mentioned — the three turnovers. Without talking about anybody’s play, you can’t win against a team that plays defense like that when you turn the football over in good field position.”
On if Beck will start next week:
“Yeah, we’re going to stick with John”
On the offensive mistakes:
“I think I told you that anytime you shuffle people in and out of there, there is going to be some inconsistencies. When you don’t shuffle people in and out of there and you’re inconsistent, that means you’re a bad football team. Anytime that you have as many guys move around to some different positions and you’re playing some young players there are going to be some mistakes made. You could see some of those mistakes made today by some young players. It usually looks like it’s always the quarterback, which we understand. It’s always going to appear that way.”
On the decision to go with short passes today:
“They’re a zone defensive team. What you have to do is consistently throw the short passes. They played only a couple of plays in man-to-man coverage. They weren’t going to give us a chance to get the big play throughout the game…probably the fewest plays they’ve played in man coverage all year. They wanted us methodically to move the football down the field and get first downs, thinking that they could keep us out of the end zone or we would make mistakes before we got down there. And some teams will do that. There’s a lot of teams that will play zone defense and they’re good enough defensively over the year to put you in the situations that they want to do. But you cannot make mistakes like we did and beat a football team with that type of defense.”
On if he considered switching to quarterback Rex Grossman today:
“I’m trying to explain that to you. Everybody looks at the quarterback position saying 'that’s the guy.’ You take a look at one of the best pass rushes in the league, best rushing defense, number one in fewest points given up… it’s not always going to be the quarterback. Not saying that John [Beck] played the perfect game — I’m not trying to go that way — but as a head coach I know that you’ve got to have 11 pieces of the puzzle and if you don’t everybody looks pretty ordinary… No.”
On the importance of being patient with the team’s progress:
“Well that’s what you have to understand. As I tried to point out, there is going to be inconsistencies when you move a lot of people around to different positions. You could see that inconsistency today but these guys are gaining valuable experience. Not only the quarterback, but also the wide receivers, the running backs… Eventually it’s going to pay dividends when some of these young guys get some playing time. As a group, when you have that many new pieces—and without a guy, an extra tight end, different guys that you’re trying to work in—it does look a little rag-tag and that’s the reason why we were so inconsistent today. Hopefully, with eight games remaining, we can get better each week and some of these guys are getting some valuable experience, are ready to start playing at a high level and will start feeling more comfortable playing with each other.”
On right tackle Jammal Brown’s hip injury:
“I really don’t know but he just went out because of it. He couldn’t go. He tried to go and then came out the first play. At this time I really don’t know how bad it is but it was bad enough for him to not come back in the game. For a guy like Jammal, he doesn’t usually do that, so it had to be serious.”
On his comments to left tackle Trent Williams after receiving a penalty:
“I just talked about keeping your poise. What you’ve gotta do in this game is keep your poise. They always see the second hit, they never see the first hit—if there was a first hit, I don’t even know that. But I told Trent, 'We’ve been down this road before, you’re a second year player’…keeping your poise in the National Football League is hard to do but that’s how you win football games.”
On the decision to have kicker Graham Gano kick the long field goal:
“It was against the wind, too. That was the only question mark I had. I thought it was right in his range because when he kicks 50 yards, you can see when he kicks them, that thing is usually good by ten yards. He’s been doing it pretty consistently in practice. We’ll put him in situations where he kicks 50, 52-yarders and it’s got at least an extra 10-15 yards. I was just happy that he got an opportunity and took advantage of it. Usually those guys nowadays, because of spotting the ball where you kick it, don’t get those opportunities to take advantage of it. I was happy for him and it was a clutch kick.”
On the defensive progress since last year:
“Like I said, I was really pleased with the intensity we had out there. We were playing hard. They had a couple mistakes out there on defense but you could see the mindset there—front seven, front eight—those guys were playing extremely hard. We came up with a turnover when we had to and you could see that there was a lot of great effort out there. That’s what you’re looking for—guys playing extremely hard to give you a position, to give you a chance to win, put you in a position to win…I thought our defense did that today.”
On if it’s difficult to hear 'boos’ coming from the stands:
“No. If you’ve been in this league you understand. It’s about production but you have to have a goal. I think we’ve improved in a lot of areas. Right now if you take a look at the offense—it’s tough to take. It’s tough to take for me but I understand how this thing works. We’ve got a look of young guys with some talent that right now are collectively not on the same page, but with all of this valuable experience with some of these young guys, hopefully, it pays off shortly.”
On the perception that the offense has regressed:
“Everybody wants wins. You ask how it regresses? Just what I said. When you see something happening good — maybe in the preseason or the first couple of regular season games — collectively, we didn’t lose anybody. We were pretty sharp. We were working pretty consistently. All of a sudden that consistency goes with a few players—well, that’s why you’re not consistent. Everybody wants the answer and I wish I could give you one but that’s as close as I can get.”
On Brandon Banks’ kick returns today:
“When we talk about his game—you’re accountable for everything you do. Brandon, every time he touches the ball, he wants to make a big play. Sometimes he’s got to really think about the decisions he makes because you can’t fumble the ball on the 3-yard line and you can’t turn the football over on a punt return. You can see he kind of picked up his eyes as he was catching the ball looking for a lane…ball security first.”
On if he hoped to be further along at this point in his second season with the Redskins:
“No. Well, obviously, you’d like everything to go perfect. You’d like everyone to be completely healthy and you’d like everyone to be playing at their best and we’re not doing that right now. As I told you when I first came here — it wasn’t going to happen overnight. I think I shared that with everybody. Especially when you’ve got a few guys go down [with injuries], sometimes it doesn’t look very bright. I promise you — we’ve got a lot of character on this team. We’ve got a lot of football players. We’re not where we want to be right now but we’re going in the right direction. Like I said — they played extremely hard and that’s the first thing you look for.”
QB John Beck
On his assessment of the game:
“Well, ultimately, when you lose… That’s the main objective; is to win. Regardless of how it’s done, you want to win the game. Having not won the game, objective number one wasn’t completed. Looking back on the flow of the game, we obviously didn’t get things going the way we would have liked to in the first half, and even at the beginning of the first quarter and that is something we can improve on.”
On what the problem was today:
“The line did protect well today. Especially against a team that we knew had a very good front seven. We lost Jammal [Brown] in the game, so I thought for Sean [Locklear] to jump in, I thought the line did really well, but you want to get points. That’s the thing we can improve on, because you can’t always put it on the defense.”
On what didn’t happen today:
“I have a few answers to myself right now, but I can’t pinpoint it on one thing. There’s a lot of things I can improve on as a player that I can do better at and that’s my main focus right now.”
On if he understands that if he continues to struggle the coaches could turn to Rex Grossman:
“No question. And I don’t want it to continue. I want to put my foot down and I want it to stop. We have too many good players on this team. We have good character. We have guys that believe. Losing like this shouldn’t happen and I don’t want it to happen any longer. Unfortunately today we didn’t win. I felt like when I stepped onto the field today we were going to win. I felt like this team felt we were going to win. To come off the field not having won is not the situation you want. I’m doing everything I can to end this and to get us winning again.”
On what is stopping drives:
“It’s that third down. To continue drives, to keep the chains moving, you have to convert on third down. When drives stall off, that’s usually the case. Unless there’s a turnover or a penalty that knocks you way back and then you’re in a third and very long, those are very difficult because teams can drop everybody off there and you’re forced to just pick up something and play the field position game. But we had our opportunities to convert on third down and we didn’t. That’s something we need to improve on.”
On if he was getting good looks downfield:
“There were some there. We came back and looked at the photos that they give us on the sideline and there was a few where I could have waited a second longer and had a shot at something. That is my first glance. You don’t get to see the full play right afterwards. I’m going off what I saw, and when you look at the picture, there were a couple there. [Offensive coordinator] Kyle [Shanahan] and I were standing on the sideline and we said 'Hey, you know what? Just wait a half second longer and it’ll get into this hole and we can shoot it there.’”
On running back Roy Helu’s team-record 14 receptions:
“He had 14? We screened the ball a lot today. There were some times where they would force us to check it down and he was the check-down guy or maybe we were trying to play underneath some of our deeper routes and get it to him. It wasn’t in the game plan to get it to him that many times – I didn’t even know it was [14 times]. A lot of times on two-minute drives you get a handful there. Teams are playing back and they soften up underneath and you can get a little bit.”
On what it means that Head Coach Mike Shanahan has confidence in him:
“It means a lot, but at the same time I know that it;s about getting stuff done. Right now, for me, I don’t want to think about tomorrow right now, I want to think about today. What happened? What took place? How can I improve? Because we do have to get better and it starts with me. Me being the quarterback, I touch the ball more than anyone on the football field, so it’s, 'How can I get better?’ I’ll work as hard as I can to get better.”
On his ideal passing balance on offense:
“[Offensive coordinator] Kyle [Shanahan] talks about balance. Balance with the run and the pass game, using the run to set up the play action. That’s what we go for when we head into a game. We want to be balanced. But, I think some of it might be skewed because of the situation at the end of the game where you’re trying to come back and put points on the board fast, you have to throw the ball more and try to get it in chunks. We had a couple drives there at the end with a two-minute mode. That will always tend to knock the pass attempts up.”
RB Roy Helu
On passing Hall of Famer Art Monk for the team record for receptions in a game:
“I care [more] about my brothers on this team. And they’re hurting because I can’t make plays on the field.”
On fumbling the ball:
“The bottom line is the guy stripped [the ball from me], the ball came out and I can do better.”
On feeling more comfortable after more playing time:
“I know that when getting the ball more, I can be more in sync with the offensive line and with what [opposing teams] are doing on defense… Like I’ve been saying all day, we can’t get frustrated. I just need to make plays when the ball is in my hands. The stats look good, but I had a fumble and that was the biggest difference in the game score-wise.”
K Graham Gano
On kicking his team record 59-yard field goal:
“I didn’t feel like I hit it well. I felt like I undercut it. I wasn’t sure if it was going to have the distance. It was on line, but I had to wait and see if the referees put their hands up. But I’m just excited I got that opportunity, and used my God-given ability to go out there and kick.”
On kicking the record-setting field goal during a loss:
“It’s exciting, but I think everybody hates losing, so it doesn’t mean as much since we lost.”
On Head Coach Mike Shanahan judging his leg strength:
“I think that’s something we judge in practice. [Coach Shanahan] is well aware of what kind of leg strength I have. We attempted a couple from 68 [yards] a couple of weeks back, so I think from hitting those he understands what kind of strength I have and he can judge from that.”
OL Jammal Brown
On the slow start for the offense today:
“I felt that we were moving the ball early, we just weren’t finishing drives. So, in a way, it did feel like the past couple of weeks.”
OL Maurice Hurt
On what he thought he did well today:
“It’s hard to tell without going back and watching, but just playing hard. That’s what got me here. I try to make the least amount of mistakes possible and just play hard.”
On if he was ready for the speed of the game:
“I think I was. Guys are pretty fast and strong in practice. The tempo was fast today and it may have taken me a second to adjust to it, but I think I did OK.”
On if he knows whether or not he will be starting for the remainder of the year:
“I don’t know. We’ll have to see. Whatever they want me to do, I’ll be there.”
On if there were any surprises today:
“Not really. The guys that I practice against prepared me well. The speed of the game was a little different and I was pretty amped up. All in all, I think I was OK. Nothing shocked me too much.”
OL Trent Williams
On if the injuries have had an impact on the team:
“Injuries come with the territory. There is nobody that plays football that doesn’t get hurt. Any team can make that excuse.”
On what it will take for the offense to get back on track:
“It’s going to take all 11 of us. We’ve been going most of this season not coming together and if we want to turn this thing around, it’s going to take all of us coming together.”
On if the team came out with a sense of urgency in the second half:
“We played hard. We’re always going to play hard. Coach Shanahan, he coaches well, and we’re always going to play hard. Losing and playing hard really doesn’t do anything for you, so we’ve got to figure it out.”
WR Jabar Gaffney
On if the amount of young players playing now has had a negative impact on the team:
“All the young guys that are here are capable of making plays. We believe they can make plays. They have to step up and make plays in the absence of veterans and some of our leaders and as long as everybody else steps their game up, we’ll find our way out of this slump.”
On if he was getting open today:
“I feel like I was getting open out there today. A lot of times John [Beck] would go through his reads and not come to me but that’s for coach to talk with John about. I just try to get open and make plays when it comes to me.”
On if it is frustrating being open so much and not having many balls thrown his way:
“It is, especially in a loss. I’m a guy that’s always looking for something to do to help the team win. I’m happy if we win and I don’t have a catch. When we’re losing though and I feel like I’m open and I feel like I can make a play that’s when I really want it. Right now, we need to make a play. Everybody needs to get their confidence back. That’s what we’re missing.”
LB Lorenzo Alexander
On seeming to play with urgency only towards the end of the game:
“I know the guys are trying their hardest to get something going early, but at some point we need to play 60 minutes and we haven’t done that yet. It’s just about having mental toughness and getting out this funk, stepping up [from the start of the game] and getting it going.”
On if the 49ers looked beatable:
“They are beatable. They came out and played their game the way they play. They run the ball effectively, have a strong defense, and didn’t make too many mistakes on offense. We turned the ball over too much and we allowed them to run the ball. It’s just frustrating, but at the same time we had a chance – we gave them the onside kick, we have to come up with that and give our offense a chance to go out and tie the game.”
DL Barry Cofield
On the 49ers:
“If you hold certain teams in this league to 19 points, you feel you did a great job. I don’t think that’s their type of offense. I think we could have played better. I think we made mistakes. They are a ball control, defensive team. They are the type of team we strive to be and they have been doing it well.”
On the team feeling down when getting off to slow first half starts:
“The leadership and coaches on this team won’t let us take that approach. I feel like we have a tendency to play better in the second half. The team seems to bow up and realize that the situation is dire. Hopefully we can have a better start, create some turnovers for the offense and put them in great positions, play better special teams-wise and get some wins.”
49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh
On winning the game:
“I am proud of our team. We did a great job and it was a hard-fought win. [There are] a lot of guys to point out and give credit to. I am going to start with David [Akers]. He did a heck of a job. We had a lot of drives that were good drives offensively and ended in a field goal. Bruce [Miller] did a heck of a job. The ball was thrown up to him and he ran under it caught it and put it in the end zone – very good for a rookie. Also, Alex [Smith] made a heck of a throw. Defensively, I thought they played lights out again and did a heck of a job.”
If this is a playoff ready team:
“I think we are just better off just keep doing what we are doing – seeing if we can’t get a mile an hour faster where we can. Certainly the players that we have and the coaches we have let them go and do what they have been doing because they have been preparing extremely well and our focus has been there during the week. Physically, they work extremely hard at it. They get themselves emotionally ready to play and motivated to play so let’s see if we can’t get a little better tomorrow than we were today.”
If the defense is playing better now then a few weeks ago:
“I don’t know if you can compare them, they are playing really good football. They are playing unselfish football and keep showing up time and time again. The team counts on the guys the way they play, they are not looking for statistics like tackles, interceptions, and sacks. They know that helps us win but they are doing the unselfish little things. When a defensive tackle is made, it is a team tackle.”
The team being 4-0 against Eastern Time Zone opponents:
“It’s a good thing, we are proud of that.”
How quarterback Alex Smith played:
“I thought he was on. I thought Alex threw the ball really well. He was going through his reads, exceptionally well, and from the beginning of the game he was on the money. He protected the ball again extremely well. A blindside hit he didn’t even see coming, I don’t know how he holds onto those. It’s uncanny how a quarterback holds onto the ball like that. He has had that happen probably half a dozen times this year but he keeps possession of the ball. He made the big play when it was presented. [He] had a couple that could have been big plays that we didn’t make big plays on, but I thought he played extremely well.”
On Smith:
“He’s easy to coach. He’s so smart. He’s talented and he’s very tough. He just does everything that you’d want a 'team’ guy to do in that position. It’s like a pitcher in baseball – wins and losses – and he’s the guy out there doing it.”
On the possibility of first year coaches struggling because of the lockout:
“I don’t really have any thoughts or answers about that. We just spend all the time asking questions: Are we good enough to keep winning and keep learning? Are we tough enough? Competitive enough? Half of the games are over, half the games are still to be played. So we need to see if we can get a mile an hour faster someway, somehow.”
On Braylon Edwards’ big catch:
“That was clutch. I thought it was a heck of play by Braylon and a really great throw by Alex [Smith] in a clutch situation. Again, that was a key play in the ballgame. It kept that drive alive and allowed that field goal.”
On running back Frank Gore:
“Frank, again, was well over 100 yards and I looked up there at the scoreboard at one point in the game and he was over 100 yards. It was a tough 100 – a consummate team 100. He was not running out of bounds, he was in there getting every yard that he could get. He was in there with pass protection, first, second and third down, you know, just doing what Frank does. One thing I do say is that I see our players having a lot of fun out there playing football and I enjoy that.”
On the delay of game penalties during the game:
“Well, we went no huddle and Isaac Sopoaga and Alex Boone went to declare themselves eligible and they could not get the referee’s attention. He just kept standing over the ball. Usually, normally the umpire stands over the ball. You’re allowed to give the other team the opportunity to substitute but that goes on only so long. They don’t have the right to line up to whatever formation you give, so that whole mechanic was just so far drawn out in my opinion and our players didn’t have the opportunity to get his attention. They were trying to… So I thought that mechanic was mishandled. Then I called a time out before the ball was snapped and they said they didn’t hear that either. So that was a big occurrence in the game when you go from third-and-1 to third-and-6.”
On the fourth down play:
“We went through a legal shift and they called us for simulating a snap, which I still want to get that explained to me how that was any different from any other shift.”
On his philosophy of going for it on fourth and 1 early in the game:
“It has to do with the flow of the game, the situation of the game, whether we think we can make it. They’re not always the same, it’s not cut and dry.”
On the running and throwing ratio:
“Well, we really strive to be a 50/50 team; you know, throw the ball 50 percent and run the ball 50 percent. I think we came into this game we came into this game about 47 percent throwing and 53 percent running. And I don’t know what the percentage will be after this game, nor do I really care. I think we’re striving to do both well and we feel like we can do both well.”
49ers QB Alex Smith
On the big hit in the beginning of the game and how he was able to hold onto the football:
“ didn’t see him. Fortunately I held onto the ball. Better fundamentals, better ball carrying, holding the ball higher above my chest, better ball security.”
On the success of the team:
“We are playing good football and that’s no secret. Defense is playing great and special teams is playing great. Got off to a slow start today on offense, but we picked it up. I think we still left a lot on the field. We got a good rhythm running the ball well. Guys are protecting up front and we’re making plays.
On the defense:
“One thing we did in the first half is switch field position. We were winning the field battle. We did get first downs and we moved the ball to midfield. Defense was playing great and we were getting the ball back well. We got first downs early but we just couldn’t keep them going. We capitalized at the end of second quarter. The defense got the turnover and we scored. From there, we came out of the third quarter pretty good.”
On the touchdown pass to Bruce Miller:
“Ted [Ginn] did a great job and Bruce went on his match up. Protection was great and my part was easy. Ted is kind of the unsung hero.”
On the team’s record:
“[Being] 7-1 means we have got a chance to be 8-1. All that matters is the 'W.’ We are not into the style points or anything like that. We got the win, that’s what we came here to do. We look to take a step and get better and get ready for next week.”
On how much fun he is having compared to playing in college:
“I’m not comparing it to anything like that. It’s fun. We’re playing football. I mean I don’t know what else to say. There’s nothing else. We’re just playing ball. [We’ve] got a great locker room of guys in there, I think the character in the locker room is something special. The guys in there, that’s the reason why all of this is happening. The coaching staff putting us in the position to succeed and we’re just playing football.”
On not having any interceptions and not throwing risky passes:
“I think I’m just better. I’m just making better decisions. I pulled the ball down a few times today, took a couple sacks today. Those are situations where I look at in the past that I wasn’t doing as much. Really in the last couple of years, I didn’t fall down as much. Being in line to check down, helping the team out, although they might not be conversions on third downs, they help. So I think little things like that is the answer.”
On giving himself credit:
“I’m not worried about credit as long as we keep on winning, ultimately that’s what a quarterback is evaluated on, I’m not worried about anything else, yards, rating or any stuff like that.”
On play calling and his success as a quarterback:
“I’m there to execute plays - run or pass. When the pass is called, I go execute it. I think when we were losing and behind in the third and fourth quarter I threw for a lot of yards in the years past and when you’re ahead and you’re up multiple scores in the third and fourth quarter, guess what, you’re going to run the ball and that’s what’s going to happen. So people can talk about whatever they want about yardage, numbers and things like that, but we’re winning games.”
On what he attributes to his growth:
“Just playing better football, there’s no magic. Coach [Harbaugh] is putting us in a great situation, the guys around me are playing football at a high level. I think they deserve the credit.”
On struggling in the red zone today:
“I guess right now it would be tough for me to tell you. Obviously, I think we struggled down there kicking too many field goals. I just couldn’t tell you right now without looking at it.”
49ers RB Frank Gore
On the comfort of knowing the defense is playing well:
“It is a great feeling. We know we have a great defense. We know watching them that Washington has a great defense, too. We just had to settle down and get things together, take one play at a time. Late down the track, we started rolling.”
On the feeling in the locker room:
“It is a testament to all the guys that have been here a while. We are happy right now, and we are going to take it one day at a time and try and get better every practice. We are going to come every Sunday and try to execute.”
On the mindset of winning five straight games:
“I am just focusing on winning. It is a blessing. I am very happy that we are 7-1.”
On how they rank among other teams:
“We are just taking it one day at a time. The longer we feel like we are getting better every day taking small steps forward, that’s what we have to do. We are not worried about no other team in the NFL, we are just trying to take care of the 49ers and come on Sundays and get wins.”
On if defense gets confused by so many different offensive alignments:
“The [offensive line] did a great job; I owe everything to them. They have been busting their behind every day, on Sunday busting their behind. The offensive line coach has done a great job. We are now looking forward and taking one game at a time. As long as we keep doing that, we shouldn’t have any problems.”
The effectiveness of the new coaching staff:
“I think our coaches do a really great job of believing in us, and when you have that, it is tough to stop. We really have faith that they know what they are doing.”
On his favorite plays to run:
“I have faith in whatever the offensive coordinator calls. It doesn’t matter; I’ll run whatever.”
49ers CB Carlos Rogers
On how it felt to play against the Redskins:
“It was great man. A total team effort. Our defensive coach talked about it do on defense it all started with me we talked about it last night. It was just something special to come back in this place. Fans still love me, I mean some still talk a little junk on the sideline but to get this win this team win I can’t ask for anything better right now.”
On how far a 7-1 record can take the team:
“It can carry us a long way right now, but like coach always reminds us, just stay humble stay focus on what we have to do, because it’s just seven wins. If we don’t win no more we won’t go nowhere. So we got to continue to do what we do, coach keeps us humble and keeps us on the right track, keep working us and we just trying to get better each and every week.”
49ers C Jonathan Goodwin
On what it took to get this win:
“A lot of hard work, a great job by our defense once again and, offensively, we were able to get points when we needed them. [It was] a hard fought game a tough physical game but we were able to come out with the win.”
On how far a 7-1 record can take the team:
“It can only take us to 7-1. We have to go a week at a time the goal now is to get to eight and one, but in this league there’s still a lot of games left a lot of football left to play. So it’s nice to get off to a great start but it’s all about how you finish in this league.”
49ers LB NaVorro Bowman
On how it feels to get this win for Carlos Rogers:
“He was with this team so going to a new team and winning he’s excited about it and he wants to come back and show them that they made a mistake. So we wanted to pride ourselves on getting Carlos this win… So this game means a lot more than just getting a win.”
49ers FB Bruce Miller
On how it felt to catch that pass at the end of the half:
“It felt good, too. I was able to do something to help the offense get going and move the ball and able to get in the end zone. It felt good to just add to what we were doing on offense and put some points of the board. Teddy [Ted Ginn] ran a great route that helped me get open and get down the field.”
(Courtesy of the Washington Redskins)