McVay … 9-22 … vid & transcript

Head Coach Sean McVay – September 22, 2017

(On how his night of rest was)
“Probably not as good as it should have been. We got in here, got a chance to watch the tape with the players, cleaned that up and then we’ll get them a couple days of rest. It will be a good chance for the coaches to catch their breath a little bit too because those short weeks definitely take a toll on coaches and players. But, I think it was good for us to come away with a win and hopefully I’ll sleep a little bit better tonight.”

(On the statuses of WR Sammy Watkins and WR Tavon Austin)
“Those guys are in the concussion protocol. We’ll continue to monitor them and hopefully we’ll get some good news on them in the upcoming days. With (S) Lamarcus (Joyner) with his hamstring strain, he’ll be day-to-day. (C) John Sullivan with his groin he will be day-to-day. From the game, those are really the guys that from an injury standpoint just to update on.”

(On if he thinks the offense is ahead of schedule at this point in the season)
“I don’t know if you ever really look at it like that. You kind of just take it one day at a time and really one game at a time. I thought yesterday was a good offensive performance. I thought the players did a good job executing. Anytime that you’re able to go 8-for-12 on third down, 5-for-7 in the red zone, those key situations – that’s going to give yourself to score some points and do some good things. I thought the players made the plays and continued to kind of respond the right way and they did some good things yesterday. But, now we know when we come back against the Dallas Cowboys, they’re an excellent defense – (Cowboys Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Rod) Marinelli has those guys playing really hard. They fly off the football and just being in that division the last couple of years, a lot of respect for them.”

(On the special teams mistakes)
“I think when you really look at it, the thing you feel good about is I think ‘Bones’ (Special Teams Coordinator John Fassel) is as good as there is as far as a leader of the special teams. They’ve consistently produced, year in and year out and I think when you look at the things yesterday, all very correctable mistakes. We’ve got to take better care of the football. Those are things that with our players that are touching the ball, it will be addressed, they’ll make sure that they’re moving on and improving from that. Then just some of those situations as far as jumping offsides from a 4th and 2 where you give them a first down – we just can’t do that. It starts with us as coaches and then the players have to make sure that they understand those situations, but one of the things that I do know about those guys that are some of our key players on special teams, they’ll respond the right way, they’ve got the right approach and attitude and clearly our special teams leader in John Fassel and (Assistant Special Teams) Coach (Tyrone) McKenzie will do a good job and we have all the confidence in them.”

(On the defensive struggles)
“I think the one thing that I would say is (Defensive Coordinator) Coach Wade (Phillips) is one of the best coaches there is. Clearly, his resume speaks for itself and I think when you look at that game yesterday, snap in and snap out there were some things that, credit to San Francisco – you look at (49ers QB Brian) Hoyer, you look at (49ers WR Pierre) Garcon, (49ers WR Marquise) Goodwin, some of the things (49ers RB Carlos) Hyde did. They had some great individual efforts. They hit (49ers FB Kyle) Juszczyk down the seam on that play-action pass, so there was a lot of things that I thought that they did, that you have to say credit to the offense for great execution. The one thing that we were most proud of was that in crunch time, when you’ve got to be your best, (CB) Troy Hill makes a huge play on the two-point (conversion attempt) to stop them. Then they end up recovering the onside kick and what our defense does is find a way to get them off (the field). (DT) Aaron (Donald) finishes off the game with a sack to close it out and then really you look at the second down play, we were in a man coverage and (LB) Mark Barron makes an unbelievable tackle on a screen. They were their best when they had to be. There’s always going to be a couple things, but I also think it’s important to give credit to some of those offenses that they’ve faced the last couple weeks and some of the things they were able to do. Like I was saying about the special teams, I think we’ll move forward in the right way and continue to just try to improve one day at a time.”

(On if he used CB Troy Hill more than he expected to)
“I thought he did a great job because when Lamarcus went down when you know he’s playing your nickel spot, then it bumps (CB Nickell) Robey (-Coleman) inside, so now Troy’s playing a lot more in some of those dime situations. I thought Troy got more comfortable as the game progressed. Clearly, you really look at it, there was a 4th and one, same type of route that he made the stop on the two-point conversion, got beat on that earlier and then he got it fixed. That’s what we always talk about, ‘What’s next? What’s the next play?’ I loved the way that a couple guys responded. I think when you look at Nickell Robey, the previous week there were some things, some plays that I know he’d want back – what does he do? First play of the game he makes a huge play for us, ends up recovering a fumble later. Those are the types of things you like to see from your players, is not necessarily when the mistakes occur, but what is the response going to be and I think those two guys are a great example of what we want to see in terms of when things don’t go our way.”

(On C Austin Blythe’s performance)
“Austin Blythe did excellent. He did a great job. I think there were a couple things that we can always clean up, just from some of the procedural things, just with the pre-snap. But, in terms of taking command, controlling some of the calls that are required up front because we do put a lot on our center. I’m very pleased with Austin. He got a game ball and I thought our offense was able to continue to operate pretty seamlessly when you lose a very important part of what you’re trying to get done with the amount of stuff we put on John Sullivan and what a good job he’s done. But for Austin to come in there, credit to him and also (Offensive Line) Coach (Aaron) Kromer having him ready to go and he did a nice job delivering.”

(On QB Jared Goff’s performance)
“I think it felt pretty similar. I think he did a lot of really good things. I thought he distributed the ball well. I thought in crunch time, some of the third down conversions he made were really exciting. You look at the one where he gets to (RB Todd) Gurley on the third down and long, works across the board, gets to him as his late outlet. I thought the third and one touchdown down in the tight red area to Sammy on kind of the run alert was a big play and then it was a great throw on the deep ball where Sammy made an outstanding catch down the field. I thought he was able to change the launch point. We were able to create a lot of explosives (plays) off the play-action and movement game and that’s a credit to our offense as a whole, but certainly starts with Jared’s ability to be able to execute. Anytime that you go 22-for-28 you feel pretty good, taking care of the football and then again, no sacks, huge credit to the offensive line, so can’t say enough about what those guys did yesterday as well.”

(On WR Robert Woods long reception on the left side of the field for a 21-yard gain)
“That was a great job. We were kind of trying to – it was a play action, kind of an illusion off some of the different things we had shown in the run game. And I was watching the back end to see if the nickel had triggered like we had hoped and Robert did a good job selling it. I’m thinking, ‘Get the ball up and down, where is it?’ So, my eyes were kind of in a different spot to be able to see it and those guys ended up making the play and it was a good one for us.”

(On the difficulty of an over the shoulder catch)
“Unbelievable. Great body control. I heard the announcers say, ‘Willie Mays type catch’. Where you’re tracking it over your inside and then over your outside shoulder, kind of like a deep centerfielder. But, those are the types of plays that make Sammy a special player. That’s why he is who he is. I think it was exciting to see a handful of plays he made. Any time you’re targeted seven times, you come away with six catches, a couple touchdowns, 100-plus (receiving yards) that’s going to be a big deal. But, to be able to make that big play down the field, I thought was a huge spark for our offense at the time. Really, being fortunate to be around a guy like (Buccaneers WR) De’Sean Jackson in Washington, his ability to track the ball down the field is rare and elite and I thought it was similar to some of those types of catches that I had seen De’Sean make. He made a big one against Philly last year kind of over his shoulder and that kind of reminded me of it – that type of catch. But, really huge respect for Sammy being able to make that play. And it was really well defended actually too. I mean, it had to be thrown in a perfect spot and those are the types of throws and catches you’ve got to be able to make against a good defense like San Fran is.”

(On what the impact of the defense playing so many snaps for a second week in a row)
“It’s tough. You’d like to be able to sustain some continuity. I think this week was a little bit different than the previous week. That was a result of us not being very productive offensively. Like I said at the Washington game, some of the spots I put us in still bother me, but I think when you’re able to create some explosives, have some drives, you feel good about that offensively. You always want to try to keep your defense off, you know that possession is a very important stat you want to try to look at to keep those guys fresh, but at the same time, credit to San Francisco. I thought (49ers Head Coach) Kyle (Shanahan) did an excellent job mixing things up with the run and the pass and they sustained some drives, made some plays on some third downs. You look at – we had a couple fourth down plays in the red zone. So, I think there’s kind of always two side to that story, but in a perfect world, you would prefer to not have your defense play as many snaps as they have the last couple weeks.

(On if he still checks in with DT Aaron Donald mentally regarding contract negotiations now that he’s back with the team)
“I think the thing you really like about him is that when he’s here, he’s all about football. I haven’t sensed that’s been a distraction. You try to be in constant communication with all your players. It’s not like something every day where we’re checking up, but I just want to make sure, and I know he knows this, that while he’s here that doesn’t mean we’re still not trying to proactively pursue a solution so that everybody can feel good about it. That’s one of our priorities. That doesn’t change, whether he’s been here or not here. But the thing I love about Aaron is, I don’t sense that that’s affected him at all. He was more focused on after the Washington game, let me see how I can prepare myself to be a better factor in this game. I thought you saw him show up and he ends up closing out the game – he gets a 1-on-1 on their right guard and he ends up making a sack on the fourth and 20, which is why he’s a special player, because he delivered in crunch time like that.”

(On how he gets a young quarterback to balance when to stay in the pocket and when to scramble)
“I think it’s certain guys have just a good feel. I think when you go back and you look at some of the things he’s been able to do throughout the course of his career, even going back to ‘Cal’ (University of California: Berkley). You get a nice feel for…you always want to try to, from a coaching standpoint, operate within the timing and rhythm of a play. But if a rush dictates it or if things kind of go off schedule, certain guys have a feel. Then I think it’s really important for the eligibles, the receivers, the tight ends, the backs to work with urgency, too, and distribute the field accordingly. You look at the one play that he made to (WR) Robert Woods when we were kind of in an up-tempo situation – little bit of an inside rush on his right side, he gets flushed, big eyes down the field and those two are able to connect for a 30-plus yard play. He did the same thing against Washington the week before with (TE) Gerald Everett. Those are the kind of things that when maybe the play-call or some of the situations I put our guys in isn’t perfect, the good players end up making it right. Fortunately, that’s what (QB) Jared (Goff) has been able to do the last couple of weeks.”

(On if he addresses his players before off days in terms of staying out of trouble)
“You do. You say, ‘Hey, continue to protect the team, always be mindful of that. Be smart. Enjoy yourself. Let yourself get away and get your mind refreshed and recuperated for when we come back on Monday. Be smart.’ We’ve got the right guys in this locker room. We do believe that. But I think when you talk about trying to establish some of the things with the culture, the identity those things – that’s kind of understood. The thing that you do feel good about is up to this point everything that we’ve seen is, we’ve got the right leaders in place. They understand what’s to be expected. They’re setting the standards themselves. I think that’s when you have that chance to really see it sustain over time, but you certainly want to make them aware of it. But we’ve got mature players that we expect to handle themselves in the right way. So to answer your question – yes.