One of the worst aspects of playing a game for a living has to be talking about it after you lose. Several of the San Francisco 49ers players did talk after the loss in Seattle and there were a few notable quotes. I had forgotten to include Alex Boone's comments in yesterday's offensive transcripts so they are here instead. Don't miss those as Boone is usually one of the more entertaining characters on the team.
LB NaVorro Bowman
How disappointing was this performance?
It's disappointing always, when you lose. I think the way that we lost was the most disappointing.
You guys were coming off a win and a bye, and it seemed like you had a chance to turn the season around but the team came out with a lack of energy. Do you have an explanation why the team came out kind of flat?
I don't. But I do think we picked it up and tried to dig ourselves out of the hole. Seattle just did a better job executing today.
Was returning to Seattle following the injury difficult?
I got over that after warm ups and things like that. Once again it’s a blessing for me to get back out there. Glad that I came out of the game healthy.
There were quite a few missed tackles. Can you put that in perspective after coming off a win and a bye week?
That’s what offenses try to do, get the ball on the edge and get those small guys in a position where they have to tackle. That’s what they did. There are some things that when it comes to ownership and doing your job and being accountable for everything. The ball is not supposed to get out there. We’re not supposed to get out there. We’re not supposed to put our small guys in that position. They took advantage of it.
The run defense has been the mainstay of this team. Rawls put up record breaking numbers. What can you attribute to this change?
Glenn going down early really hurt us. I think Rawls wanted to prove himself to the Seattle Seahawks today so he came out there with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. We have to play better, we have to tackle better and if we do that I think this game would’ve been a lot different.
Do you think you prepared for Rawls enough during the week?
We prepared for 24, and 24 didn't play. So I don't know what kind effect that had on us, but they did a great job taking advantage of it.
Ahmad said Rawls gets up field a lot faster that Marshawn does. Do you agree with that?
I don't know. They're running backs. They find the hole and they get up the field. Both of them are great.
Is your approach to Rawls different than it is with Lynch?
No, Lynch just weighs more. That's about it.
LB Michael Wilhoite
You had a win, and then a bye, why did there seem to be a lack of energy at the beginning of the game?
I don't think there was a lack of energy, I think that we just weren't executing. I think you can play with 100% energy, you can play with 100% enthusiasm, tough and physical but if you're not executing your assignment then it doesn't matter. If you're not guarding the guy you're supposed to guard and they throw the ball to him, they're going to get 8-10 yards and if they are 3rd-and-1 everytime, they're the type of team that'll kill you with that, and that's what they did.
Missed tackles were an issue today, why?
I just think that we weren't in good positions to make plays. I think that people aren't in the position they're supposed be or they're not in the right gaps, people are scrambling to make plays. When you are scrambling to make plays you aren't going to bring down a good running back with one hand or a body tackle. You got to be square and you got to be able to explode through him. We weren't able to do that.
Were you guys thinking you caught a break with Marshawn Lynch being out?
Nah, because they played two or three games without him earlier this year. I think they know how to play without him. They are a very well coached team. Their scheme goes along with whatever personnel they have in there. They played well and they executed today and we didn't.
Why was Rawls so difficult to bring down?
My hats off to him. I think he ran the ball well, tough runner, physical, fast. I think also, to come back to us, we didn't do what we're supposed to do. We missed tackles. We weren't in the right gaps. What you saw against Atlanta was very good team defense. We didn't play that today.
When you're saying not in the right gaps, are you saying because Seattle was lining up in a way you didn't recognize or just the fault of the defense?
I think it's just the fault of the defense. I think coach talked a lot to us about ownership this week and we have to own this one. We went out there and we didn't perform well and it showed.
Do you think you prepared enough for Rawls this week?
Yeah, I think we prepared for whatever running back is in the game. I don't think they changed anything because it was him instead of Marshawn. I think they run the same plays that they do with Marshawn. He may run a little different but at the end of the day, football is football. You have to execute your assignment you gotta make tackles.
How tough was it to lose Glenn Dorsey in the first play of the game?
Its' tough. I mean I don't think that has anything to do with outcome of the game, I think it's just tough because it' our teammate, it's our brother going down, especially on the first play. Hopefully he will pull through it and we will see him on the field again.
NT Ian Williams
On the defense's performance:
We beat ourselves today. Missed a lot of tackles. Sucked losing 90 [Dorsey] out there like that so early in the game. Simply, we beat ourselves, missed a lot of tackles. Hats off to them, to Rawls and everything like that. I feel like we beat ourselves today.
Were you surprised by Rawls' performance?
No, he's a good running back. He has a bright future and we are going to see a lot of him in the future. What is done is done.
Did being on the field so much in the first half have an effect on the defense?
I wouldn't say that. Going back to what I said, we beat ourselves. We missed tackles and we weren't sound. We didn't play 49er football, 49er defense today.
LB Ahmad Brooks
What is it about Seattle?
You know what? I just think that when you play in Seattle, there's something about playing here. For me, especially. The past couple years, when we come here, it's either in November or December. It's always dark, gloomy, you know? There's just something about playing here. It seems like guys are dropping like flies. That says a lot about both teams. We both play physical. Just got to keep fighting man.
It seemed like a slow start today, did you feel it on the field?
I can't speak for anybody else. I know that I did today. Took me a while to get up and going in this game. I don't know why, but we can't do that if we want to be something special, we want to improve what we're doing. We got to come out like our ass is on fire. Like seriously.
How did the Seattle OL preform compared to the last meeting?
They were in a position where they didn't have to rely on just passing the ball. They were able to run the ball today so they didn't have to pass the ball if they needed to. They could just continue to run the ball. You see how many yards they had today. Usually teams, they get 350 yards a game. They got 250 yards rushing. I don't know. How many sacks did we get today? (One) How many did they get, one? (Two) Yeah, so, we just got to try to continue to improve.
How would you compare Thomas Rawls to Marshawn Lynch?
Marshawn is hard to bring down. This guy [Rawls] seems like he can get up the field a lot quicker.
S Eric Reid
What was the feeling as the game was going on. You guys were kind of coming back into it the third quarter and then there was that one reception that kind of ended that.
Yeah, for a minute there we thought we had something going, some momentum, and then we let on out of the gate. Kills us. Plain to see.
When you come off the bye week and there are so many missed tackles, is it because you're off the field for a while?
I wouldn't blame the bye week for that, we just gotta get guys on the ground. You obviously hope to play better, being that you're rested. It's been that kind of season, it's been that kind of day, we've got to turn it around if we, I don't know the mathematical, if we're still in it or not but if we have any chance of we gotta correct those mistakes.
Why is this team so much different on the road than at home?
I don't know the answer to that. I don't.
What was the locker room reaction to Colin Kaepernick going on season ending IR?
It's surprising. We heard the news right before we left for the game so, I obviously feel for him. You hate to see anyone go down with a season ending injury. I just hope the best for him as he recovers from his surgery.
Did you see different play calling with Rawls than with Marshawn?
No, I think they stayed true to their offense.They did some things that we were expecting them to do, but they executed it and we didn't. Anytime you don't execute, it's going to be a long day, and it was.
OL Alex Boone
It was a sh**** performance by everybody. That's what you get when you play like sh**.
How did Blaine do out there?
He did a good job hanging in there. He ran the ball, he took some hits. Great job.
From that perspective, he has a future?
Oh absolutely. I mean you come up here, and you've got noise and you've got a guy throwing the ball and not afraid to take a hit. That's important. That's how you win games up here but we just gotta be better in the run game and we gotta make more plays.
Blaine seems to have a sense of where to move in the pocket.
Yeah. Blaine is very smart. He knows where his help is, he knows that if he's gotta run, which way to go. He knows that sometimes 'I'm going to have to take this hit' and I think he does a great job of that. I think a lot of people underestimate a quarterback that can take a hit and still throw the ball. I think Blaine did a good job of that today. Things we gotta clean up, I think a lot of it comes down to crowd noise, it's hard to get off the ball, they get a good jump, but it is what it is. At the end of the day you gotta make more plays and we gotta play better team football. Bottom line.