Huge groans emanated in the press box when flags were thrown after San Francisco 49ers cornerback Jimmie Ward pushed Jets quarterback Bryce Petty out of bounds in the fourth quarter. Shortly after, those flags were picked up and it was announced that there was no foul on the play. Ward agreed with the no call.
Yes. I knew the quarterback was still in bounds. I am just playing until the whistle. That is what we are taught playing football. I didn’t want to do any dirty plays or anything like that. I am not a dirty player, I just try to play inside the rules.
Ward played all 84 defensive snaps and had an exceptional day facing the Jets. His stat list has numbers in almost every category including the first interception by a cornerback this season.
- 7 tackles
- 3 assist
- 10 combined
- 1 sack
- 1 tackle for loss
- 1 QB hit
- 1 INT
- 3 PBU
Ward also talked about the team’s need to finish which is also what head coach Chip Kelly said his halftime talk included. Unfortunately again, the 49ers were unable to do just that.
Here’s his full transcript:
Did you feel like you had an all-around good game?
Yes, just like I said [defensive coordinator] Jim O’Neil had a great game plan coming into the game, so I was able to make those plays because of how good the defensive rush was.
The official picked up the flag on that out of bounds hit, did that feel like a good break?
Yes. I knew the quarterback was still in bounds. I am just playing until the whistle. That is what we are taught playing football. I didn’t want to do any dirty plays or anything like that. I am not a dirty player, I just try to play inside the rules.
Are you kind of at a loss because it seems like you guys start off good every game, you guys have leads in 10 games this season and then how things kind of get away from you, can you figure out why that is?
I don’t have an answer for you right now. I just feel like it starts in practice. We just have to finish in practice because [head coach] Chip, [Kelly] always tells us that we have to finish. In practice he emphasizes to finish and so that is on the players. Somehow we have to come together and get that done.
Coach Kelly said that it looked like to him that the defense was getting worn down and that is the reason he decided to go for it on fourth and one, because he didn’t want to put you guys back on the field. Did you sense that?
No, I was fine. Chip Kelly he is the leader, so if he wanted to make that call, I am going to stick by him whether he didn’t go for it on fourth down or did. It doesn’t matter, we are a team so we lose as a team and we win as a team.
How are you handling this losing streak?
Nobody is going to be happy about losing, especially on a streak. I am just trying to win in practice and everybody on this team is trying to win in practice, because it starts in practice first.