San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been much more vocal about a lot of things this season. He has been more forthcoming in press conferences even through the 13 game losing streak suffered by the team. In his first winning press conference of the season, he smiled, laughed and reflected on the performance of his team.
He complimented the defense, the shifting offensive line that rallied together in the 4th quarter and he elaborated about building on the win.
Here’s the full transcript:
On how they managed to win this game:
“We kept fighting, this team kept fighting. Our defense had a great game today, gave us the opportunity to score early, gave us the ball back at the end of the game to give us opportunities to go score. (G) Zane (Beadles) rallied the offensive line on the sidelines saying, before those last two drives, ‘Forget everything that’s happened up until this point. Let’s play football the way we know how, let’s go get this win,’ and I think they responded really well to that. Gave us the time to get the ball out, our receivers made great plays. We were able to go get the win.”
On how it felt to win this game despite a season of mostly losses:
“It felt amazing. A feeling that this team has been looking for, for a long time now. To be able to come out and get this win today was huge for us and it’s something this team can build on.”
On the two-point conversion play:
“We had a bootleg or slide coming across with a couple of overs, they jumped the slide, sank off on the overs and I saw an opportunity to get in there and in my head I was just, ‘I have to get in. I have to get in for this team, we need this win.’ I was very excited to be able to do that.”
On how you build upon this win:
“I think it builds confidence, that regardless of circumstances, we can go out and get wins and do it against a very talented defense, as far as offensively. You know, they have one of the best fronts in the NFL. The fact that we had some offensive line players moving around, some new guys in there and they came out and held their own, I think it’s huge and it’s something we can build on.”
On how he was able to move around the Rams’ defense during the two-point conversion play:
“You know, it was an opportunity that we saw on film, that we thought we could take advantage of. We really thought that we were going to have the first guy coming out in the flat, they did a good job of covering that, and running with the overs as well, but the run-pass option is always good.”
On what he learned about his teammates after going through a 13 game losing streak and rallying to win tonight:
“It reveals the character of this team and players. I think the ability to continue to fight, to continue to try and do your job every play, and remain focused in spite of the circumstances that you are in, I think, is huge. It shows the type of character that this team has, that even though we don’t have a playoff opportunity, people say we really aren’t playing for anything, that they take pride in their work and come out here and fight to get a win.”
On his comment of building a winning culture and if this game was representative of that:
“Yeah it is. This is a step towards building that culture. I think realizing the huge plays that we had in this game that allowed us to win, whether it’s (CB) T-Brocks (Tramaine Brocks) interception, (CB) Rashard’s (Rashard Robinson) interception, those are huge plays that we can go on and also being able to have two scoring drives at the end of the fourth quarter to win the game. Those are things, that we have to understand we have to be able to do on a weekly basis in order to win.”
On if he thinks WR Rod Streater has stepped up and performed during this game:
“Most definitely. He’s someone that is very locked in, very talented. Big, strong receiver, so having opportunities to throw him the ball, contested catches, he does a great job with, which he did on that last play to get us in the end-zone.”
On if this game feels the best considering their losing streak and other circumstances:
“Right now, yeah, it feels like the best. Definitely something that I really enjoyed today. I enjoyed being out there with my teammates and being able to get this win with them. I think everybody is really excited about it.”
On where he was and what he was doing during the Rams’ last drive of the game:
“I’m on the sideline cheering for the defense. I thought they did an amazing job, taking advantage of that opportunity, going out making the play and stopping them. There was a situation where they had timeouts, they had an opportunity, again, to get into field goal position and our defense stood up, made a play and ended the game.”
On G Zane Beadles’s versatility:
“Zane is a true professional, that’s the best way to describe him. It doesn’t matter what position he is put in, what the circumstances are, he is going to step in, he is going to do his job, he is going to know exactly what he is doing. And to move to center and also be able to direct traffic, as far as the offense, and do an amazing job of that, just stepping in, I think really speaks to the type of player that he is and that was huge for this team.”
On the two-point conversion and if he knew that Head Coach Chip Kelley was going to call that play:
“I had a feeling that we were going to go for two, and I was excited when he said that we were going for it. I think the whole offense was, the whole team was and the play he called was a play everybody on offense knew was going to get called, we had great confidence in, and it worked out great for us.”