The San Francisco 49ers offensive line suffered a brief scare on Sunday, when left tackle Joe Staley went down early in the fourth quarter. Trainers came out to look at his leg and he eventually left the field under his own power. He sat out one snap, and was back on immediately for the rest of the game.
After the game, Staley told the media it was just a hyperextension, and it is good to go. I’d imagine the medical staff gave it a look again today, but it would seem like he should be good to go this Sunday against the Chicago Bears.
The big key for the 49ers will be getting back Trent Brown at right tackle. The interior of the line has been extremely problematic, but when both Staley and Brown are on the field, the bookend positions have at least been solid enough. If and when Jimmy Garoppolo gets his first starting opportunity this season, having both tackles out there would be huge.
Here is Staley’s transcript following Sunday’s game.
How do you think it will be to learn the offense conceptually given the background about what 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo is going through?
“That’s apples and oranges, quarterback and offensive line. They are completely different, can’t compare it. He’s got to learn what every single person is doing on every single play. I’ve got to learn what a left tackle does. That’s for every position. Quarterback is the hardest position by far to learn.”
How do you think Jimmy is doing?
“Really good. He’s a smart, bright guy. He’s picking it up really, really well. I think he’s doing really well.”
How’s your knee?
“It’s good, just hyperextended.”
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that when you struggled to run the ball, it’s an all 11 guys kind of thing. What can you guys do on that aspect of the offense?
“Running the ball is a lot more than just running the ball for four or five yards per carry every single time. It’s about staying on the field. We didn’t do nearly a good enough job on third downs like we did two weeks ago. I think we were 70% or something like against the Giants and we weren’t anywhere near that today. So when you’re not moving the chains, not staying on the field, you don’t get the opportunities to break a big run. Running game average as far as looking at numbers, I think we were 3.5 yards per carry today. We didn’t break any big runs because we weren’t on the field long enough and stay within our offense. It takes all 11, that’s what he kind of means by that. It takes everybody making plays and the passing game to be able to get the running game going and being able to stick with our offense. We’ve got to execute better all-around.”
Did you get the sense that you were shooting yourself in the foot on first down situations and creating long yardage situations?
“We definitely talked about that coming into halftime. We have to do a much better job on first and second down, especially just staying on schedule. We were kind of creating some long situations on second down and third down. Especially against that defense, you can’t do that. You’ve got to play your best game against those guys. Tip your hats to them, they played better than we did today.”
You came off the field with your arm around San Francisco 49ers QB C.J. Beathard. What did you say to him?
“Just seeing how he was. Just checking in and seeing if he knew anything. Keep his head up and all of that stuff. C.J. is a guy that lays it on the line for us every single week. We’ve got to do a better job obviously. He’s getting hit out there a lot more than he was two weeks ago. He’s tough. I know the kind of guy he is and the character he has. He’s a guy that we all kind of rally around.”
Does that earn him a lot of respect, especially around the offensive line?
“Yeah, I mean you don’t want to have that happen obviously, but a guy showing his toughness and being able to play through some stuff and not complain about whatever. He’s ready to go, next play. He definitely has a lot of guys’ respect.”
What were those last few plays like with Jimmy Garoppolo coming in?
“We were just trying to finish off the drive. Didn’t think too much, we had two play calls. Just worried about blocking [Seattle Seahawks DE] Frank Clark.”