Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
On injuries:
“From the game, (Reuben) Foster didn’t return with a hamstring, (Antone) Exum (Jr.) with a concussion and (Jaquiski) Tartt with a shoulder.”
On the reason for the loss:
“We didn’t score enough points, and our defense gave us a very good chance to win that getting us those three turnovers, getting us that 12-point lead. Didn’t capitalize on them enough with touchdowns, and then we didn’t make the plays at the end when we needed to.”
On changes to the Arizona Cardinals defense:
“This was shutdown personnel, the first time they went base-defense this year. That was about it.”
On QB C.J. Beathard’s performance:
“He did a good job of not turning the ball over, but no one on offense had a very good day.”
On the play-calling in the red zone on the last scoring drive:
“One was a zone-read, and they missed the snap, so we just had to eat it. He would’ve given it because the defense was up the field, and they bobbled it. I didn’t see what happened with the snap on the exchange. The next one was a quarterback draw. They’ve been doing three-man rushes, putting everyone in the end zone. So, that was the way we wanted to attack it and thought we had a good chance and they made a good tackle on the play.”
On RB Raheem Mostert playing less this week:
“Just all three of them were going. I know Raheem went out during the game, not sure exactly what it was, but he got a little banged up in the game and came back in for a couple of plays.”
On WR Pierre Garçon’s status approaching the trade deadline:
“We’d love Pierre back. Just trying to get his knee healthy, which he’s very close to. I expect him to be good for Thursday night. We’ve looked into everything, so teams have talked about him, and it is a possibility, but nothing for sure right now.”
On if Garçon is aware of the situation:
“Yes.”
On if there are other players they’ve talked about trading:
“Teams call about a lot of people. I think every team around the league is doing a ton. I know there’s a report on Pierre, so that is true. He’s one of the guys that people have asked about and we have talked about, but nothing is going down right now. We’ll see how these next two days play out with Pierre and a lot of people.”
On the decision to play DB Jimmie Ward as free safety and his performance:
“From what I saw, he played well. What went into that decision was he’s one of our best 11 players out there. Jimmie started out this year at corner, giving us some insurance with (Richard) Sherman coming off that injury throughout the whole off-season. But Jimmie started last year at safety with us and played at a very high level when he was healthy. So, with us losing (Adrian) Colbert, getting Sherman back this week and Ahkello (Witherspoon), I thought it made very good sense to put Jimmie at safety.”
On what they could have done different in coverage:
“I think we mixed up a bunch of coverages. The ones they scored on, I believe was the Tampa two zone, and they also got us in some man coverages, too. So, I think we switched it up throughout that whole time. They just made some good plays and ended up beating us there at the end. Losing Tartt and Exum was tough.”
On if the nature of how they lose will make the team sink:
“It’s tough, guys are really hurting in there, and they should be. If they weren’t, somethings wrong with them, but it’s our job; it’s what we do; it’s our livelihood. We’re not happy at all with where the season has gone, and there’s still half a season to play. So, we need to step it up, and we do something about it. Season’s not ending. We’re not going to sit here and run away. I want guys who are going to come out and fight, and I thought our guys did fight today. We just didn’t do it well enough. I’m going to continue coaching them, trying to get us better in every aspect. I know our guys are working to get better, but we weren’t good enough today. Thursday can’t come quick enough.”
On his message to team:
“There are not many words you can say that will make them feel better right now. I appreciate how hard they fought, but when you come up short, you’ve got to man up and you’ve got to deal with it. There’s not much you can say right there after a loss. What you can say is how do we respond these next four days, just working and not feeling sorry for ourselves. I understand that what we did is not good enough, and we’re as upset about that as anyone if not more. We have four days to fix it, and sitting around feeling sorry for yourself or pointing fingers isn’t going to help us do anything. We need to get better on every facet and find a way to win on Thursday.”
On WR Kendrick Bourne:
“The opportunities he got, I thought he did a good job. Made some plays, gave us a chance there at the end. It seems like Bourne did a pretty good job.”
On early timeouts in the first half:
“Just some confusion coming out of the huddle. On one in particular, called a timeout on another, didn’t like the look that we had.”
Quarterback CJ Beathard
On talking to C Erik Magnuson about shotgun snaps toward the end of the game:
“Yeah I mean, you definitely do when you’re able to huddle up. If the snap isn’t where it needs to be I’ll give him a heads up or whatever. But when you’re in a two-minute situation it’s not really what you’re thinking about.”
On playing conservatively in the first half:
“I think we know our defense is going to play well. There was nothing really conservative about it, it’s just what we were doing wasn’t quite working like we wanted it to or needed it to.”
On whether he’s surprised at being 1-7:
“Oh yeah, I’m definitely surprised. I think everyone is. I mean, we didn’t expect to start this way obviously. But, we have and this is where we’re at right now and we’ve just got to move forward.”
On not being able to hold the ball after the fumble recovery:
“Yeah definitely, obviously if we would’ve gotten another first down there we would’ve been able to run the clock down a lot more. Yeah.”
On keeping mental strength after a loss:
“Yeah, I mean we have to. We have a game in four days. So, that’s a quick turnaround for us and we’ve got to get back to work and get ready for the Raiders.”
On emotional endings to recent games:
“Yeah I mean, there’s so many of them that, we feel like we could’ve or should’ve won. But, it comes down to we didn’t and we are where we are right now and we’ve got eight games left. We’ve got to keep moving.”
On WR Kendrick Bourne stepping in for WR Pierre Garçon:
“I thought he did a great job. He made catches when he needed to and I thought he did a good job.”
On the Cardinal’s playing base defense:
“Yeah, I mean we hadn’t seen any base all year from them it was all nickel going into it, even last game we played them. So, that was a little different from what we saw.”
Cornerback Richard Sherman
On what happened in the game’s fourth quarter and why the Cardinals were able to make a comeback:
“We just didn’t make enough plays. We got them in third down a few times on defense and they just made more plays than us down the stretch. That’s really all came it down to. In the fourth quarter, we had them on third down, even on the goal line we had them on third down and they made another play. We’ve got to find a way to finish and be better in that situation.”
On whether the game plan for the 49ers was to shut Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald out of the game down the stretch:
“Not really. We kind of knew what they were going to do. They just made plays, honestly. Larry made a great catch on third-and-ten in the second to last drive, I think it was. That’s why he gets paid the big bucks. He made a heck of a play and the rest of the receivers got open. We covered them, but we’ve got to find a way to finish better.”
On whether the 49ers are now playing more sound football:
“This was probably our most sound game. Obviously, you don’t like the results, but you’ve got to be happy with how hard our guys fought and just stayed disciplined the whole game. You’ve got to tip your hat off to them. The young quarterback made some good throws. We made some mistakes, but we didn’t give them anything like in the past game. In the game before when we played them, we gave them something early in the game. We played pretty stout for the most part.”
On how he feels physically after the game:
“You know, we’ll talk about that another day. You take the days and rest and do everything rehab-wise to try to get your body back and be ready for Thursday.”
On whether this loss is embarrassing:
“It’s a little frustrating. I think it’d be embarrassing if guys weren’t out there playing as hard as they could and we’re just getting bombs everywhere. Defensively, guys are putting their best foot forward and playing as hard as they can. We’re playing against other NFL guys. We’re playing against a Hall of Fame receiver in Larry and he made some plays down the stretch. We’ve got to find a way to make more plays. We had a couple turnovers today. So, we’re getting there. We’ve got to just keep it on.”
On whether a loss like this occurs because the team just isn’t there yet:
“You know what? We’re going to look at the tape and see. For the most part, it seemed like we played sound. It seemed like we were on our assignments. We got a few turnovers. It’s just a game of inches and there were a few real tight catches that they made, contested catches where we got a find a way to get that extra inch. Myself included.”
On the sack that he recorded and whether the 49ers defense needed to bring extra defenders at the end of the game:
“No. I don’t know if it came down to that because a lot of our sacks were four-man rushes. That was just an add-blitz that wasn’t a call. They said, ‘Sherm, you’re going on this play.’ It was a play recognizing the formation, recognizing a certain play and taking my shot. Our d-line played a heck of a game and got a lot of pressure, but they found a way to get it blocked up there at the end right when they needed it. We’ve just got to find a way.”
On switching up coverages with DB Tyvis Powell and how different that is from what the team would have done with healthy personnel:
“I don’t know if we switched it up that much. We were still running cover three and man and the same stuff we’ve been running throughout the game. We got pulled away from the pressures earlier, but I don’t think it would have been the best time. We were going with what was working. We kept getting them in third down and you’ve just got to find a way. If we get them stopped on third-and-ten, we’re having a different conversation but obviously we didn’t. So, we’ve got to get that fixed.”
On what the team’s motivation is in the final eight games:
“It’s just getting better. It’s just getting better. For guys, it’s about taking every day and being a pro. Being a pro, going out there and preparing, growing as a player, not making the same mistake twice. We’ve got a young team and I’m sure guys that are fighting for jobs. Guys have got to make sure that they’re going to be here and I think playing good football down the stretch will ensure that for a lot of guys.”
On what he can say about this team’s mental resolve:
“We’re fighting. We’re fighting. Unfortunately, we’re not getting the results. These have been some of the toughest losses I’ve seen. We fought the whole game and they made plays the last four, five minutes and we didn’t. Guys have learned how to fight. If nothing else, we’re going to know how to fight today and guys are doing it. We’ve got to just find a way to make those plays.”
On whether matching up against Fitzgerald motivates him and whether going up against him has changed over the course of his career:
“It hasn’t changed. He’s still a handful and he’s crafty and he finds a way to get into his spots. You’ve always got to be on your toes when you’re playing against Larry. It’s an immense honor every chance we get to line up against each other and battle. It’s an honor sharpening the iron. Today, I made my plays and he made a few great grabs and that’s why he’s going to get a gold jacket. It’s an honor to get to play against him and I look forward to the next one.”
DL Cassius Marsh
On if QB Josh Rosen surprised him at the end of the game:
“Pretty sure he got picked in the top-10, so he has plenty of capabilities. We’ve just got to do better. I could have made a play. A lot of people could have made some plays to help us finish the game. They made the plays to go ahead, and that’s just life in the NFL.”
On bouncing back:
“We just have to go back to work, go back to work and get ready for Thursday and focus on getting a ‘W’ on Thursday. That’s all we can do. This one hurts, obviously, but we have a game Thursday. So, there’s no time for us to dwell on this.”
DL DeForest Buckner
On the game:
“We had the advantage the whole game. The defense was playing lights out the whole game. We just couldn’t finish it off at the end. With two minutes, that’s us. We practice that stuff every week. Up front, personally I have to do a better job trying to help my team get a stop.”
On finishing games:
“Yeah, as a team, we still have to finish. We play two, three quarters, three great quarters, and when it comes to the last couple minutes of the fourth quarter, we can’t finish. It’s something we need to learn to do.”
On QB Josh Rosen’s being more comfortable than his previous start against the 49ers:
“He’s their starting quarterback. He’s one of their leaders on the team. He needed to find a way to get the ball down the field, and he did.”
On the 49ers injuries:
“We’ve been injured all year, injuries on both sides of the ball. That stuff really doesn’t matter; it’s the next man up, like I’ve been preaching all year, and we can’t use that as an excuse.”
Wide Receiver Kendrick Bourne
On his performance:
“Overall, I think I did pretty good. I feel like a couple runs, I could of blocked better. Overall, I thought we did good, just couldn’t finish it out.”
On the play in which he slammed his hands on the ground because he saw open space:
“I felt a lot of open space, and I just lost my footing. The ball was kind of out there. So, I would rather just secure the catch before I run, but I differently wanted to make something happen after. I would rather secure the catch before trying to run.”
On how he digests tough losses:
“I think just trying to keep caring. I’m going to care forever because I love football. That’s where guys start to not care. ‘We’re not going to the playoffs,’ saying stuff like that. We still can contend for that, but guys get like that. So, I think it’s just finding what keeps you going, what keeps you driving, whether it would be you catching the ball, whether tackling. Whatever it is, just find that care. Whatever makes you care the most, you got to find it somehow.”
Wide Receiver Marquise Goodwin
On if he has doubts that the team will keep caring:
“No doubt at all. Nobody is flinching. That game, it’s the same way it happened last week. So, it’s just frustrating. Well, not last week, but the last time we played them. We dominated them, and just not finishing when we need to. We have to figure out how to fix that.”
On why the team lost today:
“I can speak for myself. As a whole, the energy was low in the end, but for me, I’ve just got to come out harder. I’ve got to come out with more enthusiasm, and just got to be better in the beginning of the game to help the offense gain momentum before we move into the field.”
On his 55-yard touchdown reception:
“It was just a great job by C.J. (Beathard). He released it off a little quick. He just delivered the ball, and I was off to the races.”
On if there were any adjustments he made on that play:
“That was just a model play by the quarterback. I just looked – that’s all I did – and I caught the ball. Simple as that.”
On matching up against CB Patrick Peterson:
“It’s a blessing to be able to have enough respect from somebody of his status to follow me the whole game. I’m just grateful that I get to complete against guys like that.”
On if he and Peterson exchanged compliments at the end of the game:
“One hundred percent. He’s a great competitor. I love competing against him because he’s humble in everything that he does, as far as I know. We traded jerseys. He’s been one of my favorite DBs in this league. Like I said, I enjoyed competing against him.”
On getting ready to play Thursday after a disappointing loss:
“Usually, we have 24 hours to get over it. We have to get over it as soon as we get on the plane when we leave here. Just leave it here and focus on Thursday.”