Defensive about defense
Q: Now that you’ve had some time to look at the tape and review the Seahawks game, can you tell us why it got out of hand so quickly?
A: Just guys not doing their job to the 100 percent caliber. In this league, if you don’t do your job, you better make the play. And if you don’t make the play, you’re gonna get hurt . ... If you’re gonna take a chance and leave a hole in the defense, you have to make those plays. And once we understand that we’ll be a great defense. We’re young and we have room to make those mistakes, but we can’t make those mistakes and put a hole in our defense.
Q: How do you guys get rid of that mind-set where other teams look at you and go, “The Niners are coming up. That’ll be easy.” How difficult is it to push that out and turn this thing around?
A: No games are easy. I feel like any team that approaches the game that way is making it harder on themselves. So we can’t let that identity get out because we are gonna come ready to play and expect to win. When you play teams you want to expect a challenge, you don’t want opponents expecting a win . ... We’re all in this together and we’re gonna get this thing straightened out.
Q: Do you think about how you’re going to hit the quarterback given how often a hit to the quarterback gets flagged, or do you just do what you’re going to do and figure out the rest afterward?
A: This is what defensive players are conversing about every day. There are plays out there that don’t get made the way they should be because they’re thinking about how they’re hitting that guy. And they have to think about it because if they don’t, their paycheck is getting decreased by getting fined by the NFL. Offensive players can do everything because this is a touchdown-driven business. We just have no clue on how to play the game. We aren’t able to play the game the way we’ve been taught our whole entire lives. Just think about how you’re coached. Your coaches tell you, “If you get the shot, take the shot.” But he’s not paying none of your bills, he’s not taking care of your mom, he’s not taking care of your kids, so you might miss that tackle because you can’t hit the guy the only way you could hit the guy. If he ducks his head and you hit his helmet, what are you supposed to do? I mean, it just isn’t right. It’s just not fair. We might as well just put the flags on us and grab ’em.