The following are select post-game quotes from San Francisco 49ers players following Sunday's 36-26 win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Quotes provided by the 49ers Communications staff.
DL DeForest Buckner
You guys gave up the lead a couple times in the second half and fought back. What was the mentality as you guys kept going out?
"Yeah, next play. The game is long. Every time you step on the field, you've got an opportunity to change the game. [Arizona Cardinals Head Coach] Kliff [Kingsbury] drew up some really good plays and was exposing us a little bit. The guys just rallied and came up with big plays when we needed to."
You got Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray a couple times. Is that angles or something you're learning about playing him?
"Yeah, especially going against guys who are faster than me and things like that. I like to think I act game speed. I ran like a five-flat in the 40 in the combine. So yeah, knowing that guys are faster than me, I just take certain angles and try and cut them off and leverage the tackle."
When you sacked Kyler Murray, you did DL Ronald Blair III's sack celebration. What did it mean to you to get the opportunity to do that?
"Yeah man, I love Ron. He's a brother to me. We've been roommates. We were drafted together. We're family and just not having him out there hurts inside. He means a lot to everybody on the D-Line and everybody on the team. He's one of the leaders, one of the quiet leaders on the team. Having the opportunity, it was just awesome."
TE Ross Dwelley
You have been everywhere this team has needed you to be. What does it take to fill those shoes and be such a versatile asset for this team?
"I just try to be myself every day. It was nice having a week to prepare for the fullback role. Like I said you have full support of the guys who you are filling in for with [49ers FB Kyle] Juice [Juszczyk] and [49ers TE] George [Kittle]. Our team is special."
What kind of help was San Francisco 49ers TE George Kittle for you this week?
"He is a big help in all assets. He is a big help every week, whether he is playing, whether he is not playing. He is huge."
What is it like playing in two games back-to-back like this? They were incredible to watch.
"They were super emotional games. It was a heartbreaker last week on Monday and then a short week getting ready for this game. This was another physical game. I am just glad that we were able to pull this one out."
What is your impression of Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray?
"He is a gamer. He is going to make the play when it is there. He is going to keep his team in the game, no matter what."
How important is it to have a short memory when you have drops, mistakes and turnovers? What is talked about on the sidelines?
"It kind of goes back to [49ers QB] Jimmy [Garoppolo], he is such a good leader. He just has that next play mentality. That rubs off on everybody else."
FB Kyle Juszczyk
The defenders have said they have trouble with--?
"It's tough. There's so much going on in that play, your eyes are going everywhere and then all of a sudden there's a guy sitting on the sideline with a bunch of offensive linemen in front of him. It's a pretty good design."
Was San Francisco 49ers RB Jeff Wilson Jr. in the game because there was going to be a fourth-and-one there at the end or you thought it might be?
"I'm not totally sure, but Jeff has been doing a phenomenal job in 1-on-1 routes in practice. So, I knew there was an opportunity. That was a choice route he had there 1-on-1. I knew there was an opportunity that [San Francisco 49ers head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] would call on him to go in there and win it, and he did it."
What are you thinking when he's in the huddle warming up his legs for his first offensive snap of the game?
"I thought it was pretty hilarious, honestly. Luckily, he had a few special team snaps to get in the groove, but just really happy for him, and not surprised at all. He's a gamer man. I knew, he's done things like that all season where he really hasn't had a ton of snaps during the game, but he comes in and wins it for us."
What does that say about you guys that different, even unlikely people keep stepping up every week?
"Man, it's pretty awesome. It just says that we have a confident bunch that knows whoever gets called on, that guy's going to step up and make the play, and we just continue to do that."
You guys had the two picks but then, what was it like in that last drive? What was San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo like? What was the huddle like?
"Jimmy's confidence never waivers. It's been like that all year. Any time he's made a mistake there's no letup on him. Everybody has all the confidence in the world in him and he always just does a good job of showing that confidence when he's in the huddle."
T Mike McGlinchey
You have some big games the next three weeks. How much do you look forward to that challenge?
"We look forward to it all the time. This is why you play football for this kind of a stretch. We put ourselves in a pretty solid position here, but it means nothing if we don't get our jobs done over these next few weeks. We have a great Green Bay Packer team coming in here next week and the Baltimore Ravens after that. We have our work cut out for us. We have the right coaching staff to get us in the game plan, and I believe in this locker room to execute and get the jobs done."
Did you say anything to San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo after the picks? Do you need to say anything?
"You don't need to say anything to Jimmy. He knows it is okay. It was a couple of tipped balls that wound up in their hands. That is the way the ball falls sometimes and there is no moment that is too big or that waivers Jimmy Garoppolo. He stands in there with the look of fire in his eyes that you know that everything is going to be okay. You know that there is going to be a big play that is made. Just like our defense seems to come up with all the time, Jimmy has been able to do that. He is a clutch player and he is the only guy we want at our helm."
You have had some really high-pressured offensive situations these last couple of games when you had to go down and get points. How does that potentially prepare you for what you are going to see the rest of the way?
"Up front in the offensive line, but as an entire football team you are judged in the obvious situations. When the moments are the biggest, when everybody in the stadium knows you are running the ball, and everyone in the stadium knows you are throwing the ball, or you need to make a big stop on defense. We have come up with a bunch of those this year, which is a big reason why we are 9-1. We have all 53 guys in this locker room step up time after time. Somebody makes a play somewhere that sparks a run, sparks a comeback, or sparks something that gets us to be able to win a football game. Today it was [San Francisco 49ers WR] Deebo [Samuel] and [San Francisco 49ers RB] Jeff Wilson [Jr]. Deebo kept moving those chains and churning his legs. Jimmy obviously, standing in there making big throw after big throw. It is awesome. It is awesome to be an offensive lineman to protect when I see guys with the ball in their hands doing that."
DL Damontre Moore
This team has had injuries and it has been the next man up model. What has it been like to play in this game and make a difference?
"First and foremost, I just have to give honor to God and honestly to this organization for taking the opportunity on me and bringing me back. I told everybody that when I left that this is home. I went on a couple of tryouts, but my heart was here. To see the energy and passion that these guys play with on the field and with me not being here, I was happy. Now that I am back with them, I am even more happy and excited. To go through the adversity of this being such a close game and to see how we pulled it out, that just goes to show our character. It was a testimony to this team. To be a part of it was great and not to be on the couch anymore feels even better."
When you came off the field it was an emotional moment for you.
"Yes, it definitely was. To have this long journey, I am 27 and blessed enough to say that I am going into my seventh year. I have had all of these ups and downs in my career, like my dad always say, it is not how you start, it how you finish. The fact that this team took the opportunity on me knowing everything about me and still wanted me to come out here to play, work and then to bring me back later on, I just can't say enough good things. To experience all of this from an injury and being out all of these weeks wondering if this is really the end of my career, it is always emotional. One thing on my journey that I have realized is that I have to give thanks to god. It was so emotional."
What were you doing last Sunday?
"Watching my son and watching football games, waiting for an opportunity. I was cooking at the house. It is a lot of change now that I am out here playing. I am now going to go home and cook. The only thing missing is my son."
WR Deebo Samuel
How is your shoulder?
"It is doing pretty good."
What was your confidence level like these last couple of games?
"I was just following the game plan. As a receiver you are taught to go out there and make plays and that is what I did."
It seemed like everybody had a shorter memory this week as opposed to last week in making mistakes going forward.
"We put more emphasis in the receiver room that we are going to catch like one hundred to two hundred balls every day in practice. So, we are more locked in, ready, and prepared."
San Francisco 49ers CB Richard Sherman was saying that most receivers look to see who is going to hit them, and you look to see which receiver you are going to hit. Can you talk about that mentality?
"It is just a mentality I always played with growing up. The mentality that not one guy is going to bring me down."
How much over the last two weeks have you put on yourself to step up and be the guy that steps up?
"I wouldn't say it is more pressure. All the receivers, we felt like we just had to step up and go out there and contribute to the game plan."
On that circus catch on the sideline, is it like it is in slow motion when the ball is in the air and it is bouncing around off the defender. What is it like to be in the moment like that to continue to track that ball?
"You catch the ball with your eyes and your hands and without that you wouldn't be able to track the ball. I never lost focus of the ball and went in and made the play."
CB Richard Sherman
You guys found more ways to win but this stretch here with these two games, bouncing back, what did you learn about the resolve of this team?
"Just that the situation is never too big for them. This is arguably [QB] Jimmy's [Garoppolo] best game and he carried us down the stretch. He made plays, I think he threw for over 400. Defensively, we kept them in the game. We kept making plays when we needed to. We kind of wilted on one of those drives, just a few mistakes but all things that you can coach up and you can correct. There aren't any egregious errors like there were the first time we played them. I think we did a great job of containing him for the most part but he's a good player. He's going to make some plays. I think he threw for 130 yards, 140 yards and he ran for probably close to 100, but that's what you're going to get with him. I think we stayed in coverage. I think the D-Line hunted when they needed to. I think [DL DeForest Buckner] DeFo got a sack, [DL] Arik [Armstead] got a sack, [DL] Dee Ford got a sack, so guys were penetrating, guys were getting pressure and that's the kind of game you've got to play."
Over 200 yards in penalties in this game overall. How hard is it to keep the momentum going when you've got that stoppage?
"Well the penalties were obviously backbreakers. It's football, you know? Everything is subjective. They could have called it or they could have not called it and they decided to call it a lot of times. That's what you deal with sometimes in football and you can't control it, just got to try and overcome and continue to battle and continue to fight, and that's what our team did. You can't make excuses, like 'Hey, they should have called this' or 'They didn't call that.' It's just on to the next play and try to make up for it."
LB Fred Warner
What is your level of faith, when you know that San Francisco 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo has turned the ball over twice in the red zone, but if you guys just get a stop, you still have a chance to win the game?
"One hundred percent faith in Jimmy G. That is our franchise quarterback. We know if we put the ball in his hands that he will make something happen. I am proud of how the team responded in the clutch moment."
Last week you guys don't quite get the win, but San Francisco 49ers RB Jeff Wilson Jr. is an unlike hero, what does that say about your team?
"Jeff, that dude just grinds. I love Jeff, the way that he competes, the way he runs the football and obviously in the clutch moment he made a play for us even though I don't think he got much action all game. It was his birthday the other day, so that was his birthday celebration right there."
When things are not quite going your way and all of a sudden you guys come up clutch when you need to, where does that come from?
"I think that is just how tight knit that we are. The days where we grind early on in training camp and in the offseason, it all shows up in those types of moments. You are not just going to show up on game day and do the things that we do. It takes every single rep of walk-through and practice leading up to the game to perform in those situations."
Does this feel like a playoff game?
"Yes. We know that we have to win by any means. We knew that it was going to be a battle. That is a good team that continues to get better every week. We knew that it was going to be a battle."
RB Jeff Wilson Jr.
Can you talk about that play?
"I really don't know what to say. I am still kind of in the moment. I don't know how to feel. I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. I am just happy that I was able to make a play for my team."
Was that you only snap of the game?
"Yes sir."
Were you in there in case of it being fourth-and-one?
"I don't know what the reason was. I just know to be ready when my number is called. That is something that my coach has stressed to me, even my teammates and other running backs in the room. They stress that to me all day as well. No matter what, just be ready. That is our motto for all of us."
That was a long review were you guys preparing for it to be fourth-and-one. What was the discussion before the play?
"I don't know. All that I know was that my number was called and to go in. With the discussion, I can't really tell what went on prior to that. All that I know is that my number was called to go in and I went in."
How surprised were you that you were so open?
"Well [San Francisco 49ers head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] is a mastermind. I just have to give that all to him. I can't take any of the credit. He called the right play for me and I just did what I had to do to make the play."
