It has been repeated that the NFL teams that best adapt to this unconventional offseason and regular season will have the best chances for success. Wide receiver Tavon Austin feels the San Francisco 49ers are one of the teams doing that.
No one has complained about the hoops they've had to jump through to play football amid a pandemic. They know the extra measures are in place to keep players, staff, their families, and the public safe while ensuring that a 2020 season happens. That's why the 49ers are taking everything very seriously. If they don't, it could jeopardize what the team is working toward — a championship.
"We've got a mission," Austin told reporters via Zoom on Wednesday. "Last year, I wasn't here with them, but I can tell there's still a lot of heartbreak about what happened last year, since they had the game in their hands and they lost it. The mentality around here is different, so you don't want to be that person to mess that up and slow things up. I think everybody gotta take it serious."
Another new addition, 49ers safety Johnathan Cyprien, is also a fan of the team's atmosphere.
"It's a good feeling," Cyprien said. "It feels like there's a standard here. There's definitely a standard, and you can feel it. Somebody doesn't just have to say it.
"Everybody wants to be their best. Everyone's hard on themselves. I think your [toughest] critic is always going to be yourself. Everybody wants to get better.
"It's just so much better with having other players around you that kind of hold you accountable, that are good players, and you just force yourself to keep up."
Back to Austin, he has a new quarterback — Jimmy Garoppolo — throwing him footballs. The receiver was asked what he likes about playing with the 49ers passer, who endured a lot of criticism and blame for the team's fourth-quarter collapse against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV.
Austin is a fan.
"I like him. I like him a lot," the receiver said. "Just the way how he approaches practice every day, a team leader. Not one of those guys who just walks around and just thinks he's the big shot of the team. He definitely talks to everybody, as I can see, even to the small guys. So I definitely like him.
"As far as him just being a quarterback, he's out there, he performs, he runs his huddle, and you can come ask him anything that you want, and he definitely will have an answer for you. That's one thing I like about him."