San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, defensive coordinator Steve Wilks, and offensive line coach and run game coordinator Chris Foerster spoke with reporters after Friday's practice, as the team prepares for its Week 16 matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. Here is everything they had to say.
Transcripts provided by the San Francisco 49ers Communications staff.
QB Brock Purdy
What's the biggest challenge about just getting ready to face this Ravens defense?
"Ah, man. Obviously, I think it starts with the front, their front is really good, their secondary is really good. They play really tight coverage. You don't see a lot of whole separation on film from other teams and stuff. And so, they play really sound altogether and they're physical. Their linebackers fly around. And like we've been saying all week, they sort of remind us of our linebackers, in terms of the intensity, how they fly around and all that. So yeah, going to be a great challenge for us."
With them, does the picture change maybe more dramatically than other teams you've faced pre-snap to post snap?
"I mean, we have our plan and stuff and so going into it we're just going to continue to play our style of ball. Obviously, there's some things that you have to be ready for and take into account every play with their players and what we're trying to get done. So yeah, I don't know if it's going to be a drastic change or anything, but we're going to play our way of ball and we have to understand what we're getting into with their defense."
When preparing for Baltimore Ravens LB Patrick Queen and Baltimore Ravens LB Roquan Smith, how much of an advantage has it been that you've been going up against LB Fred Warner and LB Dre Greenlaw all season?
"Obviously dating back to camp and stuff, we've got some really good reps against them, and you know how they play, their drops, how aggressive they are in the run game, all of it. And so, I think for us, we understand how linebackers that fly around and play and that are smart, what it looks like going against our guys and stuff. But at the same time, they're a little bit different in how they do play. There are some similarities, but we've got to just go in and play football and we'll find out on Monday night."
You played playoff games here in the past, so are you expecting kind of that same atmosphere and did those help you of a game of this magnitude where it's going to be such national spotlight on you?
"Yeah. Yeah, we played some playoff games and stuff last year that was good for all of us and our experiences and stuff in terms of some home games that are some big games. But at the same time, I feel like we've played in some pretty big games already this year, and it's the NFL, I feel like people around the country are always tuned in. At the same time, it is Monday night, it's on Christmas, so those are all little things that get added to the table, but I think more than anything, we're excited for it."
If you had to make the case for RB Christian McCaffrey to win the MVP award, what would you say on his behalf?
"Sort of like what I said before, he does it all. I think he's the reason why our pass game and our play-action pass and all that kind of stuff opened up because he sort of sets the standard with the run game and then when we do pass the ball, he's there in our play. He catches the ball, he makes guys miss, he can go up against safeties and linebackers and make them miss and stuff in the pass game. And then he scores touchdowns. His stats are crazy. So, he's definitely a valued player and I think the most valued player."
During the telecast, they said that that former QB Drew Brees was your guy growing up. We always thought it was HOF QB Dan Marino who was your guy. What was your background with Brees? Was he somebody that you watched and wanted to be like?
"Yeah, my dad was a Dolphins fan, so for him growing up, he was like, 'man, Dan Marino's got a quick release and all that stuff.' And so growing up, I tried to throw quick like Dan. But then as I got older, obviously I wasn't old enough to watch Dan play, so Drew Brees was a guy that I knew I was going to be similar height with. And I just respected how he was quick with his feet. He was very smart. He anticipated throws and he won games with his mind. And he was a fierce competitor, all the guys around him loved to go to war with him. And so yeah, I guess if he got mixed up in that, my dad tried to teach me to throw like Dan Marino, and then I ended up loved watching Drew Brees."
Have you been able to talk to Brees at all, bump into him anywhere?
"At a Super Bowl event last year. Just real quick. It was more about my arm and rehab. He went through a UCL deal back in his career, but that was about it."
Have you talked to WR Willie Snead IV about him at all?
"Yeah, Willie's told me a lot about him and stuff, and obviously Willie says that he thinks we're similar obviously in terms of our height and all that, but like I said, the anticipation, the footwork, the mindset going into games, the competitiveness, to hear that come from a player that played with Drew means a lot."
We've seen your team take off since the Bye. Maybe some adjustments, whatever. What did you get from the Bye? Did you feel like anything adjusted and where your level has been since the Bye?
"I mean, sort of just a mental reset. It was a grind for me, getting surgery and then rehabbing my butt off and trying to get back for game one. And then you get back for game one and then it's just a grind for nine weeks straight of all ball, at the same time trying to get my arm strengthened within all of that handling the highs and the lows. And so, to have that Bye Week in the middle of the season, being able to sort of reset was, I think huge for all of us, but especially for myself. And then come back sort of reminded of, alright, you've got to be hungry, you've got to play, this is the NFL. Anything can happen any week and you have to give your all every day. And so sort of being able to reset to that kind of mindset was huge for me."
This is one of those big games that as discussed, and the Cowboys and Eagles and the Jaguars right, since you were coming off a three-game losing streak, were big, kind of what are the Niners made of games and you blew out all those teams. Is that, I guess a reflection of this team being able to rise us to the moment or how do you explain kind of destroying really good teams?
"Man, I think it comes down to, I feel like just our preparation. We have such an experienced team, guys that have been through a lot here, been to NFC Championships and Super Bowls, and a squad that has been together years on years. This is my second year, but you've got [LB] Fred Warner, [DL] Arik Armstead, you've got guys that have been here and have experienced it and understand what big games look like and what it takes. And so, that's a testament to that. The organization, the coaches, everybody's like ready for those kinds of moments and games. So, I think we sort of sink back to that, that's our, like, that's all we know in terms of being ready for those moments and what it's going to take. So, it's my second year, but I've learned from those guys and how they do it and handle it. Do we say it's a big game, we're going to put up this, we don't know. We know it's going to be a dogfight and we have to be ready and willing to do whatever it takes for four quarters. That's how we look at it."
Did you get a new set of clubs?
"I did get a new set of clubs. I needed some. Yeah, shout out [RB] Christian [McCaffrey]."
Does it help his MVP case that maybe it took a little heat off you for taking it off, you're not quite at the resource level that he is in terms of gift giving yet?
"Yeah, yeah. Financially I wouldn't be able to cover that right now (laughter), but he no shout out to him. Everyone loved it, so, yeah. Thank you, Christian."
What do you admire about how Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson plays the position?
"Yeah, man, he's a competitor. At the end of the day, man, he's a winner. He's gone into that place and just has given them life since he's stepped foot there his rookie year. Obviously, his playmaking ability, being able to throw the ball and then just at the end of the day win, you've got to respect him and what he's done. I was a big fan of his the last couple years when I was in high school and college watching him. So yeah, it's going to be tough for us, but I'm excited for it."
With Monday being Christmas, when do you tell family and friends that you know, or when do you turn the page and switch gears to start focusing on the game?
"Yeah, I don't know. For us, it's Christmas time and stuff for our family and friends, which is great. But at the same time, man, we all here understand we have to do our job and play and we have to do what it takes in terms of our preparation, our studying. Nothing can change our routine. We've been in games like this before, we've had to play on Thanksgiving, so those are all things that our family and friends understand and we've got to do what it takes to win. But, at the same time being able to celebrate Christmas and stuff too is huge."
Did you make a Christmas card this year?
"I don't think so. Well, we have them planned, but I don't know if we're going to dish them out yet, so."
Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks
Opening comments:
"With practice, I think the guys are progressing and moving in the right direction. Got another difficult task this week in the Ravens. That offense is high volume, very explosive. [Baltimore Ravens QB] Lamar Jackson is playing at that MVP level, as he did a couple of years ago. All the weapons around him are exceeding. [Baltimore Ravens WR] Odell [Beckham Jr.] is still playing high. I love just watching [Baltimore Ravens WR Zay] Flowers and the things that he can do. It's going to be a difficult task. And with that, I'll take your questions."
What makes Lamar Jackson different and perhaps more difficult to defend than the other more mobile quarterbacks you've seen the last couple weeks?
"I think just his ability to make guys miss in space. He's very elusive. And to be honest, I think, he's playing so much better from a standpoint of the passing game as well, which I think creates other elements of his ability to be able to scramble when things aren't there. So, he's really playing good football, not turning the ball over which is a key for them. And again, we've got to do a much better job than we did last week from a standpoint of tracking the ball carrier and most importantly, tackling."
Referring to your own team, when you said the guys are progressing, what areas do you want to see them continue to get better?
"Most definitely from what we did last week. I felt like we had too many missed tackles. Just what I just alluded to, I think it was more us and not executing our technique, not understanding where our help was coming from. You had a couple of times we had a situation where it could've been really fourth-and-nine and all of a sudden now we miss the tackle because we we're not tracking the right way, it's fourth-and-three and they go for it. So just the little things like that we have to improve on, and that's the progression that I'm seeing this week."
I think we ask you about CB Charvarius Ward every week, but going back to when you got here, what was your assessment of what his skillset was and in what ways has he maybe even exceeded that?
"Well, I think it was high from what I saw, and that was the reason why [general manager] John [Lynch] and [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] brought him over. I think he's now playing at that All-Pro caliber level. You saw that, and I've seen it all year. You saw it definitely last week with his two picks. The one thing that I pointed out this week, and I believe it was yesterday with the defense, I took that exact same clip that we had in practice, the exact same route, the exact same break. What I always talk to those guys about is just how we practice. What you're doing in practice is going to be just a reflection of what you do in the game. So, he got that rep early, he made that play in practice, and it was just routine when it happened in the game."
He indicated that he had been working with QB Sam Darnold and catching balls from him. Was that something he came to on his own or was that suggested to him?
"Yeah, most definitely. That's another area of his growth where he gets extra work in after practice. It was something that he went to Darnold on his own to be able to get that assistance. So, Sam did a great job last week in preparing him."
When you talk about that clip from practice, that was in preparation to face the Cardinals?
"Yes."
Is that unique that something like that happens exactly like that?
"It is. And a lot of times in our teaching progression, we'll always try to show that for us, plays back-to-back. It was just very fortunate that we were able to get that exact clip."
Kyle was saying yesterday that their two linebackers, Baltimore Ravens LB Roquan Smith and Baltimore Ravens Patrick Queen, are pretty similar to what you've got in LB Fred Warner and LB Dre Greenlaw. I won't ask you to speak on their linebackers, but when you have two like you do that can cover that much ground sideline to sideline and be at that athletic, what does that do for your defense in terms of what you can call and that sort of thing?
"Well, it makes our defense so much better when you have that kind of speed. I think, that's really where the game is now. You play so much out in space where offenses try to spread you out and get you in those different looks. That's why the old school, traditional MIKE linebacker is not the case anymore. We look for three WILLs that can play MIKE and SAM. So, their ability allows not only me, but everybody around them to play better."
This kind of an example of four modern linebackers, their two and your two, and what the position has evolved to?
"I think it's going to showcase a lot of speed and talent on that field on Monday night. A lot of respect for those guys. I know of them coming out of the Draft and just watching them on cross tape. But, I definitely love the guys that we have. I think our guys are going to go out and perform well."
Why is the Ravens run game so efficient and what's the key to slowing it down?
"Just really all the gap scheme, then the zone read, Lamar with his ability to be able to pull it at any time. This is going to be a very disciplined football game. A lot of times you see talent on both sides of the ball, but it's a team that's real disciplined in their assignments. When you take the dive, take the dive. When you have a quarterback, have the quarterback, vice versa. So, we've got to do a great job communicating on every snap as we did today and yesterday and be very detailed in our assignments."
How particularly tricky is that for the nickelback, whether he's watching the quarterback and also has a pretty good slot receiver to chase around?
"It's definitely a difficult task. I think [DB Deommodore Lenoir] Demo is up for it. We can't put everything on him. That's why based off the call you always have different assignments in, putting him in a situation to where if he's part of the run game, he's got to execute that. Then there's times where he's not a part of and he has to play pass first. So again, I think it just goes back to being disciplined and executing your assignment."
Are you encouraged by what you saw from DL Javon Hargrave today?
"Yes, definitely encouraged, but it's still a wait and see kind of thing. But, I'm definitely encouraged by what I saw today."
How's CB Jason Verrett coming along?
"He's looking well each and every day. We'll see whether or not he's going to have the opportunity to be up and if so, how many reps he'll get."
Much is made of the way the wide receivers here block. When look at other teams, is it unique or do you see other teams that have the same commitment to all 11 taking part in the run?
"Well, I think it's extremely unique in how our guys block. I was very impressed with that when I first got here. We get a lot of good work going against those guys in OTAs, in training camp. I talked to [WR] Deebo [Samuel] one time and I asked him about that and his answer to me was, 'if we don't block, we don't get the ball.' So, I think there's a certain culture that Kyle has created that it's not just about catching a football. You can see it throughout this team, very unselfish individuals. You go back to [WR Brandon] Aiyuk on that play against Seattle, I believe it was, where he went down there and made that block inside the five. Just a very unselfish play. Those guys prepare us for every game and every week."
Run Game Coordinator/Offensive Line Chris Foerster
What's the challenge for blocking along the offensive line when Baltimore's linebackers Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen are kind of like your guys, LB Fred Warner and LB Dre Greenlaw. How much tougher is it to block these guys than say was blocking linebackers 10, 15 years ago?
"It's always been hard. I mean, there's always been quality linebackers on every team I've ever been associated with. When you play somebody, there's always a good player on the other side. You go back to when we were in Tampa with [LB] Derrick Brooks and [LB] Hardy Nickerson and guys like that, they're outstanding inside. When you come through the first level, we get through [former NFL LB Warren] Sapp or [former NFL DT] Booger McFarland, next thing you know, you're trying to block Derrick Brooks, right? Same thing, we had [former NFL LB and coach] Jack Del Rio was playing middle linebacker, we had a guy named [former NFL LB] Eddie McDaniel in Minnesota. There's always been quality. These two guys are outstanding inside linebackers. Shoot, when I was in Baltimore back in the day, [former NFL LBs] Ray Lewis and Bart Scott were the two inside linebackers. There's always quality inside linebackers. Now there's probably been a little bit more of a trend, but I don't want to say those guys weren't athletic. Those guys were fast and it was maybe a little different style back in the day, but not much. It's always been a challenge. Very rarely does somebody have two guys in a three-four defense that are both the quality of the two guys they have here. Most teams have one and the other guy's a guy that's up and coming. But this team has two. That part of it is a challenge."
As far as OL Spencer Burford, I think he's the third youngest guy on the roster and he's got tons of room to grow, but what does he need to do to solidify a spot as a starter?
"Well, the consistency factor is the number one thing. I mean, an offensive line play as the year goes on and the season gets longer and people see what you do and they see, as we talked about earlier in the year, you start developing a game. They see what your game is and they see what they can take advantage of. So as that happens, you have to play to a level of consistency. And with him, it's some physical consistency, but so much of it comes back to there's just a lot of parts to the offense and he knows it – it's just in the spur of the moment, in the game, sometimes it's not quite right and then all of a sudden you're a little bit off with your technique and then all of a sudden there's a play or two that just aren't what they need to be. So, in the offensive line, sometimes consistency weighs out way over the big play because a big play for a right guard, okay, he reaches the three technique and pancakes someone versus he reaches the three technique and the guy just can't make the tackle. Both plays will run around the corner eight yards away from him. One of them is a dominant play. The other one's just an okay play. Neither one of them is going to make that big a difference in the outcome of the game. If he falls on his face and misses him it will. Whereas a running back, that same difference if he makes an outstanding play in the open field and makes a free safety miss, as opposed to just a guy that gets tackled by the free safety, that's a huge difference in the outcome of the game. So with offensive line, you're like, yeah, you love the splash plays, but you have to see the consistency. And that's what's hard as an offensive lineman. It is a grind day in and day out week in and week out. Especially when I say you start establishing maybe some things that they see about you and things that they'll try and take advantage of, and you then have to counter. So it's just a consistency thing. He's played very good football for us. He's gotten better every single week and he continues to progress."
When you play a team like the Ravens that put a lot of guys up near the line of scrimmage, you don't know which guys are coming, which guys are dropping. What are the pros and cons of that from your standpoint?
"Well, the downside is that for us, everything that we do is we coach it's fundamentals. So, you have a play of protection called, let's say we're talking about pass protection because they're on the line of scrimmage and you have protection called, okay, I got him, I got him, I got him. Then, if they're stationary, if they're just stagnant, if they're just lined up, you're like, okay, here's how we're going to pass that and here's how the helps work and here's who we're working to and we're going to try and slide out and help our tackler, help our double team, our guard based on the people and where [Los Angeles Rams DL] Aaron Donald is affects things and things like that. So you can kind of set your feet and say, okay, here I go, now you have eight, nine guys on the line of scrimmage and it appears to be one thing, and then, all of a sudden it becomes something else and you have to adjust on the fly or you have to set the guy differently because there's two players standing one in either gap. You can't just set the one without being conscious of the other because you might get picked or some other things can happen. So, there are some real challenges for us. The disadvantage – and I'm not a defensive coach, so I have seen sometimes, obviously they have all the guys on the line of scrimmage. And I remember one time we were playing, this goes back to a story I mentioned Jack Del Rio, and we were in Minnesota, we played New England long time ago. On a third and 12 in a game we decided to bluff. He decided to bluff as the inside linebacker in the A-gap. I don't know if it was Jack or somebody else, I'm not going to put it on Jack. All of a sudden, we dropped back and they threw a ball right over his head and he was probably three inches from tipping the ball, probably would've been an interception end of the game. Ended up being a play that got them a big first down. They end up beating us in a comeback victory. The point is, when you're up on the line of scrimmage and you have to go do your coverage, sometimes there's that little bit of gap where you can't quite get where you're supposed to be. And so, there can be that disadvantage. I'm not speaking to them. I have no idea exactly what they tell their guys on every single play when it comes to coverage, but that can be the disadvantage and where we can take advantage. I've seen it some receiver screens. They play screens very well. But every now and then the receiver screen goes out the way, then they're kind of dropping guys the other direction and then you throw the screen out there and all of a sudden there's nobody over there to help make the play. So, there's a plus minus in all that stuff. But it does, it makes it really hard fundamentally to zone in and lock in. And you have to have a lot of experience to start seeing, okay, how can I set and block these guys given the different parameters?"
I would assume they're really sound?
"They're as well coached of a defense as the record indicates. They've been there for a long time. They know what they're doing. They're veteran players. They're one of the better coached defenses that we faced all year."
You've been around so many great players. Where does RB Christian McCaffrey rank among the best running backs you've been around and why?
"Well, the thing is, when I got in the NFL, what I noticed, I coached in college for 10 years. I grew up a Green Bay Packer fan. I mean, I grew up in the '60s with the Packers. I remember when [former Green Bay Packers QB] Bart Starr, we relived the quarterback sneak 20 times in my family room, the day it happened. I'm diving over pillows and who's going to be Starr, who's going to be [former Green Bay Packers FB] Chuck Mercein with his hands up and [former Green Bay Packers G] Jerry Kramer, all that stuff. And we did all that. It was cool. And so I grew up and I remember my dad taking me down and watching these players walk by Bart Starr, [former Green Bay Packers LB] Ray Nitschke, [former Green Bay Packers DE] Willie Davis, all of them. I'm like, holy cow, [former Green Bay Packers FB] Jim Taylor, this is great, I mean a starstruck kid, right? Like all of us. And then you fast forward, however many years, I'm 30 years old and I get my first job in the NFL and I'm coaching for the Vikings. I remember my mom, the first question she said, 'Chris, what are you going to do when you guys play the Packers?' I said, 'mom, the Vikings pay me. We're going to beat the s--- out of them, is what we're going to do.' That's what we're going to try and do anyway. So long story short, is when I get to the NFL, I had in my mind, [T] Trent Williams, all these guys, Bart Starr, you have these starlike images. Then you get on the field and you realize so much of the NFL, it's guys that aren't as big as you think they are, it's the work ethic. It's the talent. You have to have, as [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] says, you have to be able to get in the club, right? We're all sitting where we sit because, I mean, maybe you guys could and you passed on it, but I couldn't get in the club. I couldn't get in the club and play in the NFL. So I couldn't get in the club. But once you're in the club, it's the guys that work the hardest. Did [former NFL QB] Peyton Manning have the greatest arm of all-time? Or did he just work at an extremely incredible level to understand defenses and do what he did with the offense that he did and how he manipulated protections and how he ran his offense? Every single player, as I started to get through the league, it's the guys that work. Yes, every now and then there are the guys that have just incredible talent that don't do it. Now let's get back to Christian. Christian's that guy that does have the talent to get into the club, he's obviously fast, he's big enough, he's strong enough. But his attention to detail and every little thing that he does is, like I say, it's Manning-like. He's the only guy that I know that I can say I was with that I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen the detail he went into everything that he did. And that's what I see with Christian. That's what sets him apart. And then the other thing is, which is all of them, there has to be a level, there's an incredible competitive drive and toughness like that first guy's not getting him down and there were some things said this week about some other running backs and how hard they ran against this defense. I could promise you Christian's steaming as somebody's saying, oh, this guy ran really hard. I mean, they did a great job that running back really got after it, he ran hard against the Ravens. If you think that's hard, Christian's thinking to himself, I'll show you what hard is. There's still that I'm going to show you mentality with this guy. So not only does he have great attention to detail, he freaking works his tail off every single minute of every single day he's fired up. I'll give you one another story about Christian. So yesterday, we're going to start practice. We're doing team takeoff. You guys are out there early. We do two simple little plays where we're kind of running screens on air or something like that. And Christian, we got about 40 seconds before the period starts. I go Christian, I said, man, we're going to get after these guys, man. We're going to play fast. We're going to play physical. I really feel good. I mean, shoot, the Ravens are great defense, we'll do the best we can, but I was being positive. I was pumping him up and literally it was like we were in the locker room getting ready to go play the game. He was so fired up. He's like, I agree coach. And you could see his eyes get big and he started to twitch a little bit and he's like, I think we're going to get these guys, I really think we can get these guys. I'm like, yeah, I think we can Christian. I'm like, dude, I was just kind of giving you a little banter before we start the period and he's ready to go run out the tunnel and play the game. So, it's not fake. It's legit. It's just who he is. It oozes out of him, his preparation, all the things he does. So I could talk forever about Christian McCaffrey because he's almost one of a kind."
Did you see him on the Manning Cast Monday night?
"I didn't get to watch it. I know the Manning Cast, I didn't hear what he said though."
He was able to identify basically a Philadelphia Eagles play before it happened, just based on formation.
"Of course he did. Yeah, because those two guys right there, they are two peas in a pod right there. They'd be arguing in the backfield as to what they should be doing I'm sure if they both were on the same team. But it's outstanding. It's really cool."
Did you know that about him before he came here?
"I had no idea. I just knew he was a good player. At Carolina, he played hard. Stanford, I knew the guys that coached at Stanford, so I knew the people there. They spoke so highly of him. I actually when I was at Stanford back in the day with [former Stanford head coach] Denny Greene, [former Stanford WR] Ed McCaffrey, his dad played for us. So I knew Ed. I didn't know Christian."
You were on Denny Greene's staff?
"Yeah, I coached with Denny at Stanford and then for three years. I was there with [former Stanford football coach] Jack Elway for one, then they fired Jack and they kept me around because I was the lowest paid guy on the staff. So, they kept me around. Then when Denny went to the Vikings, he said I was too young to go to the NFL. So, I was out for a year and I went to the University of Minnesota, conveniently. Luckily, I kept in touch with Denny and the guys that went from the Stanford staff to the Vikings. The next year he hired me with the Vikings."
