Mike McDaniel – December 5, 2022
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Monday, December 5, 2022
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(So I wondered if signing T Eric Fisher was in part because of any belief that T Terron Armstead likely is going to miss more time.?) – “No, it’s more – this is something we were working on for it seems a couple of weeks. So it’s more with the idea that our intention is to have our season longer than the regular season and that being both pretty thin on the roster and seeing an opportunity to add a player of high quality with big-time game experience. So it wasn’t necessarily reactionary to Terron (Armstead) as much as it was trying to take advantage of there being a player out there on the market that can make sure that anything unforeseen that we can have high quality play in the most important time of the year.”
(How will you manage QB Tua Tagovailoa and his ankle this week? And are you confident in his ability to go ahead and participate fully in practice and then play on Sunday against the Chargers?) – “We will just be mindful of what he does. Really, you’re looking at Wednesday, just making sure that we don’t do anything to have any setbacks, breaking the pocket and whatnot. But I’m very confident and don’t anticipate any sort of setback that would negate him playing in the upcoming football match.”
(It’s not a good Monday for you all, I guess, but you all are in the perfect opportunity to still control your own destiny. Only having two conference losses, have you expressed the importance of this game to your team when you face the Chargers coming up?) – “Our team is very aware. I think that is something that is pretty obvious in terms of the importance of the conference and it’s the second most-important game next to the division opponents. The biggest thing is that guys really wanted to try to get the victory against a very good opponent this past game and it didn’t happen, but we feel like there’s some definite places where we can get better from it. And the next game can’t come fast enough. So guys are eager to get started on the Chargers and you always try to really bask in the opportunity to play in front of the national audience. So I think the team really relishes the opportunity to play a good football team and get back on track after the one-week hiatus.”
(I know you’re all focused on the Chargers and that’s understandable, but we learned today that the Buffalo game is going to be Saturday night. And I’m wondering how you plan to manage that. If it’s almost like Thursday night road game, given that you’ll be flying across the country getting back probably in the wee hours Monday morning and then having to fly out Friday?) – “You’re right on both fronts. We are very much focused on the Chargers, but there will be an adjustment to the schedule. We’ll be somewhere in between what a normal game is and what a Thursday night game is. That will be a challenge. But that’s something that I think it’s important across the board for when we get to that point that players, coaches; they take it as a challenge that I don’t want anybody spending any time feeling sorry for themselves and I don’t think our team will. The bottom line is we have two opportunities to play in front of a national audience. It’s something we’ve been building towards for the whole season in terms of how we play, but only one of which we can really do anything about in the immediate future. So it’s definitely challenging but not something that anyone’s going to spend any time feeling sorry for themselves about because that’s not our decision to make. We’re happy to have the opportunity to play in front of our peers and a national audience and we’ll do our best to take advantage of that.”
(When you looked at the film of the 49ers game, what jumped out at you in terms of what wasn’t clicking in the passing game? Was it timing? Just accuracy? What were some of the things that you want to correct from that?) – “You want to be hitting on all cylinders all times and the thing about a passing game is it can be very potent when all cylinders are hitting, and I think clearly it wasn’t in terms of our completion percentage, the throwing it to the opposing team as opposed to our own team, and just really being as consistent as we needed to be. And that I think from my estimation, there was, as I told the team, I thought there were times that really guys were pressing. There were some times that we did have time to go ahead and make a play and the eligibles got their depths and were available in the timing of the play and other times that they weren’t, and we kind of let plays linger and really overlap to further existing plays. So these are things that from my vantage point are very, very correctable that I think we needed that stage, that environment – one of those things where, hey, you have a really good team, one of the best units in the league that are trying to defend you in a certain area and really pushing all resources towards it. What you have to do to be able to combat that and the level that you have to play. So I think a lot of guys learned stuff. I think guys did learn various things without losing confidence. They were very accountable today, which is one of the reasons I’m so deeply invested and confident in this team and expect it to look better and take a step forward this this next coming week.”
(I wanted to ask you about Chargers QB Justin Herbert and the unique challenges he I guess presents with that arm and all that. And did you get a chance to visit with him in the pre-Draft process and if so what did you come away with?) – “To answer your question, he does have an arm. I think, I believe two of them. (laughter) And it is strong. I’m not sure how much he can curl, but he can throw the ball far. And I did not meet him that particular year. I didn’t get a chance, but I saw his college tape. And obviously, I’ve seen a lot that he can do on the NFL stage. And it keeps you honest as a defense. In the same realm as Josh Allen, if you don’t have your appropriate rush lanes or you drop a coverage, he can make you pay on any part of the field. And your job is to make him execute within the confines of a traditional timing and you just have to be a little more responsible in your rush lanes because he’ll make you pay or break the pocket to extend. So great challenge because he’s the type of player that you play down the stretch and in elimination games that you don’t have any choice but to do your best to make sure that he doesn’t beat you by himself and make sure that you force the receivers and all the eligibles to get open in the regular timing of the play and you force or you allow coverage to work for the pass rush as well or coverage is tight so that he has to try to extend plays and you’re consistent and your rush lane integrity is strong. So a very, very good player. A challenging player that our guys will be up for and excited for test.”
(Along those same lines, the stats show a drastic difference for the defense in terms of points and yardage allowed home and on the road. What do you think might be the cause of that?) – “I think it has to do with particular opponents. I think it also has to do with the stats don’t account for or offensive turnovers that turned to points have to do with that as well. So I think they’ve gotten kind of unfairly shaped. That’s something that’s been on our mind that the captains have brought up for several weeks and I thought that was a step in the right direction yesterday. But obviously not to where we want to be, and that’s the good thing about this team is they haven’t, during the streak of wins, haven’t lost sight of the ultimate goal, which is to progressively get better every week. I think that’s the hardest thing to do in National Football League with all the different distractions that can occur and different narratives that can happen, and people can get worried about the wrong stuff. Our defense hasn’t. They’re continually trying to progress. I saw that on tape and I think there’s some situations, a couple in particular, that the ultimate score looks a lot different, if there’s one or two plays made on the ball, there’s not a penalty here or there. And ultimately, there’s a couple of third downs that I think were very manageable for us in terms of making the play to get them off the field. There are too many variables. I don’t think it’s just being on the road. I think has to do with the opponent more than anything, and I really am having high expectations for a robust turnaround this coming week.”
(The ball went harmlessly out of bounds, but I’m pretty fascinated by the effort that DT Christian Wilkins displayed to retrace his rush and go force a fumble 20 yards down the field. I’m curious the reaction of you and your staff when you see something like that on tape.) – “It’s something that we’ve been getting better at during the course of the year. It’s something that we point out in all of our team meetings because that’s team defense. Because what happens – that happened a little further down the field than we would like it to happen – but if you get an eligible to stop his feet because you have aggressive tackling down the field or if the offensive player has to stop; really good defenses make them pay and get turnovers in those type of situations. So that’s something that as a captain, we’ve counted on Christian. He’s done it a ton during the season. I think one of the bigger hits of the year came against Buffalo in a similar situation against (Dawson) Knox, I believe. And it’s one of the strengths to his game to have consistent strain and that affects players. They feel it, they hear it. And it’s part of the physicality of our defense that we really, when we’re going at our best; there’s not just him, but the whole d-line is able to get some action chasing the ball.”
(Just to follow up on the initial question where he was mentioned, what’s T Terron Armstead’s outlook this week and the plan for the three practice sessions?) – “I feel pretty good about where he’s at. He was pretty close this past week, relatively to where he just continues to defy normal timelines with injuries that would keep a lesser athlete with the toughness and desire that would keep them out for longer. So I expect him to get some work and practice this week. I don’t know exactly – every day is so important for that healing process. So whether that’s Wednesday, Thursday Friday, we’ll at least let Tuesday happen before we concretely pin that in. But his plan is to get some action this week for sure and I know he’s optimistic to play in this upcoming game.”
Connor Williams – December 4, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
Postgame – San Francisco
OL Connor Williams (Transcribed by San Francisco 49ers)
(What are your thoughts on how you guys protected the pass game?) – “I’m proud of how everybody stepped to the play today. From left to right, I think we did a great job. I mean, obviously they’re a great D-line – that’s a high caliber D-line. To be able to do what we did and hold up the way we did, I’m proud of us. Obviously, it is never perfect, obviously things need to improve. We are going to hit the film room and try to improve on those, but I am proud of everyone.”
(What makes DL Nick Bosa so hard to stop?) – “You know, everybody at this level has about the same talent. I think at the end of the day, it’s that energy. It’s that effort to it. So I think that’s what we’re learning, that in those big games you’ve got to be able to step up into that environment and execute at that high level.”
(What was it like after the first play, the touchdown?) – “Obviously it was electric. Definitely for (No.) 14 (Trent Sherfield) to get that ball. I mean, it says it all right there, but then just being able to put it in the past, being able to move on to the next game.”
Christian Wilkins- December 4, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
Postgame – San Francisco
DT Christian Wilkins (Transcribed by San Francisco 49ers)
(Can you talk about the 49ers performance?) – “They’re a good team and they showed it today. We fought hard as a team and everything like that, but it came up short obviously. But San Fran is a heck of a team, and I just feel like this is a good [experience]. You try to find the positive and everything and this is a learning opportunity for us. We come on the road – this is December football and if we want to be the team we can be and want to be, you have to have experiences like this. So just learn from this one onto the next one, the 24-hour rule. That’s my thing, that’s the rule in the NFL. So we’ll learn from it and get better because we have to play next Sunday, it will be here before we know it.”
(What did you learn from this one today?) – “Obviously, we have to watch the tape to really be able to learn from the little details. There’s obviously things we can clean up, obviously things we could have done better, so definitely have to watch the tape to fully know. I did feel like we competed hard and we competed to the end, regardless of the score, regardless of the outcome, regardless of what happened. I did feel like we did fight hard, so we got that. We just have to clean up some other things.”
(Is there anything they did that you weren’t expecting when QB Jimmy Garoppolo went down?) – “No. I wouldn’t say so. I feel like they pretty much stuck with their offense. They did a little more short passes and quick passes, things like that. Probably just get the quarterback going into the rhythm, but respect to him, he did a good job just stepping up. I told him after the game, ‘Way to step up.’ It was definitely respectable. Like I said, we fought hard, but there’s some things we can get better and things we can clean up.”
(Sometimes a win can disguise some mistakes. So maybe you can look at this as a loss to pick apart some of the mistakes?) – “Yes, absolutely. When things are going good, it’s going great. Sometimes you don’t want to fall into that trap. So that’s what I’m saying. It’s good. This is a humbling loss. Take it as a learning experience, not a loss. That’s how you have to look at it and just learn from it, move on and get better.”
Raheem Mostert – December 4, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
Postgame – San Francisco
RB Raheem Mostert (Transcribed by San Francisco 49ers)
(Can you describe the first play of the game?) – “Yeah, it was definitely an exciting moment, especially being the first play of the game. Then for the emotions to be high, not only for myself, but for the team and for Trent (Sherfield) to go and catch that ball, slash and take it to the house, I was trying to pick up speed to get down there as fast as I could to see if I could try to get a block or two. There was definitely a lot of volume and high emotions on that play for sure.”
(You guys are obviously so familiar with this defense, but actually going up against them in a game situation, did anything surprise you?) – “No, not really. No, I think the biggest thing for us was we weren’t detailed enough. I know specifically me, I left some stuff out there that I knew I could have made a play, I could have been game changing. I wish I could take that stuff back. But yeah, it’s all about our execution and it starts from the play calling on down. We’ll get it right. We’ve got a big, big match up this week against the Chargers. We’ve got to flush this game out. I know it’s going to be a little bit tough for me especially now that I’m done walking out of this stadium and stuff like that. But man, that’s the game that we play and that’s the sport – you have to take all those goods and highs and lows that go with it. It’s all going to be fun, and we can’t wait to get back in LA and spend a little bit of time together. I know I talked to the running backs already and told them that we’re going to do a little bit of extra meeting time to know our opponent, know what the gameplan is, be more detailed, be a family and all that good stuff.”
(What was the story with the running game today? There weren’t a lot of yards, but there weren’t a lot of attempts.) – “It was whatever was being dished out. We had to take it for what it was. The gameplan was for us to be balanced, and we’re in a situation where you want to take advantage of what they had, you know? Unfortunately my boy, ‘Jimmy G’ (Jimmy Garoppolo) went out the game. I’m hoping everything’s alright with him. I’m going to go talk to him and talk to his family. My wife is here and she’s real close with his sister-in-law. I’m going to go talk to his brother and all that stuff. So man, that sucks. I’m going to go ahead and talk to him and see what’s going on.”
Tyreek Hill – December 4, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
Postgame – San Francisco
WR Tyreek Hill (Transcribed by San Francisco 49ers)
(Is there anything you can pinpoint as to why you think the offense was just not necessarily clicking right away?) – “I don’t know, man. I just want to focus on our room, because we’re such a young group. I keep all the guys motivated, the offensive line, even Tua (Tagovailoa). So my message all day to the guys was just stay locked in, it’s going to turn around for the good. And as you saw, we began to move the ball in the second half the way we’ve been doing all season. So we’re just going to build off this, man.”
(Out of most of the players, you’ve had the most success in the playoffs. How much does today’s experience – do you think today’s game will help you in the postseason this year coming up?) – “Well, I feel like my message to all the guys is to just let your passion show. I feel like a lot of people may take it as frustration, man, but I look at it as passion. That’s all this game is about, playing for your brother, playing for one another and making plays. So, when your number is called, we just have make plays.”
(Sometimes when you’re winning games, it can disguise some of the little mistakes you’re making. How much can a loss help you guys dive into the film and really pinpoint maybe some of the little things you can do better?) – “For us each and every week, we do the same thing. On Mondays, we go in, even after a win, we go in and we correct the good with the bad. So that’s always been our mindset, and we’re going to continue doing that as an offensive unit. So we’re going to continue getting better.”
Tua Tagovailoa – December 4, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
Postgame – San Francisco
QB Tua Tagovailoa (Transcribed by San Francisco 49ers)
(Obviously, you were on the injury report earlier this week, can you just update with us how you’re feeling overall?) – “Yeah, sucks. It sucks that we didn’t come out and say what we wanted to do collectively as a team. Obviously, it starts with me offensively, turnovers with third downs, communication errors. In that retrospect, it’s hard to win a game when you’re not on your Ps and Qs, and you’re not dialed in. So a lot of that has to do with just understanding what we’re trying to accomplish and what we’re trying to do.”
(We’re accustomed to seeing you be more accurate, when you look back at the film, do you think it’ll just be a matter of missing certain guys? What do you think you’ll see?) – “Yeah, definitely missing guys in certain areas. There’s also some miscommunication of where guys should be breaking, where they’re setting their angles on certain routes, things like that. But it definitely was a poor performance from my part in that aspect of the game.”
(You hit the big plays, but how hard was it to sustain that defense over the course of the game?) – “Yeah, it was tough, and we knew what we were playing against – a really good front, you look at the linebackers that they have, very intuitive and then their safeties with how they try to mix in their coverages of making things look the same. Not easy being in the back there and then having that kind of pressure and trying to read it at the same time. So they had a great gameplan for us. We were hoping to have a lot more chances to make some plays, but we didn’t. We had a lot of opportunities offensively and didn’t capitalize. So that’s the result of the game.”
(Did you come out of it OK health-wise after the last hit?) – “Yeah, I would say as good as I can be coming off of a game. We’ll assess some things but as good as I can be.”
(When you think about some or all of the third-down plays in today’s game what, if anything, are some common denominators or what stands out about third down today?) – “Execution. Execution and executing those plays. It’s not what we did today, and that was the result of a lot of three and outs from what it felt like offensively. No one really to blame but myself, so we’ll be better from this.”
(What kind of stood out to you on the third down interceptions? Especially on the one to RB Jeff Wilson Jr., what happened there?) – “It was just poor ball placement and nothing more than that. That was just bad.”
(How would you assess the pass protection? You had two back up tackles playing, how did they do?) – “Yeah, I think they did really good, stepping up against really good edge rushers. And it’s not just their edge rushers, their interior rushers are really, really strong to be able to push the pocket and allow those guys to collapse. I think they did a phenomenal job. We’ll take a look at the tape and see what we can get better at offensively.”
(The fourth-and-1 from your own 19, down six points, obviously that’s one the plays that worked. What was going through your mind when you heard you guys were going for it?) – “Just get the first down. That’s all that was. Never thought like, ‘Oh, this is the biggest moment of the game’ or whatnot. I just knew that, ‘OK, Mike’s calling this play and putting the ball in my hands, giving me that decision to either hand it off, or throw it, or run it.’ So just the belief that he had in me, for us to go down and convert on that. I would say the same with our other fourth down that we had where we weren’t able to convert – tough. It’s tough. Even in that play, we had some errors on that play. But like I said, we’ll all look back at the film collectively as a unit offensively, and we’ll get better from it.”
(The two touchdowns that you did have, could you break down each play? The opening play to WR Trent Sherfield and then the one to WR Tyreek Hill?) – “Our personnel, we were in 20, I think they were in base, so really they had no adjustments to the bunch. They just had their linebackers stacked inside. They ended up bringing a guy off the edge to that side. So there was a little pocket or there was a little area that was voided. So we gave Trent (Sherfield) the ball and Trent turned that into a touchdown. And then on the other play, we went fast on the ball, and we saw quarters. They gave us the right coverage for the right play and we took a shot.”
(Because some of the passes were high, the broadcast team was wondering whether maybe you were a little bit emotionally charged or a little juiced for the game. How did you feel in terms of your preparation and your emotions entering the game and joining the team?) – “I felt like myself during the game. Like I said, there’s instances where I just flat out wasn’t getting the ball directly to our guys. But there were also instances where there were miscommunications of, I thought I was supposed to be here, whereas normally you’re here. So just communication errors, and like I said and will continue to keep saying, we’ll get better from those.”
(So as far as this season, this was the first time that you started and finished the game healthy and lost. What was the message from Head Coach Mike McDaniel after the loss?) – “I’ve also been on the other side of that, where I have played in this organization and we have lost games. This isn’t something that is new, where we’re on a win streak and then we end up losing and we can’t find our rhythm. I would say this is nothing for us to worry about, but it is an opportunity for us to get better from. So don’t think that we’re taking this lightly and we’re just going to move on from it. It’s a great opportunity for us that we will use and take coming into the LA game next week.”
(Any thoughts on QB Brock Purdy and his performance coming in?) – “Yeah, I thought he did a tremendous job. Being a rookie, it’s hard in this league to do what he’s been asked to do. I know what it feels like to come into a game being a rookie. Just the poise that he had, doing what was asked of him with action fakes, with his drop back game, I think he did a great job.”
Mike McDaniel – December 4, 2022 (Postgame)
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Sunday, December 4, 2022
Postgame – San Francisco
Head Coach Mike McDaniel (Transcribed by San Francisco 49ers)
(On offense, that was kind of an uncharacteristic game from QB Tua Tagovailoa that we’re used to seeing. What would you credit some of the turnovers and missed passes to today?) – “Those are always – you’re careful to just assume that it was one exact person. We’re pretty used to Tua (Tagovailoa) being extremely accurate. I know there was a couple times that he’s going to be pretty hard on himself, but at the same time, you should be able to not be pinpoint accurate on one or two throws and still be able to execute and operate. I think that the guys were a little off just in general collectively, but I know one thing, it wasn’t because of preparation. It wasn’t because of lack of detail. It was one of those things that you have to go through. I think it’s important for our team specifically that – the biggest thing I wanted from this game is to really go out there and feel a playoff type atmosphere and do everything that they could to try to win that game. And when you do that, I think you can actually, win or lose, you can get better from it, because it’s something that we have a young team that needs to be able to – at some point in time, you have to have everything on the line and you have to be able to execute. So players, myself, the whole team really, the idea is to lay it all out on the line for each other and then deal with the consequences. So as frustrating as it was, I think that we are well-equipped and we have the guys in the locker room that collectively will take this piece of adversity and get better from it, and that’s the objective.”
(You had some big plays, but how difficult is it to sustain your offense over that defense in a game like that?) – “No, they do a good job. When you’re playing one of the best units in football on either side, it’s important that when you have opportunities, you have to take advantage of them. I think that if you ask every player in that locker room, they would say that that was not the case today and that the point is you shouldn’t just pass it along to somebody else and feel – it should hurt. But, when you’re playing a group like that, that’s playing at such a high level, you can’t miss opportunities, or you end up making it really tough on yourself. I think that was an outstanding job by the (San Francisco) 49ers defense, just the team collectively. They brought it. That team has some playoff experience, for sure, and they’re hungry to go and rectify some stuff of the past. If you don’t completely execute, it’s going to be tough for your whole team to come out on top. So you’re exactly right – you’re going to make it pretty tough on yourself if you continually don’t make the plays that are afforded to you, and it will catch up with you, especially with a pass rush like that.”
(How did you feel about how QB Brock Purdy did in relief and how the Dolphins defense did against Brock?) – “I think that’s a pretty good player there. I saw his preseason was as good as any rookie’s. I think him and Skylar (Thompson) really were the two guys that really had a real good preseason. I know that coaching staff and that team is very confident in him. It’s always a tough task, but when you’re able to lean on some good playmakers and get the ball in their hands, and when you’re able to kind of control the clock with a lot of first downs and the run game, I’m sure he’ll have some plays they’d want to have back, but that team will be fine moving forward with him. I’m sick for Jimmy (Garoppolo) and having to go through that, but the same time, that’s football. Teams get tested with their depth all the time, and no one really cares at the end of the season – it’s result based. So they’ll be all right. I thought he did a good job and didn’t really – we weren’t able to turn the ball over as much as you’d like and take advantage of those type of situations, but we’ll learn from it and that’s the point.”
(A lot was made about you and San Francisco 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan; how did it ultimately feel for you and what was said between you guys?) – “Yeah again, I don’t really see it that way. Don’t get me wrong, to see a lot of people that you invest blood, sweat and tears with and to see a lot of people that are a huge part of your journey that you otherwise don’t know where you’d be without them, that’s a cool part of the NFL and the cool part of football. But it felt like another game for me. I got to shake hands with him before the game and after the game. I’m kind of used to his routine, so I was messing with him before the game a little bit, but outside of that it was about the Dolphins. Anything short of that, I really struggle from an integrity standpoint to have any emotions or thoughts that have to do with my journey, because that’s not what the players and the organization for the Dolphins deserve. So I stay true to my proclamation, it had nothing – after the kickoff, it was just coaching football and trying to put players in the best position they could be to make plays. Ultimately, that didn’t get done. As I told the team after the game, they don’t have to worry in the least. I’ll get better from the things that I know that I could have done better, and that’s what I’m expecting from all the players as well.”
(Fourth-and-1 your own 19 was a play that did work, obviously. I’m curious what went into your decision to make that call?) – “Again, I think part of the job is to do things that make the most sense for your team. I know exactly what’s going to happen if it doesn’t work, and it’s not wishing in hope, or living in hope, I should say. It was more that there was, I feel like six minutes-plus to go, and we were down by six, maybe it was nine. I can’t – six? I was pretty confident in a particular play that I figured that at that point in time, if you’d say, ‘What’s the greater risk? Is it having a two-yard distance with the particular play that I ended up calling with your guys on offense that really make you go, as opposed to needing to punt and getting the ball back, still having to drive the whole field?’ And on top of that, I figured that if it didn’t work out in our favor, at least it was a short field. It was one of those things that I was very aware of the risk and in terms of the second guessing that will happen if it doesn’t work, but I think that’s the job of the head coach is to do things for the right reasons and not because you’re going to possibly get second guessed. So that’s something that in that moment, it’s to the credit of the players that I feel comfortable doing that and thought it was the best for the team at the time.”
(Could you assess the offensive tackle play with T Terron Armstead and OL Austin Jackson both out and having two backups?) – “I thought they did a pretty good job, because that is a tough, tall task. I think that there were times, I alluded to the fact before, that I think that there’ll be stuff that I’ll learn from. I think I could have done a better job with them, but for the most part, I thought they really performed and took the challenge, and that’s a tough task. They have some good players, and there’s no – they are trying to sack the quarterback every play. I thought they competed. I thought they gave us a chance to win, but we’ll try to get better from it moving forward as well.”
