Mike McDaniel – December 20, 2024
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Friday, December 20, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Dee Eskridge, are they both out?) – “Since we’ve had practice, I can consider (Dee) Eskridge and (Jaylen) Waddle to be doubtful because they didn’t participate.”
(What about the two tackles? T Terron Armstead, we saw him out there stretching. Did he go through drills?) – “They will be listed, both Terron (Armstead) and Kendall (Lamm) as questionable. It was a positive experience out there on the field, so now you’re just taking it up to game time and making sure that all your ducks are in a row for both of them – feeling up to what it takes to play and then facilitating all the residuals if they don’t because we have a lot of moving parts that we’re excited to be able to adjust based upon our experience at several positions.”
(Can you give us an update on WR Grant DuBose?) – “My update is that I’ve talked to him in person and he’s in good spirits. Beyond that, I’m just totally focused on him being able to attack the day-to-day process and be healthy for himself and his family and everybody involved. I think really that’s where it stands; I don’t foresee seeing him playing football this season but I see him as part of the program so I’m just invested in him on the daily.”
(With LB Bradley Chubb and LB Cam Goode, is next week more likely for Chubb? Is there a real chance of Cam Goode on Sunday?) – “I’ll meet with Chris (Grier) and talk to both those two individuals. It was good stuff out there. I would say that during the process we had felt that Cam (Goode) was a little ahead, but I would be remiss if I would rule anybody anything for this game. But optimistic we’ll see one or both here when they’re ready and that’s what we’re making sure that we’re communicative and they’re empowered and feel ready to play football.”
(Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith told us QB Tua Tagovailoa’s hip injury is not concerning, is that right? Is he all good?) – “Yes, Frank was not wrong. It’s something that in December football, there’s a lot of those things where players across the board are getting dinged and you have to be able to executive with those things. He’s certainly not made an issue for this week’s prep.”
(There’s an argument to be made that a couple years when the Dolphins had a head coach opening, Chairman of the Board/Managing General Partner Stephen Ross looked across the league and looked at the 49ers and said, “I like that.” Talked with you, obviously you all came to an agreement. My question is do you see this game as like a measuring stick to see where you guys are at considering the similarities between the teams? Obviously, the offense but then both teams kind of had their seasons derailed by injuries a little bit.) – “I mean as much as I see – you can argue that that’s the case for every single game you play. I do think that you love opportunities to compete against the guys – that team we’ve watched play either in the Championship game or the Super Bowl the last two years and a lot of those players that will be on the field in this game were a part of those teams. So as competitors, you’re excited to go against a litany of All-Pros at different positions, but I think the biggest thing is we’re trying to get our football to the standard we feel good about playing. I think from a team perspective, having three phases execute and play off of each other has been our formula for when we’ve been successful and we haven’t been successful enough to our standard and to everybody else’s. So this gives us an opportunity to go and have to do so with a team that is not going to give us anything, that will bring a physical style of football to Hard Rock, and I think that it fits perfectly with some of the things that during the course of the season, whatever has occurred, do you make it purposeful or not? I think this is an opportunity to take some of our frustrations out in terms of execution and playing team football and knowing that we’re going to get their best shot and seeing how we matchup in that way. But every week is a test; this league is too good and a lot of people make it a bigger deal with, ‘All right, this good team, bad team,’ you better show up and play your best football every week or whoever you’re playing will humble you. So we know that to be the case with the San Francisco 49ers, so I think we’ll have a fully convicted team and that’s what I’m expecting to see.”
(Two years ago, I mean you guys essentially got the first look at QB Brock Purdy when he came in in place of Jimmy Garoppolo. I’m kind of curious, what was the internal reaction here after something that had never really been done in NFL history of Mr. Irrelevant coming in and finding success happened against you guys?) – “There was some tape on him from the preseason, but you also know that it’s a tough hill to climb as a rookie, just in those moments at the beginning of your first opportunity, really, in a regular season game. You could tell that the game wasn’t too big for him just by his reaction that game, regardless of – you always know that it’s not a final product when you first see somebody play, but you can really feel whether or not the game is swallowing them up or not. I think he proved in that game that some of the stuff that, really, he’s showcased in big time football since then, you can see glimmers of that then. So it was kind of ironic that we saw the first sight of him, but I think the whole team knew when he was playing that this is a guy that’s a starter in this league and not a backup. I think his play speaks for himself and just trying to minimize those plays on Sunday.”
(My follow up was going to be if the past couple years have been any sort of vindication for you guys, considering his success, but it kind of sounds like right away, you guys knew that –) – “Yeah, no. You always know the expectation, maybe the scouting report on somebody that doesn’t have a bunch of tape, but football players know on the field when they’re in front of somebody that can operate and really perform at a high level on that stage. I think it was pretty obvious that he was super composed and there were some plays that he was able to make that we felt like we would possibly have been better suited to go against the high-level starter that had just gotten injured. He, right out the gate, was able to execute and didn’t do too much but extended plays in critical times that kept them on the field, and I think kept us to about 45, 46 plays offensively because of the way they were able to execute and control the ball and convert on some third downs and that was the biggest thing. So I think we kind of knew on the field that this is a standout rookie, just based upon your experience and what you expect to shake or rattle a rookie, it wasn’t rattling him. So I think we probably had the first eyes on something that the rest of the league had to find out the hard way.”
(So with three healthy receivers on the 53, you’re going to need at least one, if not two, among WR Erik Ezukanma, WR Isaiah McKenzie, WR Tarik Black. Do you feel confidence all three can help you? Especially McKenzie having been here only 72 hours.) – “The good news is we’ve felt pretty fortunate between Erik (Ezukanma) and Tarik (Black) that we were getting really – basically, we had the support of NFL receiver play on the practice squad should the opportunity or the injury bug hit us and they need to play. I think those two offer some experience with the playbook, specifically. And then with Isaiah (McKenzie) having been here just a minute, that is a challenge, but he does offer a supreme level of experience at the position within the league and those are usually quicker studies. There’s some overlap between some of the ways his previous offenses have been taught, so he’s been a quick study and he’s been super professional. It was part of the reason we targeted him, was we felt like he would be able to contribute in a short amount of time if necessary. We feel comfortable with the way we’re going into that game and the only reason we feel comfortable is because of those individuals and their readiness to contribute.”
