What the 49ers said after beating the New York Giants

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The 49ers got the bounceback win they needed Sunday in New Jersey.

A week after the 49ers couldn’t get their defense off the field — Houston had the ball for more than 40 minutes in a 26-15 win — Christian McCaffrey and the offense provided a balanced and productive effort in disposing of the Giants 34-24.

McCaffrey scored a rushing and receiving touchdown in the same game for an NFL-record 16th time in his career, breaking his tie with Marshall Faulk. McCaffrey finished his day with 106 rushing yards on 26 carries and caught five passes for 67 more yards. Mac Jones was unstoppable in the first half, completing all 14 of his pass attempts, and finished the game 19 of 24 for 235 yards in a game that the 49ers never really felt threatened in.

The 49ers (6-3) remained no more than one loss behind the NFC West-leading Rams and Seahawks, who both played later Sunday, despite once again playing without injured captains Fred Warner (ankle) and Nick Bosa (knee), and edge rusher Bryce Huff on defense. Head coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday that Brock Purdy could potentially be available to play, but instead they kept the injured QB inactive and out of uniform for another week. The offense also was against without wide receiver Ricky Pearsall Jr.

Despite the absences, the 49ers shook off the Giants’ score on the opening drive to lead 17-7 at halftime. Brian Robinson’s bruising 18-yard TD run all but put the game away, giving the 49ers a 27-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Here is what Shanahan, Jones, McCaffrey and George Kittle said following the game.

Kyle Shanahan

On Jones’ performance

I though Mac did a hell of a job. Extremely efficient in what he was doing, going against a real tough pass rush. Probably only one negative play in the game, just the fumble there at the end of the second quarter. Hell of a play by Brian Burns who did it. But Mack played really well, took care of the ball, got the ball to the right guys, and made a couple plays with his legs, too.

On Spencer Burford’s performance at left guard

It seemed like he did real well. Excited to watch (the video of) him there on the plane. Only one (thing) came up. I thought that wasn’t all his fault, just with the full slide there on one of the sacks, but felt like he did well on the run and in a pass game. I was excited to get him back.

On Brian Robinson Jr.’s performance

I thought he played real well, too. Ran the ball really well. (He) completely flipped me. I went from being extremely angry with him for not taking a touchback (early in the game) to eating my own words and saying hell of a job getting past that. I don’t know where he got to, but he got close to the 50, I believe. So, uh, it was a hell of a return and played real well today.

On finishing one nine-play drive with eight straight runs

It’s very fun. It’s awesome. It’s so tempting. The whole time you’re like, ‘man, can you do it again and get away with it? Maybe we should do a play action or something off of it. No, screw, we’ll just keep running it.’ The guys came through and that’s one of the most enjoyable drives that you can go on when it’s all run plays.”

On Tatum Bethune’s 16 tackles

He knows how to play the position. He’s got a good real knack for playing football in terms of in the box and making tackles. I think he’s getting better and better in the pass game. (He) had some big hits today. I know he got that one penalty. But,  from what I saw, I disagreed with it. So, we’ll see when we see the tape. But I was can’t say enough good things about Tatum today.

On the defense stepping up after allowing a TD on the Giants’ opening drive

It’s not like we had some big pump up (speech) that we need to start hitting, but they definitely felt it more after that first drive. The first drive was was a very rough one. I thought it was such a big play Jordan Watkins made. I think it was like second and 20. If we don’t make that completion there, odds are you’re not getting it on third and 20 or third and 15, whatever it was. So, that was a huge down, and also, we were going to punt. I thought it was fourth and two. But it moved up a little bit at half a yard. It was huge getting that  sneak on the fourth down and answer (their score). And then then after that, the D was real impressive all game.

On the team’s tackling

We definitely did better. Still looked like we missed some tackles out there, got got a little loose especially there at the end giving up some big plays. Wish we didn’t let them get in the end zone there at the end. But I was I was real happy with the defense overall.

On having a 6-3 record and how it impacts the approach at the trade deadline

I think it’s been the exact same regardless of our record. We’ve been looking at the same (trade possibilities) all year so nothing changes based off today.

On the contributions of Keion White, who was acquired from the Patriots

It seemed like they did real well. I mean I know that big play I saw the one that (Clelin Ferrel) made looked like that ball was I don’t know if it came out, but it was about to come out. I thought our pass rusher was great. Chasing around Jackson (Dart) all day is such a big challenge. That guy’s going to be a hell of a player. But I thought we swarmed him very well, and can’t say enough good things about the d-line.

What was the postgame message? 

No message. We just talked about the game, told everyone how proud I was. I thought all three phases had a huge part in that game today. (I) gave them their first victory Monday (off) of the year. So, I know they were excited about that. We’ll see them Wednesday and get back to work.

On how close Purdy was to being available to play

We’ll reassess it the same way we did this week. Wasn’t that close to (playing him). I considered it throughout the week, but I just want to make sure he gets 100% better and don’t put him out there too early. Tthought about it as a possible backup or emergency, but I think the more time we give him, the better.

On if Purdy’s status impact Jones

No, nothing changes Mac in that way. We’re trying to ease Brock out there in the practice stuff, but I mean anytime you’re dealing with his turf toe, it’s it’s something that probably won’t fully go away all year. You know, regardless of when he comes back, he’s going to always have to deal with it a little bit. Especially the people you talk to have gone through turf toe. So, it’s really about just assessing when’s the best time to come back that you have to deal with it the least. And it’s a little bit of a tricky decision.

On potential offseason surgery for Purdy

Not that I’ve been told.

On if he spoke with defensive lineman Mykel Williams, the 49ers’ first-round draft pick, who sustained what the 49ers fear might be a season-ending knee injury.

Yeah, just real quickly. He’s just down you never know. So, I said, “Hey, hopefully it’s not the worst, but if it is, yeah, it sucks for this year, but that’s all it sucks for. You’ll be back next year and this won’t affect you at all.

After just 10 rushing attempts last week, impressions on the running game

I thought that collectively as a team, we were able to stick with it. I mean, I think last week just the amount of runs was indicative that, you know, we had the least amount of plays I think in like 40 years. I think that affected a lot of stuff. But i thought getting the run game going today, wearing them down (was important), and the way you get those numbers called is how you finish games. To be able to go wear them down, get a two-score lead, be able to stay on the field, have a I think a 10-play drive where I think nine of the plays are run plays, something like that. It was a huge team deal getting those run calls and feels very similar to (the Atlanta game) in that way.

On what kind of shot in the arm Jones has provide

I just know how much confidence guys have in Brock, and when Brock goes down, when you lose your starting quarterback, it’s always tough on a team. But the way Mac stepped in there going back to (the game against) New Orleans and how he was that first game to how he’s been in practice, how he was in the offseason. Mac’s been great.

On McCaffrey having more than 30 touches

Christian’s always been pretty durable, you know. I mean, I think last year he had something that bothered him in the offseason that never fully went away. And when it finally did get better, he tore his knee on a random run versus Buffalo. So if you ask Christian, and I agree, Christian’s always been a very durable player, but when you get bad injuries on stuff and that affects guys and you miss the year. Christian is the most conditioned, prepared athlete I’ve ever been around. He’s such a big factor in blocking, running, passing. He’s one of the best players I’ve ever been around. I’d like to say he figured something out, but I mean the guy goes as hard as he can every offseason, so there’s not much more to figure out.

Mac Jones

On the start by the offense

Felt good. I definitely feel like we started better as an offense. That’s been the complaint for the past couple of weeks, so we definitely want to do that the best we can and then continue those drives too. And we really left some out there, so just got to get better.

On Watkins’ catch

It was great. Yeah, it was a hurry-up play, and as a rookie, you just have to get that communicated to you, and it’s hard. It’s tough stuff. They were scrambling on defense and then he just made a competitive catch and we’ve worked on that. Y I’ve had some reps with them in OTAAS and stuff and we’ve had some of those contested catches, but really good job, strong hands and he came up with it.

On the weekly uncertainty of Purdy’s status

It doesn’t really affect my preparation, to be honest. I’ve been fortunate to play both roles, starter and backup in this league, so I understand what what I need to do to get ready to play, and really it’s about my health and my body and just trying to get back to 100% for myself. I know Brock’s working hard and he’s done a great job every week helping me get ready, and and that’s all you can ask from your quarterback.

On what Robinson adds to the offesnse

He’s the man. I know he’s been kind of itching to get get a chance, and we’ve talked about it. Nothing bad, but I’m like, “Stay ready, dude. It’s coming.” You know, Christian’s just done a great job. And I was like, “Your day is coming.” You know, I said that last week and this week. He’s done a good job just taking it day by day and attacking the line of scrimmage, knowing what to do. He’s just more comfortable and looks like how he did in college to be honest.

Did he know he was 14 of 14 at halftime?

No. Am I supposed to?  I never really like think about it like that to be honest, just because it’s more about my eyes in the right spot. But that is cool. And I mean honestly right before half we had a (potentia) touchdown and I just took too long and didn’t step up on that fumble or whatever it was. We really were going to score there. So I was pissed about that. I’m just trying to keep moving the offense down the field however we can do it. And what a great job by the offensive line with the running game and and limited sacks.

Is this the most confident he’s ever been in the NFL?

I’m pretty confident in myself. I think I’ve had my, I’m not going to say issues, but I’ve been had my up and downs with that. I really just tone it down to just believing in myself and believing in Kyle and the system here and the guys just let me be myself, which is kind of different than what I’ve had in the past. I appreciate that. And it takes, I say all 33, all 11 on offense, defense, and special teams. So, (I) really just thought we had a good team win. As always, I’ll watch the tape and get better. But (I) definitely feel comfortable and I’m not going to lose confidence in myself.

On backup QB Adrian Martinez getting his first snap in the NFL on the final play of the game

Kyle already took his headset off and I’m like, “Go on, Adrian.” So, I just subbed myself out. Um, snuck snuck to the sideline, but I was happy. I think Adrian was going to go in  either way and they wanted him to get in there, but when they scored, you know, you just got to get the first down with the with offense. Once we were taking a knee, I  definitely wanted Adrian to be there. He’s just been awesome to be honest. He’s he’s a good friend of mine, just gotten to know him. Um he’s been a great voice in that room along with Brock and (Kurtis Rourke) as well. So we got a great room.

On the feeling around the team being 6-3

This is a big big one for us, and we talked about it yesterday after practice. Having played five years in the NFL now and you really have to look at this game as like a playoff game almost. And I feel like we we answered the bell there. Like I said, all  33. That’s what we talk about, everyone’s got to be on the same page. So, we definitely answered the bell, but the challenge is don’t be complacent and we got to do it again next week. So, that’s that’s the goal.

On if the turf is a concern

I played on it a few times, and I just adjust my cleats if I feel like it’s an issue. It’s a football field, and we’ll play wherever we have to play in the parking lot or on the field.

On if he’s been able to be himself more with the 49ers

Yeah, for sure. I really do feel that. It’s not a knock on anybody, just  I feel like this is a great organization, that it’s a lot of laid-back people and that’s more my personality and just lets me be me. And all the guys every day, they’re the same guys every day. Whether we’re down in a game like last week or up in a game like this week, there’s the same mentality and I really appreciate everybody from coaches to everybody. But like I said, we’ve got to keep going. It’s one good week and trying to do it again next week.

Christian McCaffrey

On the importance of the 49ers’ two quick scores early in the game

It was good. I think coming out strong  is always important to us, but I think when you look at the duration of a football game, it’s just important to keep emphasizing with our team just to stay emotionally sharp throughout the whole game, mentally sharp throughout the whole game. Yyou can you can score seven points early and then and might not get another (opportunity) until  the fourth quarter. So, it’s all about just taking it one play at a time.

On Robinson’s big game

It was awesome, man. He runs so hard, and it feels like this whole season you could tell he’s itching and might not be the way he wants it to be right now. But to have him is huge for me. It means a lot to me. He pushes me. And the way he runs, if we can continue to kind of get that flow of the game in there, man, I’m really excited. You couldn’t ask for a guy to have a better attitude to come in to work every day and to have that mindset and to keep pushing. I’m really pumped he’s in our room and and I think it’s only going to get better.

How much of a spark was Watkins’ catch in the first quarter

That was huge.  I think that was might have been — and I kind of black out during games; I don’t remember like a whole lot — but I think when you look at the tape, that might be one of the plays of the game for sure. I know it’s early and a lot happened after that, but that was huge.

On being aware of how hot Jones was in the first half

I did not know that. No, that’s awesome though.

Did you sense something different from him? 

No. Max, he’s he’s like that every day. He’s uh cool, calm and collected, but competitive and fiery, and he’s a great operator in the huddle. He sees it really well, and obviously can make any throw. We love we love the confidence that he plays with.

On his big reception down the sideline late in the game

It felt good. That was actually an unbelievable play by Mac, because that play wasn’t initially supposed to have that happen. I think they just dropped me and forgot to cover me and you know, I was supposed to run a longer route but I just turned and when I turned the ball was in the air. That was a huge play by him, after that it’s a lot of green grass.

On the feeling of the team being 6-3

It’s a great feeling. We worked really hard this week. We had a good week of preparation and came out and it wasn’t perfect and and we we’ll correct those mistakes, but I think this team’s pretty urgent right now. It’s been good to come back from losses with big wins, but I think with this team it’s important that we take a win like this, learn from it, get better, but just continue the momentum into this next week.

George Kittle

On the importance of Watkins’ third-down catch

Well, keeps us on the field, rips it away from a guy and a way to bounce back from, you know, he had a drop last week. I told him I was like, “Look, there’s got to be more opportunities. Just go make a play.” And that was his like first play of the day.  I really love when young guys step up and their number’s called and they make a play because all it does is just give them confidence to go into the next week. And so I just expect to see Jordan continue making plays for us.

On the balance of the offense

Mac’s doing a great job about seeing the field, and iwhen eight guys catch the ball that means that coach Shanahan has trust and belief into eight guys and multiple guys on our offense, which is good. It’s better when we spread the ball around and not just force feeding on our two guys. Christian’s going to get his reps or his touches, but when you can give the ball to other guys and they’re continually making plays and guys are selfless about it, you know like no one’s complaining like “oh you know I only got two targets today.” But hey if you catch those two targets you’re moving on. That’s a great way to have a healthy offense. What did we have today, 34? Love it,  love 34 points

On Jones becoming more comfortable on the team

I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty sure he’s had the confidence.  I think he’s just opened up to the boys because we’re a very supportive team, we’re very inclusive team. We like to do things together, we like to hang out. Mac is an honorary tight end. He just has that juice to him. He has that energy, that kind of free flowing love. Mac fits in perfectly with our locker room, and then all he’s done is I mean, what’s his record as a starter? Five and two, right? Yeah, pretty good.

I just want Mack to keep being Mac, and he’s helping our team out tremendously. If he feels like he gets to be himself more with us, that makes me extremely happy because that’s what my goal is. I don’t want guys that feel like they have to fit a certain mold. Yeah, our mold is high energy, high effort, play as hard as you possibly can and hit people really hard. And if Matt can just be himself out there, that’s fantastic for us because when people are just allowed to be themselves, I think that’s when they are at their best.

On who this team is after nine games and what it can be

We have a very good offense with the potential to be a great offense. We have a veteran offense. We have guys that have played a lot of snaps together, guys who have won a lot of games together, guys who have gone through, you know, bad games together. And so I think as a offense, we’re very connected. Our offense needs to score a lot of points week in and week out. That’s just what it is, cuz we have a young defense with our two best players are out. Injuries galore kind of on the defensive side, and luckily our offense has been able to continue to score points, and when we’re scoring points like today I think we’re going to have a lot of success. And then when we have 12 plays in the first half like last week, it’s going to be a really tough season. So I just I think there’s, I don’t want to say pressure, I just think there’s a ton of opportunity in the offense to go out there and just score a bunch of points and have a bunch of guys involved with it. So that, and (kicker) Eddy P. What an absolute G. Love that guy. Gosh, he’s fun. I love that guy.

On kicker Eddy Pineiro

His locker is directly across from mine, like 10 ft away. It was really fun to meet him. Great energy. Actually, I think his first day (with the team) we got to sit down and have lunch together, and (I) instantly got a great vibe off of him and I love his energy. He’s fantastic. Just hype man, good vibes all the way. And he loves football, too, which is pretty fun, which I really enjoy.

On a sequence where he interacted with 49ers fans when the K-pop song Golden played during the third quarter

I was pumped. I mean, K-pop Demon Hunters is is a great movie. I actually got made fun of by multiple people for wanting to watch it. I was like, look, it’s like the number one streamed movie globally after like two days. So I’ve got to watch it. Turns out great movie, good plot, good storyline, character development, great music. And so they played like the number one hit from that, was it Golden? I got a great energy. The crowd responded well. I was like, let’s just have a nice little dance party, get the juices flowing. The Niners faithful represented it very well. So, I was pretty pumped about that.

On 49ers fans that were at the stadium

They were so good. They always are. Our road fans are just so good cuz a lot of the road fans, like this is their only opportunity to see us, and so like they just go um balls to the wall, I’ll say, you know, when they’re cheering out there . It’s just so fun to see them. They’re just so excited to watch us play. And you can just feel that energy really throughout the entire game, as long as we give him something to cheer about.

On the poor reputation of the turf at MetLife Stadium

This is actually was the last stadium I’ve ever not played in. So, it was my first experience on the turf. I’ll say I think it’s significantly better than it was in 2020 because it’s all packed down and people have been playing on it. My only issue with it is like when someone’s field is like the butt of a joke throughout all of social media constantly, like on every NFL meme page, all that stuff everybody jokes about how bad it is. I feel like at that point, you know, someone should just take a look at it . No NFL field should be the butt of a joke. Ever.

I feel like all the fields should be have a level of safety to it. I just don’t get like why there’s not a standard for, hey, you got to pick between one or two turfs. There shouldn’t be 12 different turfs and 12 different grass fields and then a couple guys have the same things. I just think that It’s weird cuz  it’s not like basketball players playing on different hardwood. That’s all the same. Soccer players in Europe all play on really nice grass. So, it’s just weird to me. But that’s really way above my pay grade. I don’t make the money to make those decisions, but I’d love to.