A rundown of what was said by key members of the San Francisco 49ers following a 17-3 loss to the Green Bay Packers in Week 4 of the 2015 regular season.
Comments provided by 49ers communications.
RB CARLOS HYDE What did the Green Bay Packers do so well defensively today that didn't allow you room to run or QB Colin Kaepernick time to throw?
"They brought the safeties down, played a zero look a lot. They brought extra defenders in the box. It's hard to run against eight or nine guys in the box."
Was it frustrating at all to see your defense come out with a pretty good game against Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers and you guys couldn't really generate the points to back that up?
"The defense played great, hats off to those guys. Offensively, we were able to move the ball to the red zone. We've just got to capitalize, that's all.
Do you feel like this is the type of coaching staff where you individually and the offense as a whole can speak what's on your mind and say what you do and don't like from what you've seen for four games?
"Yeah, we can go talk to the coaches any time we want. But the coaches just make the calls, the players have to execute. It's on us as the players to go execute their call, not us going to the coaches and telling them it's not working."
Last week you said you were willing to carry this team, you were ready to do that. Is this a situation where you lobby for more carries?
"No, I'll do whatever it is to help this team win. This week in practice I'll practice hard like I always do and just do my job, that's all I can control, my job."
WR TORREY SMITH Do you have more questions than answers after a game like this?
"We know what it is, but we aren't executing. We just have to get it right."
Do you have the relationship with 49ers offensive coordinator Geep Chryst and 49ers head coach Jim Tomsula that you can have closed door meetings and speak honestly about the frustrations you have, either personally or what you see in this offense?
"We don't have to have a closed door conversation. I can pick up the phone on Gameday and talk to Geep or talk to Tomsula. We're able to be honest with them, that's the good thing about it. They* *respect our opinions."
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Is this team struggling for an offensive identity right now? It's hard to tell if this is a read-option team or a run team. Are you struggling to find consistency?**
"We're an offense that can run the ball and throw the ball and we're not doing either well right now."
You had the one 47-yard reception, it seemed like this is what this offense has been lacking other than the Pittsburgh game. Is there anything there that can carry over?
"They played man-to-man and blitzed zero the whole game and we couldn't take advantage of it so it is what it is. That's what we can do."
How frustrating is it to get into the red zone and not be able to put up a lot of points?
"That's been our problem the past few weeks. We need to finish down there. There's no point of getting down there if you can't get touchdowns. We have to get better at that and execute."
Were there times where you felt you had the potential to get open but there was no time to get the ball to you?
"I feel like that every play. We have to get it together as a unit. When we have one-on-one* *matchups we have to be able to take advantage of it and protect up front. It's not always the offensive line's fault. It's not always Kap [QB Colin Kaepernick's] fault. We have our own problems outside so we have to all be in sync on those plays to make it happen."
CB KENNETH ACKER
We saw at one point that CB Keith Reaser was playing linebacker. Was that a new wrinkle specifically installed for this game?
"Keith is a versatile player. You could see a lot of the DBs playing around. When we were coming into the season, I think that was one of the big things that coach stressed, that we had guys that could play a lot of roles. I wouldn't be surprised if you saw him there again."
They scored a touchdown on that first drive. How did you guys stop it from being like, 'here we go again'? It had the makings of a bit of a blowout but you guys obviously buckled down.
"I feel like, as a defense as a whole, we kept the mentality the whole time that we were in the game. It wasn't about looking at the scoreboard or anything. They got a couple plays here and there, but if we would've got a play at one point we could've changed the game. Really, we just went out there every drive and it was like it was 0-0. We weren't looking at the scoreboard for any points or anything. We were just playing our game."
On some of those plays does it seem like you're covering those guys forever? Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is able to buy time like no one else in the game.
"Yeah, that's his game. You know that at some point you're going to get to him, which we did. The D-line did a really good job of getting pressure in his face, but you know at some point he's going to get open, and that's why he's one of the best quarterbacks in the league."
The long pass down the sideline to Packers WR James Jones, were you surprised the ball was there?
"I mean, surprised the ball was there? No. I was surprised it was still in bounds, actually. I thought I was pretty close to the out of bounds line. But that was my fault; I have to find the ball. It was one of those where you just say Aaron Rodgers made a good play. He got open and I was trying to find the receiver and the ball at the same time. It's something that I've done before, caught that interception before, and it's something that I definitely have to get better at because I didn't pick it."
DT QUINTON DIAL **
Were there some keys that you guys were doing that threw Packers QB Aaron Rodgers off his game a little bit?**
"We just won in one-on-one matchups and tried to get pressure and make him uncomfortable. That's what we were doing. At times we did it and at times we didn't."
It seems like you got back there and he was confused sometimes. The first read wasn't there and then you guys got to him after that. It seems like there were more guys maybe in defensive coverage.
"We just had a four-man rush pretty consistently throughout the whole game. We were just winning the one-on-one battles and getting push in the pocket."
The story of this game is going to be the defense played lights out and the offense didn't do much. How do you guys kind of stick together and not be finger-pointing at the offense or defense?
"I mean, we're a team. We have to feed off each other. We have to play better as a team. We don't point fingers in this locker room. We just have to come to work each and every day and just continue to grind. It's a long season. We have 12 games left, and nobody is going to lay down. We have 12 games left and we'll see what we're going to do." FB BRUCE MILLER
When you look at film, when you feel it out there, what are you sensing about what's not happening?
"It is frustrating, because you look at the personnel, the plan that we have in place, and all of the pieces are there to be successful. It gets really cliché, but it's execution. When the plays are there to be made, we have to make the plays. No matter what the play is, or what the position, or the person in that play that has the tough down, we have to make the play, at all positions."
RB Pierre Garçon, today, had 3 carries in the second half, 0 yards, 8 (carries) for 20 (yards) on the day. Here's a big horse, slashing runner, there's just no spaces for him to go.
"The running lanes were pretty tight and they played a heavy box. And sometimes it's like that, it's tough to run the football. They played well today on defense. We just have to play better. We have to block better, block longer, run harder. All areas of our offense I think we can improve, and we have to come together as a group and fix it."
QB Colin Kaepernick has been under siege. He was sacked at least four times today. Every time he's dropping back he has people in his face. He hasn't seemed to have found the rhythm or the confidence, and seems like everything that could go wrong has gone wrong.
"We've had some tough breaks. But kind of the same thing, when guys are open, the protection might not be there and then when the protection is there, the guys might not be open. So, we just have to find a way to put it all together, give him some open looks and keep him off the ground, and we'll just continue to get better."
Where do you think his confidence level is at, and what's your sense about how he's taking all of this?
"He'll be fine. He's the leader of this football team. He's the leader of our offense. He'll be fine. We had a rough day today as a group and we'll fix it and get better."
With three rough games in a row offensively, the pressure mounts. It's uncharted territory for a lot of you guys in that sense. What do you make of it?
"I think we just have to keep growing as a group. We have a lot of new faces. And you want to say every year's a new year, but we just have to keep climbing. We've got new guys in there, and we're trying to build chemistry. We're still learning. And like I said, we'll improve."
