Injuries from the game. [LB] Dee Winters had an ankle, didn’t return. [LB] Tatum Bethune, groin, didn’t return. [QB] Brock Purdy had a stinger there at the end, he would’ve returned. [LB] Luke Gifford had a quad and returned. Go ahead.
Any of those seem like they could linger into next week?
Possibly with Tatum and Dee. I’m not sure about Luke. They said Purdy would’ve gone back in. He checked out alright. But that’s what we’ve got now.
What did you think of Seattle’s defense, especially the pressure they put on Brock?
I mean, it was what we expected just with their defense. We expected to do better than we did, but we knew it was a good defense. We knew that in Week 1, we knew it from watching tape all week. We knew it would be a challenge and they got us in a number of moments, had a couple opportunities I thought that we missed. And you can’t miss those versus a team like that.
You never want to put it on one play, but do you imagine if you are able to recover that fumble, it might have been a very different game?
Yeah, I think there were a bunch of plays though. A chance to recover that fumble could be different, chance to stop them on third-and-17 on that run could be different. You know, the turnover at the end inside the five, their third-and-two, our fourth-and-two, a number of plays that could make it different.
The offense is struggling more than we’ve seen in a long time. Obviously, the defense is really good. What did you see from the execution?
I mean, I think having 40 plays, couldn’t get the run game going. I think we only had 12 runs. I think we converted one third down in the first half. That was a series, I think the only series that we got the score on. But, you convert two third downs in a game, they control the clock for 40 minutes, just kind of the opposite of what happened last game. I thought we did better on our third downs we played them in Week 1, we had the ball for 40 minutes. We averaged about three yards a carry in that game, but we stayed on the field so we were able to get 36 runs. Today the run average was similar, but we only got 12 of them. They controlled the ball, kept it from us. And when we had to get something going, we didn’t stay on the field on third.
You talked a lot about wanting to stay here and not go back on the road, and now you know that you have to. What’s the feeling and what have you said to the team?
Oh, we’re ready for it. I mean, yeah, it would’ve been nice to have a home game here or both home games and get a Bye. But, it is what it is. I mean, this team’s been through a lot this year. Now we’ve got to do it the hard way and we’ll embrace the shit out doing it the hard way and look forward to it.
Do you try to get the guys to be upbeat after this one or do you understand any kind of disappointment they might feel? What was the mood of that locker room?
Oh, disappointed. Those guys, regardless of how well we did, our guys really fought out there. Our guys were exhausted after the game, like we are after every game. I told them to enjoy tomorrow. We don’t know whether we’re going to play Saturday, Sunday or Monday. We don’t know who we’re going to play until after the afternoon game. But, when they come in here Monday, come in ready to go wherever we’ve got to go and hopefully we can earn a chance to see that team again.
How close or not close were T Trent Williams and WR Ricky Pearsall to playing?
They were pushing it. It would’ve been too risky to play them though. They pushed it all the way up to the end, but it wouldn’t have been the smartest decision by us to let them.
If this was on Sunday would they have had a better chance to go?
Oh, yeah. Much better chance.
Do you think Seattle might be the best team in the NFC other than yourself?
I don’t know. I mean, anytime you’ve got a good defense, a very good defense, a good offense, I mean, they’ve been showing that they’re one of the best teams in this league all year. That didn’t feel much different than the team we played in Week 1. I thought the game was a little bit similar in terms of the battle on both sides, just to get in the end zone. But, they’ve earned the number one seed. They played like that throughout the whole year and we’re going to have to earn the chance to get to play them again.
Was there any specific area, defensively, where you have trouble coping more than anything else?
No. I mean, it’s similar to what they do each week. You know, they’ve got a good pass rush, they’re tough to run the ball against and they’re tough to get explosives against.
Fourth-and-two, play action. Was that look something over the middle there? I didn’t really see anybody who he could have directly thrown it to.
Yeah, we would’ve hit [TE George] Kittle.
No, he was extremely open. You know, they had one guy had a cover two, a go-route and Kittle. But, we got beat inside on that and weren’t able to hang in there for it. I think it was [Seattle Seahawks LB Demarcus] Lawrence who showed up right when the quarterback got to the top of his drop.
How would you assess Brock’s performance?
I’ll see when I watch the tape, but I thought Brock battled out there. The one drive, we got something going on where we turned it over there inside the five. But, he made some big plays on that drive. I thought he battled throughout the game. I know he was under duress, which we had a feeling that would be the case going into the game. But, none of us played good enough to win, but not disappointed at all in Brock. I thought he battled like he always does and did some good things.
They missed a couple short field goals, but 13 points. I mean, how did you think your defense played?
I mean, we need to tackle better. We need to play better than that. I was proud that they kept battling and was able to hold them to 13 points. That’s what gave us a chance there at the end. But, we need to play better all around.
When you guys have so many missed tackles, are there reasons for it other than guys over-pursuing or what Seattle’s doing?
No, there are not reasons for it. Just got to be better.