“Wasn’t the prettiest of wins of all time, but any win in this league, preseason included, needs to be celebrated. It was an awesome atmosphere. First game at home. 12s were rocking. I’ve been told that’s nothing compared to the regular season. We’re excited for that in a couple weeks. We’re on to the next part of the process here. Got a couple big days ahead of us. Just proud of the effort of the guys really throughout the offseason, training camp. Think we got a heck of a group. Excited for the next phase here. But it was a good win.”
How is Uchenna Nwosu doing?
“Not sure yet. We’ll get it looked at tomorrow. We’ll probably know more in the next couple days.”
(Question regarding Geno.)
“Made some great throws, seemed decisive. Plan was to do a couple series. I think we saw enough after I think a good five plays.”
What about the defense, the one drive they had?
“Overall good. The energy was there. Execution was solid. We had the penalty on the third down, which is a little bit of a theme of the night, which is something we need to clean up moving forward. It was good to get the stop after we gave up the penalty.”
What happened to Uchenna?
Did you see the intensity that you needed to see from the first unit to the last unit?
“We gave up a lot of yards, and 33 points on the board is not going to cut it. Takes everybody. The standard is the standard. Not exactly pleased with the defensive performance as a whole. There was a lot of good things on tape, too. We’ll look at it and we’ll improve. We’ll see. We let them convert third downs on the third down penalties. Good teams are going to make you pay. They’ve made us pay.”
Have you made a decision on the starter?
“No. We’ll know in the next couple days.”
The play on Nwosu’s injury, is that a football play or…
“I don’t really want to comment on it. Seemed like an obvious penalty.”
Artie, his foot or something?
Jamie Sheriff, what have you seen out of his performance?
“He’s a guy that really stood out during the rookie tryout. Just kind of the message with all the guys; if there’s not a spot for you right now, we’re still invested in your growth and development. To his credit, he didn’t skip a beat since he’s been here. He should be proud of the way he played.”
Dee Eskridge had the big punt return. How have you assessed his pre-season?
“He’s capable of making plays like that. That’s the type of player he is. Proud of Dee. He’s worked his tail off to put himself in a good position here. He should be proud of himself.”
You got players up and down the roster that flashed. How hard is it going to be to make this cut in a couple days?
“Yeah, these are hard decisions. You just kind of let what’s best for the team be the guiding light. John (Schneider) and I, we’ve been hand-in-hand through this whole thing. I’m looking forward to kind of the next stage. This is a tough time. This is probably the toughest part of the job. I think if you look at it optimistically, you’re saying, this is a long-term investment. There’s opportunities for guys to be on squads, other people that have earned an opportunity somewhere else. Again, like Jamie (Sheriff), there might be an opportunity to come back. Hopefully the guys feel like we’re invested in their growth, as well. Bittersweet for sure. It’s going to be some tough decisions.”
Kenny McIntosh, what has he been showing you?
“Him and George (Holani), I thought both played really well. George didn’t have the flashy run, but he had some tough, good runs to get back to the line of scrimmage, get positive yards. I think both made plays on special teams. Just two really good players. Kenny Mac, another example of a guy that’s been working really, really hard. For him to have an opportunity to make such a great play, just really happy for him. Really happy for where he’s at. He should be proud of himself.”
Stiff arm get guys fired up?
“Yeah, the guys were fired up on that one. It was cool.”
How ready is the team to start the season?
“I think we’re right where we should be. We’re not the team that we need to be yet, but it’s still early. The important part is us to keep taking the steps we need to take. That’s going to be the focus here as the team starts to declare itself this week. Then we have a couple days’ break, then come back a full week getting ready for Denver. Whatever happens in the Denver game, it’s going to be the same mentality from that all the way through game 17 and into the playoffs.”
What did you think of the preseason that Dareke Young had?
“Really like Dareke. He’s a really good player. He does the right thing all the time. We’re on record about the type of toughness that he has, the type of football player he is. I don’t know what he did on teams today. I’m eager to watch that tape and see what Jay (Harbaugh) thinks, as well. I’m excited about him.”
When you and Jay (Harbaugh) settled on dual kickoff returns, is that the way you’re going to go?
“Yeah, probably for the most part.”
Mike Morris has played a lot this preseason. You used him different ways. What do you like about what he’s bringing so far?
“He’s just so big out there. He can play up and down the line. Underratedly versatile. Underratedly smart player, too. He just makes plays. He’s the guy that has been getting that group, that pass-rush, coordinated later in games. He’s been an asset for us.”
The Darrell Taylor trade yesterday, what went into that?
“I don’t want to get into all the details. For D.T., it’s a great opportunity for him. Excited for what he’s going to do. We’ll be rooting for him.”
Any indication that Dre’Mont (Jones) might be back?
“Yeah, it’s looking positive. We’re optimistic with Dre’Mont. We’ll see how many reps he gets and how we ramp it up.”
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
