QB Jimmy Garoppolo

QB Jimmy Garoppolo

Press Conference – September 18, 2019

San Francisco 49ers

What do know about T Justin Skule and what have you learned about him since he’s arrived?

“He’s been very consistent. Smart guy, came into the huddle during the game, didn’t blink or anything. Just one of those guys, he does the right thing and he’s in the right spot. He’s been the same guy every day and you’ve got to appreciate that.”

Do you expect to face Pittsburgh Steelers S Minkah Fitzpatrick on Sunday and what challenges does he present?

“Yeah, they traded for him for a reason, so yeah we’d expect to see him out there. We’ll see what they do. I mean, learning a new defense and everything can be tough, so it’ll be interesting. He’s a hell of a player. Very, very physical, can cover very well.”

When you were in New England, you saw the Steelers a lot. Do you see the same things from them on tape that you’ve always seen and what is it?

“Yeah, their defense, they’ve always had a personality to them. Just a big, physical group. They like to get after you, bring some challenging blitzes and everything like that and put you in tough spot. But, that defense every year, they do a great job of replacing guys and still being a good, solid defense.”

As you know, they travel pretty well. Do you expect to have a real home-field advantage here? Since this building has opened, there hasn’t been much of one. What do you think of that?

“Yeah, I would expect so. I think our home crowd is awesome. These last two games in Tampa and Cincinnati especially, it turned into a home game with all the red out there. It was fun. So yeah, I would expect a great atmosphere this Sunday and hope the crowd’s rocking.”

You guys are 2-0, the Steelers are 0-2, they don’t have Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, they have to travel across the country. I guess, it seems kind of ridiculous given the lack of success here recently, but do you have to guard against, kind of, overconfidence and saying “We’ve got this?”

“Oh yeah, and I think we have the right locker room to do that, right coaching staff. They preach it to us every day, just to have that mindset and I think we have a good group of guys. Guys who come in, you can tell the intensity is just as high today as it was the first week. That’s the way you’ve got to have it throughout the year.”

Does what you guys went through the last couple of years sort of help you guys maintain that humility?

“Yeah, I would say so. I think we’ve seen the worst of the worst, so it’s one of those things that keeps pushing us.”

Did your time in New England help you learn how to handle success?

“Yeah, I think so. Being around that atmosphere and everything and just, you don’t want to get complacent because this league will humble you very quickly. I’ve seen it firsthand, so you’ve got to have the right mindset, I think. That’s a huge part of it.”

Why was the play action so successful on Sunday?

“When you rush the ball for 250 yards, that makes everything a lot easier. Those guys up front, selling the run, getting downhill on guys, the defense has to respect the run when you’re running it for whatever, 10 yards a carry it something like that. Just all those things coming together.”

Out of the 572 yards you guys had, 500 of them came on first and second down. How much easier does it make your life to be ahead of the chains like that throughout a game?

“It makes everything easier. Defensive coordinators live for the third down, especially when they get you into the longer distances. When you can avoid those and skip third down altogether, it makes everything so easy, makes calling the plays, [head coach] Kyle [Shanahan] gets into a better rhythm and everything. It’s a lot more fun that way.”

After the game, you talked about your interception as being stupid. Now, taking a look at it, what did you see on that one?

“Just can’t be greedy, one of those things. Just take the completion and move on. Just, I got excited, got too greedy, whatever you want to call it, and made a bad decision.”

Were you expecting man-to-man coverage on that play? Not expecting that particular corner to drop back?

“The interception? That wasn’t man-to-man.”

Right. Were you expecting it to be?

“Oh, was I expecting man-to-man? No, it’s just one of those things you’ve got to read it out as you go. You could expect things and try and anticipate, but that’s when you get into trouble. Just got to read it out as it is.”

Now that you guys have two wins under your belt, how would you assess how you and the offense are grooming, the receivers especially, since you were spreading the ball around a bit?

“Yeah, I think we had a lot of young guys coming into the season and everything, so those guys are just learning week by week and getting more comfortable with the verbiage, the way coaches are coaching throughout the week. It’s different from training camp and OTAs. I think we’ve gotten into a good rhythm. Obviously, some things to clean up that you think of every week, but it’s encouraging.”

You didn’t throw a ton of balls to WR Deebo Samuel in camp, but it seems like you guys are developing a rapport. How is your trust building with him?

“It’s moving in the right direction, especially when a guy, he just has the right mindset on the field, you see it in the huddle, you see it in his eyes. The moment’s not too big for him, so as a rookie, you’ve got to appreciate seeing that. I’ve said this before, he’s raw and has so much talent that we’ve got to bring out of him. He’s just moving in the right direction, so that’s the fun part.”