On how he manages to stay calm in high pressure moments
“Well honestly I think the huddle’s calm. We just have a very calm huddle. Smooth in and out, we don’t panic. Nobody really has to say much, but we’re all just motivating each other and encouraging each other. We just have [a] good calm in the huddle when in such a situation. I’ll give it to the huddle to keep everyone calm. I think when you do it a few times, you know you can do it. We were all just huddling together like, ‘This is our time, guys. This is what we have built and what we have managed to become.’ I think it’s a really good crowd, and obviously, those guys help me stay calm throughout the game. At the end of the day, it’s just doing it over and over again and I know I have guys that are going to go out there and go on a game-winning drive because we’ve done it against many, many good teams.
On how well he knows 49ers QB Brock Purdy and how much he keeps up with what other guys in the league are doing
“Just a little. I met him for the first time last year when we joined [practiced] with them. I hear really good things about him, and I know he’s a good person from what I’ve heard. He does a great job with his witness as well. I just appreciate that and admire a lot about him. I think he’s using his platform for bigger things, as I want to do. He’s obviously really good at playing now. He’s one of those guys, he’s been to a Super Bowl, he’s played in a lot of big games. He’s a really good quarterback in our league, maybe a little underrated. I think it’s always really cool when you watch around the league and you see different teams playing and all that stuff. The appreciation level is really high, and we respect each other and we know what each other goes through. At the end of the day, he plays well.”
How important the run-pass balance is for him as a quarterback
“It’s important. I’ve been in times where you throw the ball too much, and you feel like that’s all you can do. Then it’s like I want to run the ball hard, and you want to throw it and stretch them down. At the end of the day, this is what the defense is giving us? How are we going to attack them? How are we going to be threats? How are we going to get our guys in space, if you and your guys on the field can’t run the ball. Say anything. If you throw the ball down the field and score, nobody’s going to say anything, it’s finding a fun way to do it well and being able to get down the field and sustain drives I think right now is first and second down run-pass, first and second early success, having a good run and we’re really trying to play the best defense.
On what the team is talking about and doing to avoid a slow start
“I think we know we can always be in the football game and always come back. That’s one of our strengths. We never lose the game. I think starting fast is key, and always has been. Really good teams that win overall, they have games where they start fast and they don’t just rely on going into the second half. At the same time, I’m thinking about all this right now. It’s like we don’t have a lot of plays so we have to sustain drives, we have to get the first one, first of all when we do that, I think we need to stay in this field earlier, the implementation.
In 49rs LB Dre Greenlaw and LB Fred Warner
“They’ve been in tandem for a while. They’re really good. They’re a really good duo. They play with really good vision, really good in space. They fit their defense really well, and they have for years. They’ve been there for a really long time playing at a high level. I found out that obviously [49ers LB] Dre said [Greenlaw] last year. He is a great player, a very good person. I know he will enjoy this game, and [49ers LB] Fred [Warner] became one of the best linebackers in the league forever. It will be a difficult task for us. We’re going to have to block them and put the hat on and just hope they don’t let it spoil the game.”
It’s on if they’re looking at technical or schematic things to try to start games faster
“I think all of the above is an organization. You look at all of the above. Obviously, as players, we look at the strategy and we look at the execution. The coaching staff, they look at the gameplan and all of that. So we’re all looking at ways that each one of us can be better and get off to a faster start. I don’t think we’re any further than what everybody else would be, but I think it plays into that, a third-down conversion, a drive on the first quarter and then all of a sudden we got caught a little bit faster I think it all goes back to what we were doing on first down to get us on second and third down in the first part of the drives, or we had to go on first down, second down, third down that’s just tiring as a fastest departure in general.
If he forces himself to be the solution to a faster start
“Not really because it actually could have led to a couple of plays that I did the other day, touches, and then you just make it worse. My job is just to get the ball to where it needs to go, and not force anything, take what the defense gives me and as an offensive group, we have to rely more on the run game, and completion and I don’t think that’s going to help all that time. Start. That’s a collective thing, and know let’s all do it individually to make it a collective effort.
Facing many 2-high safety looks and staying patient to reach long plays
“For some reason, that’s just the league and football the last two years. We went back to a lot of two-high zones and a lot of coverage and a lot of shells. As a quarterback, it is what it is. Obviously we want to get man-to-man, or get low safeties and throw it over their head, but at the same time, we don’t have a bad defense. We don’t have a bad defense. our matchups, find matchups, find ways to open things up and find ways to use the their coverage against them I think we did that a few times we had some good open shots the last couple of games that kind of led to our success in the second half. until we started running the football, and establishing it and getting some yards on the ground Because when we started doing that, they had to change.
In how he thinks he’s grown in handling defensive pressure
“Well you can always improve just by seeing it. I think we’ve done a great job of picking it up. We rarely have free blitzers. Sometimes they bring the house, and you know you’re going to have an extra one. We’ve got our blitz answers. We’ve seen blitzes, and I really feel like we’ve done a good job of not letting up. It’s best when we just get soft coverage, and they just play us, and line up and make us do some plays. thing, I think, when they get aggressive, over time, I think it’s just visible and I think that’s the best way to grow.
On his relationship with Commanders WR Luke McCaffrey from the 2024 Senior Bowl and meeting 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey and their father former Broncos WR Ed McCaffrey
“That’s really the first time I’ve been with him and really anybody from the family. Obviously being here, I’ve met their parents. Great family. You can obviously tell why the boys are the way they are. I think they’ve got great parents and they’ve been raised right and all that kind of stuff. It’s fun to be with [Commanders WR] Luke [McCaffrey]. I just met him now. All the buzz and everything that comes from family, you think you can just be a hotshot and think everyone knows who you are. But he just kept his head down and he worked. I think if I remember correctly, he probably played most of the Senior Bowl, which is rare because a lot of guys just pull themselves together, but he played the whole time. If I remember, I don’t remember him complaining about it, and he just loved it, and going out there and doing what was best for the team on a team week. So that’s amazing to me, and in my opinion represents him and his family pretty well. I have a lot of respect for the McCaffreys. They are obviously important to this town. It will be exciting to play against [49ers RB] christian [McCaffrey] this weekend.”