Q. The efficiency on 3rd down in the last four games, what have you seen either in the huddle or in those plays that have led to over 45 percent conversion?
COOPER KUPP: I think there's just a focus, concentration, understanding the details. That's what it's been all along when things haven't gone well. It's just guys not being on the details, not being on those little parts of the game that make plays go. I think it's just that focus and the expectation that we're going to be able to find a way to get it done.
Q. You're a very cerebral football player, but how do you overcome or prevent overthinking, either in anticipation or film study?
COOPER KUPP: Well, I think your preparation is a huge part of it during the week. But it's funny, we just talked about it a little bit today, actually. My process is I take Saturdays, aside from the football we do in the morning, I don't spend much more time looking at the call sheet. I don't look at film or anything like that. I try to take a mental step back, allow myself the freedom to just be out of it for a second. When you lock back in on game day, man, all that focus, all that ability to just be there, be present, know that that preparation has happened, all that work has prepared you for this moment. You just get to go out there and play ball. That little bit of respite, that little bit of time I've found has helped me quite a bit.
Q. How was watching games with your kids?
COOPER KUPP: It was good. It was good.
Q. Did they point out any mistakes?
COOPER KUPP: Yeah, everyone did a really good job. Everyone was great.
Yeah, I do need to apologize. I didn't mean to call out Chris last week by name. I actually really like him. It's been great. I've had also conversations with him during production meetings and all that stuff. I felt bad because I like him so his name was in the front of my mind. I shouldn't have done that. Sorry, Chris. But no, everyone was fantastic.
Q. You talked last week about it being about the process and there still being little things to improve even during the bye. What does this week mean and what ratchets up even a little bit more in that locker room?
COOPER KUPP: Yeah, it's another week. There's nothing changing. It's another opportunity to get better. It's not like -- we talk about getting better in the regular season. Be a better team week 18 than you were week 1. This is week 19 for us, I guess, week 20, whatever you want to call it. But just another opportunity to go out there and improve and get better. That mindset doesn't change. That same intensity you brought to practice 5, 6, 7 of training camp, that's the expectation. We step on the field today, it's that same focus, that same intention.
Yeah, I think that process has gotten us to where we are today, and it's not going to change.
Q. What lessons, if any, have you learned on building a relationship with each quarterback you've played? How has that evolved?
COOPER KUPP: Yeah, well, in terms of just -- the way I build a relationship with quarterbacks?
Q. Yeah.
COOPER KUPP: Yeah, I think it all starts with just loving football. You get to a point where you love this game and you're going to spend time together studying it. A lot of time it's outside of the mandated time that we have as an organization. Being in those places, it helps. It helps just being able to dive into something that you love and talk high-level football, and from there all kinds of things come off of it, just being able to spend some time together, intentional time where you're not on your phones, you're working towards a goal. You're working towards something together.
That kind of collaboration, it builds just the trust that I think is really important in any relationship. So I don't think it's -- there's not a science to it. That's just how I -- it's natural.
Q. We've seen with Kyle Shanahan's offense a lot of times trying to get defenses into certain personnel groups. When you have a defense like the Seahawks' defense that just stays in what they stay in, how does that affect an offense?
COOPER KUPP: Yeah, it is challenging. Being a part of this offense this year is the first time I've really seen us really take that similar approach that the 49ers have done with lots of different personnel changes and making the defense match things.
It presents a lot of challenges. I think a lot of it is also just making people practice. Coaches talk about it all the time; you only get so much time to practice. You only get so many reps. I don't know how defensive coaches do it because you've got so many plays that you run during the course of a season and you're trying to practice all those different things against all the different possible looks that you could possibly call, but you present a lot of things. You give defenses a lot of stuff that they've got to prepare for, and that becomes a great challenge.
I think the advantage in that regard is a team that can stay simple in that regard defensively. We do a great job in a few different personnels, and those guys fight the uphill battles really well, and it makes it a great challenge for the offense.
Q. This is obviously a big historic rivalry. In your experience, have you noticed that there's a difference in rivalry games at all like when you were with the Rams and you played the 49ers all the time or whatever?
COOPER KUPP: In terms of the preparation, all that different stuff, it stays pretty much the same. Maybe a little more chatty out on the football field, a few more hellos and goodbyes and things like that. But outside of that stuff, it's an NFL football game.
Q. Do you remember your first playoff game?
COOPER KUPP: I do, against the Falcons.
Q. What stood out about going into the playoffs for the first time as a pro?
COOPER KUPP: There was definitely a -- I've talked about it before, like the atmosphere of pregame is different. There's definitely an excitement of playoff football. But then the game starts and you're playing ball, and so -- I remember the Coliseum, walking out there, and it's like, man, the buzz was real pregame. But then you go out there and you're playing. Played on the most slippery surface I've ever been a part of.
But yeah, like I said, once the first snap happens, you're playing ball.
Q. It's definitely going to be a really loud environment. Having played here as an opposing offense, what kind of factor is that crowd noise?
COOPER KUPP: Man, that's everything. It makes everything so much more difficult. I mean, I can't wait to see what it's going to be like stepping into Lumen being able to be on the other side of it and see a stadium really come alive.
I've played in games where the crowd -- they feel like another player out there for you, or against you, I guess. So just coming into this week, I'm excited. The expectation is as soon as their offense steps on the field, that volume is up. As soon as their communication starts, the volume is up, and it doesn't stop. It doesn't stop until our offense comes back out on the field. I'm really excited to see our fans bring that to life because I know they've brought it all year. Excited to see what kind of a playoff atmosphere can be like, what they can create for us. It'll be really cool.
Q. When you came up here a few years ago for that playoff game in the pandemic when there were no fans, how much that just leveled the competitive playing field?
COOPER KUPP: Oh, it's huge, and that year was crazy in and of itself. But when you take that out of it, just the -- what it allows you to do offensively, the ease of like, hey, 3rd downs, especially anytime that you're in the huddle and you're like, we've got to be on our stuff, talking about 3rd downs and the detail and the focus that's required, if you can't hear, if you're having to wait -- if you're having to have the quarterback repeat things and two or three seconds ticks off the clock, they've got to get something communicated, that's a big deal. That's two or three seconds that the QB doesn't get up at the line of scrimmage. Yeah, those things definitely play a role and are impactful.
Q. A lot of receivers make it really clear when they think they've been interfered with or held or something like that. A couple times this season it looked like you got held and you seemed a little bit more quiet. Is that something that's intentional?
COOPER KUPP: No, that's not good, actually. I should really be selling that more. No, that's a good coaching point. I need to take that to heart.
Q. Going back to that January of '21, you talked about the buzz there is for most playoff games. Was that weird being in an empty stadium for a playoff game?
COOPER KUPP: Yeah, that wasn't super cool. Touching on it, the environment is created by the people that fill that space. As much as we prepare and all this different stuff that happens, when you step out into that stadium, the 60,000, 70,000 people that are going to fill that stadium, that are going to create the environment, going to create the buzz, going to create the electricity, yeah, not having that, it's definitely -- it's not how the game is meant to be played. There's supposed to be that factor. There's supposed to be that electricity, the ebbs and flows.
It's crazy, you can run a route and I can know a lot of times where the ball is just because of the environment changes. It's loud, and suddenly there's that drop because the ball is in the air and you're waiting for what happens. The stadium tells you a lot about what's going on around you. Just a natural part of the game.
Yeah, that was tough not having that.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports