Vikings - 23 49ers - 17
Q. Kyle, how did you feel about, you know, how you guys played today. All three phases seemed like they were pretty significant breakdowns along the way.
KYLE SHANAHAN: Yeah, give them a lot of credit. They played real well, but it was too sloppy on our part. The two turnovers on offense, struggling on third down on both offense and defense, the special teams with the blocked punt. Might as well -- the same as a turnover to us.
It was disappointing. We can play a lot better than that, but tip my hats off to them. They're part of the reason.
Q. Was there something about the way you expected this game to go to that made you more willing to go for those fourth downs?
KYLE SHANAHAN: No. Just didn't mind the decision in those situations where we're out on the field, when you're just outside of field goal range, the down and distance. And then I don't mind going for it inside the 2, knowing that we'll pin them back. They made a helluva play to get out of there. But didn't like the results, obviously.
Q. Was the Jefferson play a coverage thing, or was it --
KYLE SHANAHAN: No, it was just beat a man coverage, and they launched the throw and got it past the middle third safety which made it a house call.
Q. You guys got it 20-14. They didn't have Jefferson. Obviously, they were playing without Adams. How disappointing was it to not come up with the stop in that moment?
PS: Yeah, it was tough. They got us on third down. We had a couple opportunities to get off the field. Sam made a couple good throws. They were go on third down all day. We had our opportunities with the turnovers they got. But they made some good plays and it was tough after that.
Q. You talked about the plays Fred Warner made and a bunch of other different aspects.
KYLE SHANAHAN: The two turnovers were huge. That's what gave us a chance. I mean, both of them were just like what he did verse the Jets. He made a good read in zone read on Sam, getting the pick. But not giving up on the screen and knocking the ball out, same as last week.
Q. Seemed like an emotional physical letdown after a good week one. Do you attribute that to a short week, being on the road?
KYLE SHANAHAN: No. There was no emotional letdown, nothing like that. Attribute it to not doing well on third down. We didn't stop the run very well. And blocked punt, things like that. Football things.
Q. Anything you can put your finger on why you're not able to finish drives right now with touchdowns?
KYLE SHANAHAN: We didn't convert on third down. When you go 2 -- I think we were 2 of 9 on third down, which usually doesn't lead to touchdowns very much unless you're doing it all on first and second. One in three fourth down doesn't help. I think we finished, I think on the last were 2 of 4 in the red zone. It was a challenge today. We can do better.
Q. How would you assess Brock?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Some good things, some bad. Kind of like the whole team, all of us.
Q. Can you pinpoint why you all have started slow?
KYLE SHANAHAN: No, there's not a theme for you guys. You have to go over the three plays that we had last week and the three plays we had this week.
Q. Seems like pass protection was pretty good for a lot of the game. Then once you guys started getting predictable. What can you do to better protect the quarterback when you're in those passing situations time and time again?
KYLE SHANAHAN: I mean, that's why we try really hard not to get in those situations. When you do, that's when football becomes a lot harder. There's times you can chip, which we did, things like that. But they also have a very good blitz scheme, caused a lot of confusion. Give them a lot of credit, and we've just got to keep working.
Q. Did you feel pretty hopeful when they got the ball with the six-point lead before they got the field goal?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Yeah, I did. Felt real good. The day had been tough. Then once we were able to get the turnover, go down and score and make it a one-possession game, felt real good. Got them in some third downs I think we had an advantage in. But they made some big third down plays, kept the chains moving, and finished with a field goal.
Q. 17 points in this stadium two years in a row. What is Brian Flores doing to limit this offense more than others?
KYLE SHANAHAN: He does a good job. They were number one in the league last year in run defense. Looks that way this year. Thought we ran the ball pretty well. That doesn't always score you points. Got to cross the end zone. They mix it up a ton.
He did a real good job, and we made some mistakes that cost us. When it's like that, can't overcome the turnovers, the blocked punt, thing like that. Credit to them. Credit to him.
Q. Which Christian on IR, is that something you had to address with Jordan, or is it kind of unspoken that he's the guy if and did you have to any kind of words to get him going?
KYLE SHANAHAN: No, uh-uh. Jordan's -- didn't have to last week either. He does what he's been doing since he's been here. We've had two guys go down already so I think it's pretty obvious to him he's the starter. That's the case.
Q. Idea how long Christian might miss? Any timeline?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Nobody knows. We're dealing with tendinitis so there's -- not one person knows. He doesn't know. We don't know. Take it day by day by putting him on IR at least four weeks. That will give him some time to rest and kind of protect him from himself, us too. No matter how he's feeling, it's fourth at the minimum.
Q. Is there any sort of specialist or anything he's going to start --
KYLE SHANAHAN: He does a lot of that stuff.
Q. Did he have a setback?
KYLE SHANAHAN: No.
Q. Could he require surgery?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Not that I've been told.
Q. Obviously, you didn't want it to happen against you. But seeing Sam out there, him being successful, what went through your mind?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Just didn't surprise me. We knew we were up for a challenge. Sam is a helluva quarterback. Got a lot of arm talent. We knew scrambling-wise it would be a challenge today. He's got us in a couple of scrambles. He's done that his whole career and did it in college. We knew we had a challenge with him.
Q. Was your plan coming in to get Malik Mustapha rotated in the safety spot?
KYLE SHANAHAN: Yes.
Thanks, guys.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports