The 49ers won their fifth straight game Sunday, beating the Miami Dolphins 33-17 even after losing starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a foot injury.
Rookie Brock Purdy replaced Garoppolo and helped the 49ers’ offense keep ticking, as he completed 25-of-37 passes for 210 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Christian McCaffrey was the 49ers’ leading rusher and receiver with 17 carries for 66 yards to go along with eight catches for 80 yards and a touchdown.
The 49ers’ defense allowed its first second-half points in the last five games, but that 45-yard Tua Tagovailoa pass to Tyreek Hill was the only touchdown allowed after the game’s first play (a 75-yard catch-and-run by former 49ers WR Trent Sherfield). The defense also picked up a second-half score of its own when Nick Bosa strip-sacked Tagovailoa and Dre Greenlaw returned the ball 23 yards for a sealing touchdown.
Next up is a Dec. 11 date with the Buccaneers and San Mateo native Tom Brady. The health of Garoppolo, Brady’s former backup in New England, will be of paramount concern for the 49ers.
Kyle Shanahan
On Garoppolo’s suspected lisfranc injury:
Just hearing it is pretty crushing. We know what Jimmy’s been through, how hard he’s worked at this. … It’s such a special win but definite mixed emotions hearing about Jimmy. I told the guys right after the game so I know that gave them some mixed emotions fast, too.
On moving forward:
It was a hell of a job by Brock coming in, stepping it up. He did a real good job today and we’re gonna be ready to do our best to overcome this.
On whether he saw Garoppolo:
He had already left by the time we got in. I know his family was here and stuff, so I think he got out sometime in the third quarter and everything and went home, so I’ll get to him as soon we’re done.
On whether Lance could come back:
No, he can’t.
On Brock Purdy:
Brock came in and made some big plays. He’s got some balls out there. Forgive me for saying it that way . We gotta clean some stuff up, obviously, But just throwing him in there in the heat of the battle like that. Just, how much zero (coverage) that team did, too, which you guys could see, that was a big plan of theirs and they had some good adjustments, taking away some of our hot throws. So we were having to change a lot of stuff on the fly, putting a lot of pressure on him in that way and I thought he did a hell of a job doing it.
On feeling for Jimmy:
You know how much these players put into it, and how much rides on it just for their career, their family. Everything is based off staying healthy and stuff. So for the individual, for whoever it is, you’re always crushed because it’s a very tough sport. This is what these guys commit to coming out of college and it’s always hard for guys with injuries and then obviously when it’s the quarterback of your team, it affects guys a little bit more.
On talking to GM John Lynch about next QB addition:
That’s stuff those guys even start working on during the game. That’s something they’re staying up with, everyone’s practice squads, everyone who’s out there. So they always have a list of people and we’ll be discussing that tonight. We know we got to bring someone else in.
On the mental fortitude of the defense and the team:
They didn’t waver, they didn’t hesitate, you could tell it didn’t faze them, and losing our quarterback on the second series in the first quarter there, was a big deal but you don’t feel anyone on that. You don’t feel any difference on guys on the sideline.
On miscommunications with Purdy/taking timeouts:
You never know til they come out of the huddle and when they come out in a completely different play than what you called, that’s when there’s a hearing issue.
On Purdy:
Looks a lot more often for the deeper one than the shorter one, which is awesome. Sometimes it helped today, you know, a couple earlier I thought he missed, just having someone quick right there and just trying to look for something deeper and then run out of time, come back to the short one. So that was what we liked about a guy’s personality. You want that much more than the other way.
On Bosa responding to motivation from a team meeting with his fourth-quarter sack:
He came right up to me and I thought we’re gonna celebrate together and he goes ‘That’s what happens when you talk that way about me in a team meeting.’
Brock Purdy
On his preparation:
This week was just like any other week in terms of trying to chip away and do my thing and try to get better and find ways to find an edge to get better.
On Jimmy:
Sadly, it’s part of the game, you know. I love Jimmy, what he’s done in terms of just taking me in and being a brother to me and telling me little things and his experiences so far in his career that have helped him and he shares with me. He’s not like a secretive guy or anything, like he wants the guys in that room to be better to push him as well.
So to see him go down like that, man, that sucks. Also, I have to be ready to roll for the rest of the game.
On getting into the game:
It wasn’t like I was out there shaking and like ‘oh shoot, what do I do? What’s my read?’ None of that, man. Every single week, I act like I’m the starter, I gotta prepare like I’m the starter.
On his performance:
I’m excited that we won, first and foremost. I expect a lot out of myself. So you can say it’s my first time going in, in a meaningful time in the game and trying to win and everything. But for me, man, I’m a perfectionist in a sense but that’s how the game is. You’re not going to be perfect and I have to know that and continue to enjoy the good parts and learn from the tough times.
On facing heavy pressure:
We knew that they had done that in the past in certain situations in the game, but to do that almost every third down early in the game and then even a couple of first and second downs. It’s like all right, they’re definitely trying to pressure me, to get me off my toes. Maybe they don’t respect me because I’m a rookie. It’s part of the game.
On facing Brady in his first start:
I think it’s really cool. Dude’s been playing football longer than I’ve been alive.
Fred Warner
On Jimmy:
I had no idea it was that bad. My heart goes out to Jim. The way he competes, the way he prepares every week. Just a freak thing, you know. That sucks.
On Purdy:
I have the most respect and confidence in him because I see him every single day on the scout team, the way he comes out and prepares and competes. The confidence he has, the swag he has, I got all the confidence in the world in Purdy.
On the first-play touchdown:
We knew it was just a breakdown in coverage, just a simple mistake out there an ultimately we want to obviously get them down in that position once he does catch it, but we didn’t flinch. We came back to the sideline and you can’t look at things like that emotionally. You got to just look at it for what it is and see how you can adjust.
On Bosa:
I think that everybody here knows that he’s just elite, he’s the best, and he put the stamp on it today. That’s what you need from your best players.
Kyle Juszczyk
On Jimmy:
I feel so bad for him and everything that he’s had to go through. It just seems like we’ve been down this road so many times and it’s truly unfortunate. I just feel for Jimmy.
On the injury:
It wasn’t til I think halftime that I found out that it could be something. I was honestly confused. I didn’t see him get hurt and next drive, I just saw Purdy warming up, where’s Jimmy at?
On stepping up:
When you lose a starting quarterback, it does. It puts more of a load on everybody. We all need to step up a bit more to pick him up in that area. And, you know, I think we got the guys to do it.
Christian McCaffrey
On Purdy:
Man, he plays with a lot of confidence. Didn’t miss a beat. Came in and was great in the huddle, obviously made some plays. I gotta make a couple more plays for him, I think. You know, when something like that happens, it’s on us to step up but he did a great job all the way til the end there.
On Jimmy:
It’s brutal. I haven’t been around a long time here, but I can’t say enough good things about him. I’ve been in that position before where, you know, you’re playing and you’re excited and it all has to end in a year and it really sucks and it hurts. But I can’t say enough good things about him from a leadership standpoint.
On the post-Jimmy mindset:
Nothing’s going to change as far as my mindset, as far as anyone’s mindset. It’s just go out there and execute.
On the drop, then the TD catch:
(Purdy) hit me in a second window, it was a great throw and I dropped it. For him then he came back to me and it was a touchdown.
On Mason:
He runs so hard. He can run any run. He’s a great spark for us. And obviously he’s an incredible special teams player as well, which doesn’t go unnoticed.
Nick Bosa
On feeling for Jimmy:
Yeah, it’s football. Stuff happens. He got his foot stepped on, right? Unavoidable.
On Jimmy’s recovery:
He’s going to be fine. It’s going to take time obviously … It just stinks because I really felt him coming on, even more so, this year. Just as he’s aways been a great leader, but I felt him really , really caring about this team and his part and obviously, his big role as quarterback and I saw him at halftime and it was pretty emotional.
On Purdy:
It’s hard to tell in practice but whenever he’s gotten a shot in preseason, he looked like he had some dog in him. I love his mindset. He’s super tough. He’s not afraid to make mistakes. He gets playmakers the ball, so he’s our guy now.
On his play in the second half:
I couldn’t get it off my mind, so I just kind of had to force myself to block it out and keep going and I think our defense, obviously, did a pretty damn good job.
On stepping up post-Jimmy injury:
Of course, whenever you lose somebody offense or defense, you have to step it up and I think we have the defense that could do that.
On Shanahan’s criticism:
He threw a little shade at me and the d-line, so we kind of talked in our meeting, we don’t like being called out like that. I mean, it’s our head coach so he obviously is right and he watches the tape more than anybody and he expects the most out of us, so I’m glad we were able to make an impact.
On what he said to Shanahan after strip-sack:
Don’t talk (stuff) about me anymore … or talk more (stuff) about me.
