Obviously not the start that we wanted, credit those guys. I thought their defense came out and played really well. They had some good scheme. Obviously Coach Shanahan and the guys over there, knew they'd be ready to roll. For us, it was just not enough today. I felt like we weren't as efficient as we wanted to be on first and second down; third down we got to be way better as well. So not our best day today. We'll bounce back and be better next week.
Did you lose the ball on the back of Abe Lucas or did you drop it?
It came out off somebody. I don't know who hit it or what. I think it was off one of our offensive lineman's back. Yeah, didn't slip out or anything like that.
Who were you going to there?
Just going to check it down.
Do you wish you had gone for it on fourth and one at the 19-yard line?
I mean, first of all, it's not my decision. Second of all, that's a tough call. Whatever Mike (Macdonald) wants to do in that situation we believe fully in that. If we want to kick the field goal, great. If we wanting to go for it, great. For us, it's just about going out there and executing. I felt like we just didn't do a good enough job of that today.
The running game seemed like it was going pretty well early and then kind of stalled a little bit.
Did they do something or what did you feel like happened?
For the most part, especially early on, felt like we got some good runs in there. Like you mentioned, we got some one-, two-yard runs. I think at the end of the game as well in the fourth quarter I felt like we were able to get some good runs in there. Felt like the guys ran the ball well. Like I said, I think obviously wasn't the result we wanted. I don't know what the stats exactly look like. I don't think they're great. I thought we ran the ball well early in in the game and then we ran the ball well at the end. I think for me personally, I think I just need to take advantage of some of their looks on third down, hit our guys, and just be better overall and more efficient on first and second down.
What did Jaxon Smith-Njigba show you? Had a big game; then he has the fumble; and to come back and have some big catches later, what did that tell you?
He's resilient. Jax is a resilient player. He's been through a lot so far in his early career. Those are the things we expect from him. Go out there, you're going to play fast and mistakes are going to happen; it's about how you bounce back. I thought he did a really good job doing that.
In terms of being efficient on first and second down, what needs to happen there? You haven't looked at the film yet, but...
When I say that, just getting three or four yards on first down, getting three or four yards on second -- getting in those third and short manageable situations. When you start to get backed up a little bit in the second-and-10, obviously you want to be able to get five, get in that manageable. I think just as a whole we got to be better, more efficient on first and second down.
When you opened, you credited their scheme. Anything in particular that stood out maybe on the early downs?
In particular they switched up some of the fronts. Obviously they've got really good players. You know, Nick Bosa. I thought they played really well today. Obviously they got other really good players as well. So again, like I said, credit to those guys. I thought they prepared really well and had a good plan. I think we just got to play better as an offense and we'll leave it at that.
It's easy to say or ask this now, but do you think there is any connection to some the offensive struggles today and then the fact that you're installing a new offense and only have one series in the preseason, just not a lot of reps?
No. I think for us, we knew right away after we came off the field. After I came off the field after the game I knew that wasn't our standard and how we do things. We knew that. I knew that personally. I talked to some of the guys already and we're just going to continue to grow and get better from it and we'll be all right.
What's the process to get to your standard?
I think the process is the process. It's just going in tomorrow, looking at the tape, understanding how we can be better, understanding. Every guy looking in the mirror and saying, how can I be better. Nothing more than that. I thought we had a really good week of practice. I thought we came out with the right intentions every single day. Just didn't work out the way we wanted to on the field. We'll be better that way and we'll grow and continue to stride to be the best offense we can be.
Sam what did you think of the protection throughout the day? Sack at the end, but that's the only the one on the day; only took a couple hits.
I thought the O-line protected really well all day. I was able to go through my progressions, get the ball out. Like I said, I thought they did well all day. It's a big credit to those guys, the work they put in throughout the offseason.