“This is really a special week for so many reasons. Obviously, the holidays. We wish everybody Happy Holidays. We’re right in the middle of messing their holiday up here. It’s a very special week for us. Last week of the season. Playing for everything, for the division and all that. We’re very fortunate to be in that situation. It is what we aim for. This is what we always look towards. We’re always wondering if the chance to do something like this is going to happen on the road or happen at home. We’re thrilled we’ll be here. This is a really good football team we’re playing, obviously. They’ve done so many good things this year. A fantastic turn around by their program and their coaches and their players and all that. They’ve been flying all season long. They’ve had a lot of really extraordinary games since we saw them in the last month and a half or whatever it is. They’re ready for everything right now. It’s a great challenge. Our guys are jacked up and ready to go. We already started. We’re here Christmas Eve. Whatever it takes. Our guys are tuned into it. It’s really important that we have great work and great focus and we get ready for the kind of ball game we want to play. Looking forward to it.”
(On signing Robert Turbin) “Turbo is in the house. He’s ready to go.”
(On the value of bringing Marshawn Lynch back to the team) “Well, he’s an extraordinary person. We’ve just been through so much and we know him as well as I think you can know a guy, what he brings and what he offers and all. He brings a lot to the table. He’s as physical a player as I’ve ever been around. As great of competitor I’ve ever been around. When you get to add somebody like that to your team, it only helps and enhances the mentality that we already cherish anyway. We’ll find out how he can play and how he does. It’s been a little while off. He looks great in the first couple looks at him in as far as his conditioning and all that. His weight is down. He’s in a really good spot for coming and going for it. He was very serious about getting ready for this opportunity. At the stroke of misfortune on some regards really opens the door, which it happens at times. He’s ready to take the full opportunity at hand and see what he can do to help us.”
(On how much things are the same in the offense for Turbin and Lynch to pick up) “When we get with them out there and you talk about the basics and stuff like that, there’s no problem. When you get on the field with them and they are hearing the huddle calls coming rattling out and the rhythm and quickness of all of that, then they’re detached some. Both of these guys are good players. They’ve been through a lot. They know a lot of stuff. Football comes easy to them. Still, they’re going to have to put together a really good week to really have the hold on it so they can have command and feel confident and play like they want to play.”
(On how long he’s been in contact with Lynch on this opportunity) “He’s been gone how many years? Really, there’s been times over the years that we have hooked up one reason or another when we played against each other or whatever. There’re always a couple messages in there that went back and forth. Some texts and stuff. In regards to this go around right now, John [Schneider] has a master plan for all issues that could pop up, everything that we could think of. When this one popped up, he had some stuff in the works to give us a chance to have a shot like this. It worked out. There’s been a line of communication over the years.”
(On what he wanted to hear from Lynch in their visit earlier this month) “Well, at that time, he just dropped in because he was in town and all that. That was a little bit different. What I need to hear from him is where his heart is. Is he in it and wants to go for it? Which, he totally does, and he’s worked to prove that. I don’t doubt him one bit about that. He’s very sincere about how he presents himself to this game. It’s very important for him to be at his best and do well. He’s going to do everything he can to make that happen.”
(On how long Lynch has been training to play) “Well, we did talk about that. He had surgery a year ago and he had to work his way back out of that. So, he started a process to get himself so he wouldn’t fall apart post-surgery. He had a program he was on, so he’s been working to stay in shape all along. He stepped it up with maybe the hopes that something could happen at the end of the season. He was very fortunate to get the opportunity.”
(On what he was looking for in Lynch’s physical) “Yeah, that’s why we gave him the physical. All that stuff. Really, all the tests and all that. The movement workout and make sure he was okay. He passed the physical well and in good shape. Everything was checking boxes.”
(On Lynch’s workouts becoming more challenging after the visit here) “I’m not sure. I didn’t see him. He blew through here, I didn’t see him. We were in the middle of a practice day. I didn’t get to see him.”
(On how building relationships here helps the potential of players returning in the future) “I think everything counts. I think everything that ever has happened comes into decisions like this. I do think it has a lot to do with it. There was a lot of give and give in this relationship from our end of it and his end of it. We’ve gone through a lot. You build the relationship. You build the understanding – it doesn’t mean everything is always clear and all that. When you’ve got complicated people working and stuff, you can get at odds with things. We made it through all of it and all of the challenges. Here we are. The meeting we had yesterday to set this thing in motion was memorable for me. The stuff we went through and talked about. To hear where he is now and what he’s been through. He’s been through a lot in his personal life. He just continues as all young guys do, they continue to grow and see things more clearly as they experience their stuff. He’s got a lot going on in his life and he’s been through a bunch. It’s benefited him. I think it benefited him to be here in his time. It was pretty well understood. It was good to hear.”
(On if he watched any of Lynch’s film from last year) “John did that. John and his guys did all that. I didn’t.”
(On realistic expectations from Lynch and Turbin) “I hope that they can contribute. Travis is ready to go. He’s knows everything. He’s been through all of our system for the whole year. He showed that he was ready to play football and he did a good job in the game. We lean on him because of his background with us and his toughness and his speed and his play making. We’re pleased to have that opportunity. That’s good fortune to have him ready to go. We’ll just fit the guys in. Give me a couple days here. This is like the first day.”
(On the adjustment for Lynch with the change in blocking scheme) “There’s a lot of similarities. For the most part, it’s similar. It’s more similar than it isn’t. There’s terminology that’s tacked onto stuff in motions and formations and things like that that are some new things that he has to pick up. The fundamental part of it, it’s very much the same.”
(On how these transactions gives the team a boost of energy after a tough loss) “I mean, the fact that we’re playing San Francisco? Yeah, it’s like there was a natural boost. Honestly, we talk in reference to this opportunity from April on. That’s when we start, way back then, to get prepared for the opportunity to go out here and play good football when this time comes. Every game that we’ve played has prepared us for this. We’re boosted. The boosters are on and we’re rolling. I don’t know what could add to that other than just a really good preparation and a great performance when we go. Right now, this is a blast. This is as much fun as we can have. I love every bit of it.”
(On if Jadeveon Clowney will practice today) “Yeah, he’s going.”
(On if Shaquill Griffin will practice today) “Yes.”
(On how important Jaquiski Tartt is for what the 49ers defense can do) “He is important. He’s a really good ball player. But the guys they have been mixing through there, they haven’t skipped a beat it doesn’t seem. They’re really playing great pass defense. They’re playing fantastic pass defense. To go along with the rush that we know has been so formidable, that makes them a very difficult opponent. He’s a really good ball player though.”
(On if there was ever a plan where Lynch could be a backup for Chris Carson) “That conversation, I don’t know anything about. He was hoping to get an opportunity, I know that, but there was never a format that was orchestrated where that could happen. We weren’t thinking that way.”
(On Quandre Diggs status) “It’s going to be slow early in the week. We’re going to take it all the way until the end of the week and see how he responds. We don’t have to all about the injuries, right? Until tomorrow. So, we’ll talk under the tree. It’s going to be slow. It’s going to be later in the week before we know anything about him.”
(On how Duane Brown’s surgery went) “They always come out great. The surgery went beautiful. There were no setbacks. No surprises, but a very necessary clean up that was needed. He’s just a couple days out. He just got back here today, I think. We don’t know a whole lot. Everything was reported to be exactly like they had anticipated and there were no surprises.”
(On if Carson will need surgery) “We haven’t talked about that yet. I don’t know that.”
(On if Rashaad Penny has had his surgery yet) “I haven’t seen him in a few days. I don’t know if he’s had his surgery or not. I didn’t know that he had. C.J. [Prosise] going to get worked on, too.”
(On Mike Iupati’s status) “Mike is practicing today. Seems to be alright.”
(On DK Metcalf not getting opportunities in the Cardinals game and what he wants him to take away from that) “He played against one of the premier guys in the NFL. It was with focus. He was trying to keep him from making his plays. The ball just didn’t get that way in that direction. There was no intention to stay away from them or any of that. It just didn’t go that way. He has to learn that sometimes you have to wait for your opportunities. They’re going to come. He’s got to work to create them, too, and find the spaces and all that. It was a good matchup in their favor.”
(On the 49ers having George Kittle back for this game) “He’s an amazing player. He really is. He’s a heart and soul guy for them, and a clutch guy, too. They go to him when times are crucial and all that. He’s a fantastic player. Not just a catcher, he’s a blocker as well. He’s a good ball player.”
(On how Jamarco Jones handled left tackle in the game) “It was hard. It was hard. He went against a great guy and it worked him the whole day. He did a lot of things that were really good. The sacks that his guy had weren’t all on him. It didn’t all happen because of his protection and all. He was tested. That was a real test. Chandler [Jones] is an amazing player.”
(On what he saw from Bryan Mone) “He made it. He made it through his first real action. A little overanxious at times and trying to force issue a little bit, but an okay first performance. He held his own. He’s a very big stud of a kid. He hung in there really well on the line of scrimmage.”
(On Lynch marketing unfinished business on his apparel and how much they talked about his unfinished business together) “I didn’t think that would be his only campaign that he would move out. We did consider some options and stuff.”
(On Lynch’s motivation to get a Super Bowl ring) “He’s highly motivated to do everything you can do in this game. He really is. He wants to do everything you can possibly do. He knew he wasn’t done. He got in a situation where he was injured, and he had to rehab and all that. It just didn’t fit together right away. He’s not done playing and he wants to go. This is his entrée and he’s going to go for it. He won’t hold back. He won’t hold back one bit. We look forward to seeing what happens.”
(On if Lynch has changed much since he last played here) “Well, I mentioned to you that he’s been through a lot in this last three or four years. He’s been through a lot in his life and he’s taken on a lot of responsibility in his life, in his community, and his family and all that. I think it has affected him. He sees the world in a new way. Things that he had never done before and things he now understands are different than he may have thought in the past. Like I said, he has grown. It comes across when you visit with him. I don’t know if that means he’s going to talk to you guys. I don’t know about that. It was really a pleasure to visit with him about the options and what we were talking about. I’m anxious to see and help him get this opportunity to do something really fun and special.”
(On if he’s gotten the sense of other players reaction to signing Lynch) “No, I really haven’t. I know that some of the guys who have been around him before, they’re excited for him to be here. But, I don’t know from a lot of the guys who don’t know him. I don’t know about that.”
(On if he thinks Lynch wants to continue beyond this season) “I don’t know. Do you know what Marshawn wants? I don’t. I have been around him longer than anybody and I haven’t a clue.”
(On if the high stakes for Sunday’s game brings back any memories for him of 2012-14) “You mean the Bay area thing between Oakland and San Francisco? No, you don’t mean that one. You mean just in general? Well, yeah. When you get championship opportunities, there are some similarities for sure. The uniforms look pretty similar. It’s going to feel similar in the look of it and all that. You know, we’ve never looked at games as rivalry games. I just don’t use that way of expressing it, but I love it if that’s what you guys feel. The fans feel. There’s nothing wrong with that, we just don’t look at it that way. We look at it a little differently.”
(On how he feels about the protection issues going up against a strong defense) “Well, we’re going to go about it. That’s underway.”
(On what makes Kyle Shanahan a good play caller) “That’s a good question because it goes way back. He grew up as a football guy. He was at camps with his pops from way back when. He’s a little punk kid running around camps and stuff. He just grew up a natural. It just made sense to him. He’s been way ahead of people his age in understanding of scheme and principles, the coaches he was around, the coaches that embraced him when he was growing up. He just learned it all. He’s allowed, because of his background, he’s allowed to be extremely creative and innovative. He’s just almost a perfect product of a guy being raised to be a football coach. In particular, he’s been a n offensive guy his whole life. His dad was an offensive specialist as well. All their buddies and friends, he’s just been in that conversation forever. It just paid off. He’s very, very fortunate.”
(On Jimmy Garoppolo and his offense being able to pull off tough games) “I’m sure they felt very fortunate, too. The odds of making either one of those is very slim. It kind of gave you a statement that this was their opportunity to get to this point right here. They figured out a way to do it and they’ve come through in a big way.”
(On how Turbin looked when he came in to workout) “He looked very fit. He’s always been such a stud. Strong. Quick. Explosive. He’s been working on it really hard. He looked very fit.”
(On what he will have to see from Lynch to know he is ready to play in the game) “I don’t even know that. I’m just going to go to practice and see what happens. I’ll let you know in a couple days. He’s going to be fine. He’s going to look good. He’s going to do everything really well. I can already tell. I’m not worried about that at all. There won’t be an opportunity to really challenge his conditioning at this time and we don’t want to at this time. We just want to bring him along and get him ready, just as we do with guys coming in. You don’t want to bust your tail thinking you’re going to get them in shape in three days. It’s not going to happen. The conditioning level that he has is kind of what he has, and we’ll just build off it as we have some time as we move forward.”
(On if Lynch will definitely play on Sunday) “Let me get to practice first, okay? We haven’t practiced yet, but I’m counting on it.”
(On how broad the options were at the running back position) “Well, there’s a lot of people out there that want to play. Johnny is all over that stuff. There’s a bunch of names. At this time right now, there maybe fewer than ever because it’s the end of the year and there’s an attrition from the season and all that. I don’t even know what the number would be. I can’t help you.”
(On what the concern is when I guy comes back after a break from football ) “The day after. That’s the problem. It’s the day after you play and how you respond to the workload and the hitting and all of that. How you can recover is really the challenge. The first time out, it’s not as much of a challenge. It’d be the second time out and the third time out and so forth.”
(On his message to the team going into a day off during this week) “The guys will get a break tomorrow. That’s just by design for the whole program. As much as we can allow that, we will. We’ve done this before. We took a day off for Thanksgiving. We’ve done this in years past and all. It does call for us to do a nice review the next day, which would be Thursday, I think. That day is important for us to review so we don’t lose anything of what we gained in this day’s work. We know that, too, and we’ve done that for years to smooth it out. It all works It all works. You just flip a day from getting off on a Tuesday, we’re going to get off on a Wednesday for the players.”
(On what Mychal Kendricks has to do to play on Sunday) “He made it through. He’s a little sore from the work. I won’t know how he’s doing until later in the week.”
(On if he gets a sense of how excited the fan base is with having Lynch come back) “Honestly, I’m not surprised. He’s impacted a lot of people around here and people love the Seahawks. He’s been something very special. I’m thrilled for the fans that they’re having fun with it and all that. I’ll be really thrilled if he knocks out 110 in the ball game.”
(On the key to keeping the momentum going as they head into the post season) “We have to stay with the focus that’s right in front of them right now. We have to be right here right now. Get this day done and max it out and just take one step at a time. That’s how we do it. It’s our ability to be disciplined by that challenge and maximize the opportunity, use our imagination, the circumstances of how we’re practicing and all that to get us to the next day. We just do one step at a time.”
(On how much of a factor Lynch’s behavior in the locker room was a factor in addition to the love from the fan base) I mean, I’m not going to try to kid you that I didn’t understand that there’s going to be a little juice about that. I think it’s awesome. I don’t have a problem with it. I’m not quite sure what the result of all that will be, but it’s fun. It’s fun stuff. He’s been a great character.”
