QB Alex Smith
On finding the balance between check-downs and throwing passes downfield:
"Yeah, I mean I think every guy on the team, certainly every guy on offense went through the game and what plays could I have done differently to help us. For me, in the first half of the game is maybe when I went through that in my head. Could I have taken a shot here? You know, all week we talked about being patient. The way they play defense, be patient. Let the shots present themselves. You don't anticipate in the first half that you're going to get in the second half and still be trailing. In the second half, very apparent, I mean they were not going to let anything get over their head or get behind them. It was so soft. Hence, a lot of the underneath stuff was open. So, then you do look back at that and you're like 'well God maybe this one play in the first half should I have held it a tick longer and taken a shot or could I have looked this off and gone here?' That's kind of the game you play with the what-ifs, you know, in a situation like that. It's hard though when you have limited opportunities. You expected to have more opportunities and we didn't have them. Then, obviously, in the second half [we] kind of got one-dimensional."
On new WR Michael Floyd and WR Breshad Perriman:
"Yeah, just that quick intro here this morning and in meeting as they got in here and got going. I think the fact that they're both veteran guys and have played helps with that. We'll see. We're not going to forecast anything for either of the guys. Get out on the practice field, put our work in and we'll see where it goes."
On making in-game adjustments:
"I mean any time, anything, something doesn't work or you're out of rhythm, out of sync like that, certainly the next day, in hindsight, you're always kicking yourself. Shoot we could've done this, could've done that, I could've done this, things like that. What's tough in that game, it felt like you also wanted to tell yourself to stay patient with some of that stuff. Stay patient with the run, stay patient with some of those things because the look was still there. Unfortunately, we weren't able to capitalize on those things. Combination of a lot of things, certainly yeah, could we have done things differently? You know, maybe. [We] could have executed a lot better too. A combination of all those things I think put together and it's a fine line. You fight that battle right? Should we stay patient with this, we want to stay patient with this. Then the next day, you're maybe saying 'hey maybe I should've gone a different direction quicker'."
On what stood out to him after watching film of the Indianapolis Colts game:
"I just thought third down situational football cost us in the first half. I think if we'd converted on a bunch of those third downs that we ... I felt like we certainly could've and should've. You give yourself a bunch more opportunities to get to all those things we're talking about. I think we were unable to convert, unable to get into a rhythm and then you have limited opportunities then. You can't get to all that stuff. All of a sudden if you move the chains, all of a sudden you have a chance to get to some of that other stuff in your playbook, in your game plan. We were just unable to do that because we were poor on third downs I think especially that first half. "
On Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers:
"You know, he's a decent player [laughter]. He and I [have] been around each other a lot of time now, always linked, pretty good buddies. Certainly, kind of I think follow each other's career from afar. Usually get to connect in the offseason here or there a couple times with random things. Yeah, but other than that, it's like I said, we're obviously pretty far down the line at this point, still rolling and having fun with it [career]. Obviously, good to see him out there playing. He's a special player, fun to watch. I think as quarterbacks we always watch one another, analyze one another. Certainly, he's a unique guy the way he plays quarterback. I know he's fun to watch from a peer's perspective."
On building chemistry with WR Josh Doctson, WR Paul Richardson, Jr. and WR Jamison Crowder:
"I think it's going well. I think it's going really well. I think it's hard looking at the numbers with these first two weeks just the defenses we played, the style that they've played necessarily hasn't dictated a lot of balls going outside to those guys. I feel really good about it. Those guys all work extremely hard. They're all crazy talented. I think it's one of those things that you just kind of … it's a process that never ends. You're constantly working at that. You don't know when that opportunity is going to present itself. I think all those things, it comes in bunches. You keep working. You never stop no matter what. I mean win, lose, all this stuff, you just kind of … it's a process that you never stop working at on the field and in the meeting rooms."
On communication with receivers after incompletions:
"Listen, these guys, everybody's all in. We don't have a lack of sacrifice, and commitment, and want-too in these guys. It's football. It's not going to be perfect. From my perspective, it's just obviously kind of continue to talk to those guys about what I'm seeing, what they're seeing, constantly. Our communication both on the sideline, in the meeting rooms, and then on the field, seeing the same things, reacting to it in the same way. From my perspective, you just keep firing and you keep taking your shots when they're there and you don't think or dwell on the rest. I think you just kind of keep staying in the moment and focusing on what you have to do."
On recovering from a loss after a win:
"I think any good team has got to be able to handle both and all the stuff in between. I think it's the tale of the season is how you handle all these situations, emotions, stress, all the stuff that comes with this game. You have to be able to handle all that stuff. You have to be able to focus in, not let any of that stuff distract you, distract your preparation – where you attention needs to be – where your focus needs to be. Yeah, this will be our first shot coming obviously off a loss. You have to be able to redirect yourself no different. I mean you have to be able to focus in just the same."
On working with Head Coach Jay Gruden on pass-protection:
"Good. I think that's no different than with the wide outs. It's a process that you're just always, always working on, especially come season because every week there's new things. You get a new look this week, this team does this unique thing so we need to answer it with this. What's our communication process? That's constantly changing throughout the season and I think you just kind of catalog and bank all that stuff as you do it. You know, just kind of continue to work, not only just with him but with the protection unit as a whole – whether it be the five linemen, whether it be backs, tight ends, myself included, receivers. It's just the same thing, a process that you just every single day you're working at."
On receiver spacing during the game against the Indianapolis Colts:
"I mean, spacing is obviously critical in offense. I think we work hard to correct any of those things we see all the time, whether it is in game footage, practice, we're constantly working and talking about all that."
On getting TE Jordan Reed involved early:
"There is never an ability to just go like 'hey, let's call this play, and jam it to this guy'. I mean if the defense wants to take away somebody, I think any good offense has to adjust and counter attack. He's a good player that warrants a lot of attention sometimes from defenses. Certainly he's a guy that we always want to try to keep involved, and always will, but a lot of times … I mean the way football goes, you are out there reacting to what the defense is presenting, trying to counteract what they're doing, what they're trying to take away and you hope you are well balanced enough that everybody is getting involved. So yeah, he's obviously a unique player, special to us, but it's never a circumstance where you're forcing the ball to a guy; rarely I'd say."
On playing teams that put up a lot of points:
"I think that you can get sucked into that. In the end of course we want to dominate regardless of the offense we are playing. Of course we want to go out there and execute, move the chains. We would love to dominate both the scoreboard and the time of possession every game. It just comes through execution though, I think. I mean it doesn't come through anything else and execution comes from focusing on your job – one play at a time – which is what we are always trying to do. I guess coming back to that, I don't think any extra attention or focus on 'hey we've got to possess the ball to keep their offense off the field' but the way to do that is just to play good offense and to go out and execute and do what we've got to do and just play. I still think the attention needs to be on that."
On Green Bay Packers LB Clay Matthews and the roughing the passer penalties:
"I don't think any of it is intentional. He's played a long time; he's a heck of player. He's just trying to play hard. Certainly, I think things happen, it's a fast game and you throw in some new rules and it can get cloudy and gray. So, no I don't think there is any ill will there. I'm certainly not thinking about that. I'm trying to go out and do the same thing he's doing, I'm sure which is play fast and try to help our team win."
Head Coach Jay Gruden
On injuries:
"Did not participate,[Troy] Apke; hamstring. Zach Brown; oblique. Shawn Lauvao; calf. Paul Richardson; shoulder slash knee. Limited were [Brandon] Scherff, knee, and [Trent] Williams, knee."
On the status of WR Maurice Harris and WR Paul Richardson Jr.:
"Yeah, Harris has been cleared to practice, so we're taking him day by day, see how he does. He did good today. We'll see how he ends up after practice tonight and tomorrow and just monitor him on a daily basis. As for Paul, Paul had an MRI on his knee. Everything came back normal. He still has a little bit with his shoulder but we're taking a look at some other guys while they're going through that."
On if Richardson's knee injury happened against the Indianapolis Colts:
"Yeah."
On G Shawn Lauvao's injury:
"I don't think it's long term. I think short term. How short I don't know. It's not IR candidate, no."
On if Lauvao will miss games:
"He could, yeah he could. He's day to day. We'll see how he does, but, yeah he wasn't out there today."
On the issues matching up against the Indianapolis Colts game:
"Well, you know like I said, it wasn't a one guy thing, a one person thing, a one group thing. It was a combination of a lot of things. We just have to continue to work the runs we're working on and make sure we do a good job on those third downs to get more looks. We didn't get many good looks. We didn't … I wasn't able to get off my call sheet enough good runs that we liked in practice leading up to the game because we didn't have the ball. We didn't maintain drives. We didn't get the field position. We didn't get favorable down and distance. We had a lot of third down and longs, second and long. The big thing is to try and convert on third downs, get more looks, let our guys come off the ball more, wear the defense out. That wasn't the case. We weren't able to do that."
On the difference in play-calling against the Arizona Cardinals game versus the Indianapolis Colts game:
"Yeah, that shrinks quite a bit when you have third down and 20 four times. You know, I'll give you guys the play sheet, let you call that one [sarcasm]. That's a tough one. Some games are like that and hats off to Indy. But that's done in the past and we have to move on and really do a great job against the Green Bay Packers moving forward, not only in our run game, our play-action game and third downs for sure."
On what WR Breshad Perriman and WR Michael Floyd add to team:
"I don't know. I just met them yesterday. They practiced out here limited today just trying to get their feet wet in some individual, got thrown into team a little bit. (wide receivers coach) Ike [Hilliard] kind of held their hands, told them what to do, so we'll see. Hopefully, this week we don't have to use either one of them, but if we do, we'll get them ready, give them a crash course here tonight, tomorrow and obviously Friday, and hopefully get them ready for Sunday."
On WR Jamison Crowder's start to the season and incorporating him into the offense more:
"Yeah, you know same with everybody, to get everybody involved; we've got to have the ball more. We've got to distribute the ball to the right people. You only have one ball and you obviously want to get your playmakers the ball. You want to get Adrian [Peterson] some touches. You want to get Chris Thompson some looks. You want to get Jamison some looks. You'd love to get Josh [Doctson] some looks outside and Paul [Richardson Jr.] without a doubt and Vernon Davis and 'Sprink' [Jeremy Sprinkle] and obviously Alex [Smith] in some runs. At the end of the day, none of them are going to get any looks if we don't convert on third down."
On decision to sign veteran wide receivers instead of elevating practice squad players:
"That's it. They are a little more proven. Practice squad guys are here to develop and we are looking for somebody to possibly come in and participate soon. It's chance for us to look at them. We've got a bye coming up after this week, so we have a couple good weeks to look at them before this 13-game stretch we have after the bye. So, it doesn't cost us anything. We get a good look at two very good players coming out – two first rounders' – one with great speed, one with great size. If need be, we elevate one of our guys once we feel like they are ready – with [Darvin] Kidsy, Simmie Cobbs – we can always do that later on – but right now we want to look at these two guys. We liked them both coming out of the draft and we will take a look at them."
On who would play for G Shaun Lauvao and moving C Tony Bergstrom to guard:
"Yeah, we feel like [Tony] Bergstrom is a better center and we don't lose anything with Chase at guard. So, we feel like the center position we are about the same and little bit of a drop-off losing Brandon Scherff which is considerable, you put Chase in there and he's a pretty good guard."
On if Roullier will play left guard if Bergstrom plays center:
"Probably."
On the running back depth with RB Rob Kelley on IR:
"We'll have three up, probably. We'll see what happens with Kapri [Bibbs] here later in the week but we have to obviously make a roster move to get Kapri up. That's something we have to keep in the back of our mind but right now Samaje [Perine], Adrian [Peterson] and Chris [Thompson] are our three guys active."
