Everyone has taken a collective sigh of relief as the San Francisco 49ers recorded their first of the season in a 31-21 victory over the New York Giants. Sunday was the 49ers most complete game on both sides of the ball as the team improved their record to 1-9 going into the bye week.
Take a look at some of the top quotes from 49ers players and coaches following the Week 10 victory.
HC Kyle Shanahan on his first win as a head coach:
"I feel good. I feel very good. I didn't know it'd take this long, but it was special with the guys. I was real happy for them. Those guys have been working so hard and we just keep coming in every Monday so disappointed. By the time I see them every Wednesday, it's like the first game of the year. To have them still out there going like that with how many we've lost in a row, that's what gave us a chance to win today and just real happy for them."
Shanahan on the team fighting through adversity:
"No. When you lose nine in a row you learn to savor the moments and enjoy these. It was tough work for us to get our first win and we got it. I think the guys knew how much it meant to me and I knew how much it meant to them. I think we're a pretty close team and I think we've gotten closer through adversity. I hope this can make us better through adversity also."
Shanahan on what this win can do for the players:
"It's hard to win in the NFL and I don't think young guys always realize that. I think the more you coach the more you realize that. You have to play very good, whether you're playing a real good team or a team that's not so good. It's hard to win in this league and a lot of things have got to go right. You've got to work very hard. You've got to play for four quarters and I think we've seen that throughout the year. You can't take anything for granted. You lose this much in a row and you go back to those five ones that we lost in a row by three points or less and I think when you have those types of games its always, 'Oh, if we would have just done this or just done this. It's alright more will come. More will come.' And, we kind of missed that window. Got kind of a little banged up these last few weeks and been missing some players and trying to get back to where we were when we were competing in the games, score-wise. I think everyone now realizes, you can't waste one play. You can't waste one day. It's four hours on Sunday, but it starts on Wednesday and every rep that you take goes into that win or loss. I think young guys are really learning how important practice is, how important meetings are, because every single play can dictate the outcome of a game."
Shanahan on what Beathard's performance means for Jimmy Garoppolo's future:
"No, it never was the plan. As I told you guys, I'm taking it week-by-week. So, I don't have to put really pause on anything. Looking forward very much to seeing our guys tomorrow, so we can enjoy this, review it together, coach up all the stuff we can get better at. We're going to take a team photo, do somethings and then we are going to get away from each other for a while. I'm going to continue to work with Jimmy over the bye week, here and there. We've got some rotations of some coaches doing that to catch him up. We'll get a bonus practice next Monday, or a week from tomorrow where we get everyone back in and that will be to get everyone loose and get them back from their time off and we'll see where it goes from there. Monday is an extra day and then we'll start the evaluation Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, but it's not just about C.J., it's not just about Jimmy. There's a lot of things that go into it."
Shanahan on Joe Staley's impact on the offensive line:
"I think it made a lot (of impact). Joe's definitely one of the better tackles in this league, one of our best players. So, anytime you go into a game without him you're definitely missing some stuff. It was great to get him out there. He definitely caught me off guard this week when he sent me a text on Tuesday telling me he was playing. I told him not to mess with my emotions when he did that, because I've been told that before and then it doesn't happen. So, I tried to slow play it all week to not get too excited about it. But, the way he looked in practice, he looked good each day. For him to come out there today I think pumped a lot of guys up because that's not something he had to do by any means. It was something he wanted to do and we really appreciated it."
QB C.J. Beathard on his first-career win:
"It feels great. There's really nothing better. There's not a better feeling. That's why you play sports is that feeling in the locker room with your teammates celebrating a win. There's nothing like it. At the same time, there's nothing like, the feeling sucks when you lose, but the feeling when you win is incredible and that's why you play."
Beathard on the protection on the o-line:
"I think they did, obviously, they did a great job today protecting me. I feel like I barely got hit, barely even got touched. That's a credit to everybody. The coaching staff, the play calling, the receivers getting open. The O-Line blocking their tails off and, like I said before, Carlos and tight ends doing their jobs in protections and then obviously getting the ball out. I think they did a great job of that. You kind of feel over the course of the game what the pocket's like and they did a great job at protecting the whole game."
Beathard on his 83-yard touchdown to Marquise Goodwin:
"It was awesome. It starts with the protection, like I said. Carlos did a great job blocking, stepping up, taking it to his guy. So did Celek. Did a great job stepping up and blocking his guy. Gave me enough time, a bunch of time, to make the throw to Marquise. Marquise is one of those guys that you really can't over throw the guy. You can try to throw it as far as you can and he'll get to it somehow. That was one of those throws, solid coverage, safety cut and laid it out there to him. He did a great job breaking the tackle and getting in the end zone."
Ronald Blair III on the win taking the pressure off the players:
"I think we put pressure on ourselves week-in and week-out just to make sure we perform and execute. This week was no different. We make sure we hold ourselves to the highest standard. We finally executed and came through this week. After the Bye week, it will be the same pressure."
Blair on what he's seen out of Reuben Foster:
"He's great. It's like having 12 people on the field. He's all over the place. He's really smart on the field, too. He's a great tackler. I'm honored to have him back there. He's a great player."
Blair on being able to contribute after missing half of the season:
"It feels great because, for the longest time, I felt like I was letting my guys down sitting back and watching them while I was sitting out with a thumb injury. I'm just glad to be able to come back into the locker room and celebrate a win with the guys. It feels really good."
RB Matt Breida on his first rushing touchdown:
"It was an outside zone play. The offensive line and receivers did a great job of blocking. I saw the cutback and there was no one back there. I hit the hole, and like I said, the receivers did a great job of blocking downfield and I ran to the touchdown."
DL DeForest Buckner on the 49ers first win of the season:
"Everybody loves the coaching staff and the new regime. The whole season has been so close. We've been in almost every game, we just haven't finished. Finally we got this first win. We don't expect anybody to leave."
Buckner on heading into the bye week with a win:
"It really started with the whole week. Everybody was just hungry. We knew we have a Bye week next week, so we wanted to leave everything out on the line. We wanted to make sure that we didn't have anything in the tank after the game. We fought our butts off and came out with a 'W.'"
TE Garrett Celek on his 47-yard touchdown:
"It felt great. That play wouldn't have happened with Marquise Goodwin. He blocked the safety on that which allowed me to get on the corner, make a move and score. I owe that touchdown to Marquise."
Celek on the mentality of the 49ers locker room:
"I think any other team in the NFL, if they have a record like ours, you can just see teams rip themselves apart. The types of guys that are in this locker room that [general manager] John [Lynch] and Kyle [Shanahan] brought in are so tight."
CB Ahkello Witherspoon on his confidence in the team:
"None of us like to lose. That's one thing that John Lynch has done a very good job of. He's brought competitors in here. I see that from my teammates. That's why it's easy for us to go out at 0-9 and compete at our highest level. We like to play ball."
