The San Francisco 49ers starters closed out what is likely to be their final preseason action in the 23-17 loss to the Indianapolis Colts. The 49ers offense put up 390 yards on offense and averaged 6.1 yards per play. San Francisco's 411.0 yards of total offense leads the league through three preseason games. Defensively, the 49ers starters forced a three-and-out on their first drive and allowed just seven points in the first half.
Members of the 49ers spoke with the media following the dress rehearsal on Saturday. Here are some of the top quotes following San Francisco's third exhibition contest.
Kyle Shanahan on the execution of the first-team offense:
"We wanted to go in and we wanted to run the ball better, which I was really happy with. We ran the ball very well. I'll say the same thing I said to the team, running the ball well doesn't get you points, doing better longer gets you points. We were 0-for-3 in the red zone and I want to say we had four drops in the first half and we had way too many penalties, especially down there. So it's hard to get anything out of your run game when we hurt ourselves like that."
Shanahan's impression of Alfred Morris in his 49ers preseason debut:
"I was happy with Alfred from what I saw. It looked like he got some good looks and it looked like he always got a little bit more than what they blocked for. He ran hard and I was pleased with him."
Shanahan on Fred Warner receiving first-team reps against the Colts:
"Yeah, we had a battle there for those first two weeks. Fred got his first playing time in Week 2 and he's got a chance to be one of those two inside players for Week 1. We wanted to see him with the ones today. I don't know exactly how he did. When I looked up it seemed like he did decent, but it will be good to evaluate the tape and see what we plan to do next week to see where we start for Week 1."
Shanahan on Richard Sherman's 49ers preseason debut:
"I think it was a success in terms of the amount of plays he got. Just from talking with him on the sideline it seemed like he felt real healthy and like he got out of it what he wanted to. From the times that I saw, it looked like he was able to make a couple plays also."
Shanahan on the 49ers success in run blocking:
"I was really pleased with them. I was a little disappointed just as a whole - not with them in particular - but as a whole with our run game. The first two weeks we really tried to emphasize that in practice. I thought we had three good days of practice in the run game and was really expecting it to be good going into this game and it was nice to see that."
Jimmy Garoppolo on the 49ers running game:
"Al carried the ball well. He has only been here about a week or so and I thought the O-line blocked great too (with) both run and passing. Those guys gave me plenty of time. I barely got touched today so that makes everything a lot easier."
Garoppolo on the 49ers pass protection in the preseason:
"I think the line has been playing great. Those guys up front, we've got a good group whoever is rotating in there. I think we've got a deep group and a group that works well together. It's showing out there. Those guys are giving me a lot of time and it makes everything about it a lot easier and we get to capitalize on that."
Garoppolo on his comfort level with Pierre Garçon:
"I think all of training camp – every week or so we'd keep seeming to be getting more connected and more on the same page. He's a gamer, man. He comes out here and he's ready to roll. He doesn't say a whole bunch on the sideline, but you know he's ready to roll and I like that."
Richard Sherman on his first game reps since last season:
"Pretty good, there were some good plays there were some other plays that I felt rusty on. Overall, felt pretty good. Better than expected."
Sherman on being thrown to only once against the Colts:
"I mean for the most part he was covered pretty well. I feel like I covered pretty well. We played a lot of three deep, we played a lot of man. But I talked to Andrew (Luck) before the game, obviously we go back a long ways, but he's still working his way back in so I knew he'd be pretty conservative in his throwing, but he looked really good out there as well."
Sherman on the communication between himself and the defensive backs on the field:
"There's a ton of communication. There's a ton of communication between the secondary and the linebackers, between the secondary, between Ahkello (Witherspoon), Quask (Jaquiski Tartt), AC (Adrian Colbert), and myself. Just making sure we're on the same page, even the nickel."
Sherman on how he grades the 49ers starting defense against the Colts:
"B-. There were things we did well. We let the quarterback scramble on third-and-12. We gave up a penalty on that drive. We gave up seams – those are plays that we'd love to have back. It's a difficult play on the safety, the seam play. It's a play that he's never seen, but it's the way teams attack our defense predominantly. But it's a play that he needs to see over and over and over again, so he'll be better in the future. But those third downs, we've got to get off the field. Third-and-12 we've got to execute and get off the field."
Alfred Morris on his preseason debut with the 49ers:
"My body feels good. I've been preparing for this opportunity. I didn't wait for somebody to call and let me go and train and stuff. I've been training since the season ended. Took a little break. But I've been training. I've been preparing for this opportunity. Just so happened last week I got my legs under me because there's a difference between being in shape and being in football shape. So last week I was able to get my legs under me and just coming out this week, I feel really good. I know my recovery well. It's something I'm really big on is taking care of my body because this is my livelihood. So I'm invested in my body. I'm invested into the time it takes to take care of my body and it helps me. So I feel great. I've got a lot of juice left in these legs. I've got a lot of mileage to go. So I feel great."
Morris on preparing for his seventh NFL season:
"I always laugh when people throw age out there. I feel like if you got it, you've got it. If you don't you don't. Whether you're 21 years old, or whether you're 30 years old. It really doesn't matter. I really don't care about age. To me, it's just a number. I feel great. I feel like I still got a lot of tread on these tires and I'm going to keep running until I can't."
