San Francisco 49ers coaches and players discuss their upcoming game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium.
On facing the Patriots...
"First experience in Foxborough. It's going to be really fun. They do a bunch a different stuff on defense whether it's personnel or how they adjust to your personnel or our formations. It's going to be exciting. I know we are looking forward to the challenge and really looking forward to playing more football."
- 49ers Tight End George Kittle
"It's this whole team's first time going there. We're all really excited about it and the challenge that awaits us. It's going to be a fist fight. I look forward to it."
- 49ers Tight End George Kittle
On Bill Belichick...
"Everyone knows that Bill's the man. He's done it for so long. He's done it the right way. He's just a true football coach who focuses on coaching and does it as good as anyone ever has. So, tons of respect for him like everyone, I think in the world, has for him."
- 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
"I just love his attention to detail. I love that he's not a BSer. He is a very smart person who looks at football very hard in all three phases and tries to do what's best from a common-sense standpoint and from his experience with teaching people. I love that he's not going to sit there and try to make up some raw-raw story to get guys to go. He's just going to keep it real, hold guys accountable and I think he has the experience and the preparation in what he's done to be one of the most knowledgeable guys to ever coach in this game. His consistency has to do with him just being himself, which he seems like all the time. I think his players really respect him for it because he obviously knows what he's talking about."
- 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
On Cam Newton...
"They use him and his skill set really well. They put him in positions to be successful. He delivers the football where it needs to be and is not affraid to air it out. I know he is going to present a big challenge for us and we have to be on top of our details."
- 49ers Linebacker Fred Warner
On the Patriots defense...
"You've got to be on your toes. I think finding the safeties is a big part of it. They do a good job of mixing and matching their DBs in a lot of different personnel groups. At the end of the day you just got to go play ball. They're going to do something that we're not preparing for. At the end of the day you got to play ball."
- 49ers Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo
"Whenever you've watched a [New England Patriots head coach Bill] Belichick team, they're going to have the same fronts. They have a number of fronts they can go to and mix them up. They have a number of coverages they can go to, but he has his philosophies that he believes in, for good reason, and you're going to see that each year. He's also going to adjust at every moment that one of those things aren't going well. So, there's nothing absolute at all with him. You know what he believes in, you know what he does because that's what works. When it's not working, he's always going to have a plan to adjust. So, the game never stops. You've always got to keep going and hopefully you have more points than them when time runs out."
- 49ers Head Coach Kyle Shanahan
On facing the Patriots for the first time...
"It's an exciting week. I get to go back to where it all started for my NFL career. Can't wait for Sunday."
- 49ers Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo
