HEAD COACH DOUG PEDERSON
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2023
(On mentality of the finding a way to fight back) “A lot in that question. Let me try to unpack it. I think it’s
the mindset that, ‘Defense, we have your back. Offense, we have your back’ type of thing, no matter
what happens during the course of the game. There’s always going to be a sudden change. Offensively,
you try to minimize the best you can with turnovers, but defensively, it may be a fourth down decision
on my part offensively that we don’t get. We’ve had those already this year, the defense has to go back
out on the field. It’s just a mindset that they know and it’s things I communicate with the team, so
they’re not like unprepared. Hey guys, you know we’re going to be aggressive, we’re going to go for it on
fourth downs, the ball may get intercepted or fumbled or whatever. There’s going to be that sudden
change and the defense has always responded. They have this year and that’s a real positive for us. To
either hold a team to three points or try to focus a punt is ideal. That’s the complimentary piece that you
try to establish throughout the course of this year.”
(On performance of OL Anton Harrison in yesterday’s game) “It’s kind of baptism by fire. Every week is a
challenge and he’s been faced with great edge rushers in his rookie year and he continues to improve.
There’s going to be times when he gets beat, best tackles are league are going to get beat from time-to-
time. He continues to improve and get better. He understands his set angles have got to get better there.
He’s athletic enough and he’s very capable, he’s very prideful, he wants to get better and he wants to be
a great tackle in this league. Anytime you’re playing the T.J. Watts and the Chris Jones’ of the world,
they’re going to make you better. He’s trending upward in that way.”
(On if the identity of the team could be described as resilient) “Yeah, that’s a good word to use. A
resilient group. It’s how you come back after a setback and how you respond. I’ll say this too, it’s
different than a year ago. A year ago, we were playing from behind a lot, at least now it feels like we’re
playing more now with a lead and the defense is keeping that lead or keeping the offense in the game,
then the offense somewhere is going to be break out and score a touchdown. It’s a little bit of a different
mindset that way, but this is a resilient group because there are opportunities that the offense is going to
squander in the redzone. It’s unfortunate but when you have that type of setback, the defense is going
to go out and perform or vice versa, if the defense gives up the touchdown, the offense goes out and
tries to get those points back. That’s the resiliency part of this team.”
(On the team playing well on the road compared to previous seasons) “Again, we talk a lot about that.
Obviously, you’ve got to win your division and you’ve got to win your home games which we haven’t
done a great job of yet this year. You’ve got to win on the road, a hostile environment, the crowd is
against you, it’s loud and noisy. You’ve got to have poise and we’ve been able to do that. A credit to the
guys for handling that and I try to do my best each week to put them in tough situations with the crowd
noise and things like that at the end of the week and they’ve responded.”
(On importance of the team handling the bye week in the right way) “It’s huge, it’s huge. It’s huge from
the standpoint of we don’t want any distractions, we don’t want anything to set us back right now. Yes, I
want them to get away, I want them to rest, I want them to heal. But at the same time, I want them to
think about the next game, the next nine games and how we continue what we’ve started. We’ve got a
long season ahead of us still and I just don’t want what we’ve worked for and what they’ve worked hard
to establish to go to by the wayside.”
(On confidence that the players will handle themselves well in the bye week) “I’ve got to trust them,
honestly. They’re going to do the right thing, they know it and they understand what they’ve done,
where they are and how much work they’ve put in. You just trust them, you trust them to do the right
thing and they’ll come back in a good frame of mind. They’re excited as they should be, and they’ve put
themselves in this position so it’s something we continue to build on.”
(On talent of CB Darious Williams, S Andrew Wingard and CB Montaric Brown in the secondary) “Starting
with Darious, he’s a veteran guy that seems like the ball is going his way, but he’s making those plays. It’s
good for his confidence and it’s great for the defense. He’s playing at an extremely high level and it’s
good to see. Then, to see Montaric and Andrew out there playing the last couple of weeks, it’s always
been the next-man-up sort of mentality. The guys pride themselves on that, you saw what Dewey is
capable of doing, some really good tackles and the interception and he plays special teams. He’s just a
great piece to have. Buster [Montaric] is just getting more confident each time he goes out, there’s still
some things he can work on and continue to improve with, but he’s had two solid performances in the
last two weeks.”
(On if the team is where he thought they would be at the bye week) “The expectation, quite honestly,
yes. It’s just confidence in our guys, confidence in the team. As a coach, looking at our schedule and
looking at the season and how things started out is a little rough. But to be here at 6-2, I expected that.
The guys expected that, I think that’s the confidence that the guys have in their ability. We just stick to
our process, we stick to each week is different and each game is different. It’s a just a credit to the
players and how they work during the week. It’s that resiliency that you talk about, no matter what
happens during the game, they’re going to find a way to win.”
(On if he thought the offense would carry the defense instead of the defense carrying the offense) “You
would think so, with the weapons and the fire power. We missed some opportunities yesterday. There
were some opportunities that you could maybe blow the game open and we missed them. Those are the
things that we’ve got to fix offensively, then of course, the giveaways just can’t happen especially that
deep in the redzone. It’s just taking points off the board and games are going to be different. That’s what
we see as coaches, that’s what our players see and that’s why the second half of the season is going to
be important that we take care of the football that way.”
(On if it’s easier for an offense to improve due to self-inflicted mistakes) “Yeah, when you’re struggling to
move the ball, sometimes you do things out of character to try to move the ball. You go outside of who
you are as a football team. If you’re just making a mistake, whether it be an assignment up front, you can
correct that. You’re still moving and scoring points, you can correct those. Turnovers, you can correct
that. Yeah, it’s different and I’d rather be the team that we’re still scoring points, but we could be even
better. That’s kind of where we are.”
(On if he wanted RB Travis Etienne Jr. to have as many touches as he’s had this season) “Yeah, he had 24
carries and six targets, right around 30 or so yesterday, that’s on the extensive part of it. But he’s very
capable and you’re seeing as these games go, he gets stronger as the game goes on. Still, we have to be
careful as a staff with substitutions and things like that. I think the back half of the season now, we’ve got
to make sure that he’s healthy in the month of December and the first part of January when we finish up
the season. If we’ve got to take a little bit off his plate, we will and make sure he’s one hundred percent
late in the year.”
(On concern of confidence in RB Tank Bigsby) “The one thing about Tank is he’s a good player. He’s a
really good player and he’s a young player, so our confidence doesn’t drop nor should it. We still got to
show confidence in him and he’s still a good back and all of that. It’s part of the Etienne [RB Travis
Etienne Jr.] conversation, of getting him more comfortable in games. D’Ernest [RB D’Ernest Johnson] has
done it in his past and his career, now we’ve just got to get Tank more comfortable, more reps, more
opportunities, and I think those will come in the next nine games.”
(On what the next day looks like for him and General Manager Trent Baalke with the trade deadline)
“You look and see if there’s a player that could help you, I don’t think you go searching just to search for
anybody. You got to make sure it’s the right fit. Somebody that can add value and a piece that you’re
maybe missing. We are getting some guys healthy and back too, so that plays a factor in it here in the
next few weeks. We’ll take a look and if it’s a no-brainer, you pull the trigger, if not, you move on with
guys you have because they’re the ones that got you here.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence not typically throwing to RB Travis Etienne Jr. on the touchdown play yesterday)
“He’s not the first read, it’s more of a quick pass when the ball is going to be out of his hand and a true,
what we call, a double-stick route. Two short out routes, the corner was in a cloud coverage, the corner
jumped Calvin [WR Calvin Ridley] where they thought the ball was going to go and the safety took a little
bit of a flatter angle. I’ll tell you something, it was a heck of a read by Trevor. To throw it over the top of
the safety who was trying to jump and knock the ball down and for Travis to catch it. Just a great play
between those two, Travis is not the primary. We’re not throwing a lot of go-balls with Etienne, but just a
great play by those two.”
(On WR Calvin Ridley impacting the offense even when he’s not touching the ball) “Exactly. Early part of
that game, he was the guy that was making plays for us. Evan [TE Evan Engram] was doing the same
thing and the attention was on Calvin early, so I think that’s where they thought the ball was going.”
(On if the team came out well injury wise) “We did. Knock on wood, we came out good. I talked to Ferg
[Vice President of Player Health and Performance Jeff Ferguson] this morning, so no setbacks with
anybody. This is a good time to get some guys healthy for San Fran.”
(On the level of focus on this team to win all five games in October) “Yeah, the football season is not
about how you start, it’s about how you finish. Last year, we were 2-7, 3-7, things of that nature. We
were getting better as a team and figured some things out in the back half of the year. Now, it’s a
confident team, guys understand what to do, we’re making more plays, figuring out how to win these
games, playing for 60 minutes, all of that, which I think is a direct result to last year. To be in this spot at
6-2, we just focus on the one week at a time mentality. The whole season, hopefully the whole season is
the month of October. You play it that way because when you’re in football in an NFL season, you lose
track of days and months and time. You just go out and play. I think that’s a credit to the guys, just
staying in the moment.”
(On reaction of QB Trevor Lawrence throwing an interception) “When he threw it, we were all like, ‘No…’
Then, when you lock eye contact with him as he’s walking off the field, he knows. He knows right away,
so it’s not like you’re going to yell and scream at the kid. Yeah, they’re going to have those mistakes. We
were fortunate it didn’t hurt us in the ballgame, but those are teachable things. Still got a young
quarterback that’s learning and growing, next time he’s going to sail it out of the back of the endzone.
We’re going to be in second down. It happens.”
