The Jets and 49ers will kick off their season Monday night in Santa Clara, CA. Here is what the defending NFC champion 49ers are saying about the Green & White leading up to the Week 1 game.
RB Christrian McCaffrey on Jets RB Breece Hall: "I have a lot of respect for Breece. I think he's a heck of a back. He's big, fast, strong, can make any cut. He sees it well. He can make big plays when they're not there. I have tremendous respect for him."
QB Brock Purdy on the Jets'Secondary: "I just feel like they have a lot of experience and they have a good natural feel for the game and sort of understanding concepts that offenses are running. They're smart, and obviously they're very athletic. Sauce Gardner's got some great length. D.J. Reed is really quick, smart, gritty. It's going to be a great challenge. And anytime we're going to push the ball outside the numbers or anything like that, it just has to be smart and aware of those guys because they're really, really good corners."
Purdy on Hall, who were roommates at Iowa State: "One of the most talented football players that I've ever shared the field with or just seen play football live. Breece is one of the most talented guys. Seeing his development from when he got [to Iowa State] as a freshman to then us pushing each other in the weight room and getting on the field and the relationship that we had, he was a little brother to me, bringing him under my wing and just trying to push him and want to see him be his best. … To see his development over the three years that he was there and that we were there together was pretty cool. He's very talented. He's a freak athlete. I want nothing but the best for Breece. Love him."
LB Fred Warner on Jets HC Robert Saleh, who was Warner's defensive coordinator for his first three seasons: "I owe a ton to Rob — I'm not even going to call him Robert. Coach Saleh, as I know him. He means so much to me. From the moment I stepped in this building on my 30 visit, him showing confidence in me as a player and then giving me the nod as the Mike backer in my rookie year, that takes a lot of guts to give a rookie that power. I'm so happy for him and his success. Hopefully not very successful on Monday night of course, but I owe a lot to him."
Warner on Hall: "Huge test. I think he's one of the best backs in the league just from watching him. I haven't played him yet, but he's so dynamic. The ability to hit the home run with his speed, his cuts in and out of the box, I think is one of the top in the league. He's going to be a huge test for us. We have to swarm him, it's not going to be a one-guy show. We have to swarm the football and I know they're excited about the rookie they brought in as well, so we have to make sure we're on our assignments and we're playing relentless football to have a chance of stopping them."
Warner on Playing Against Jets QB Against Rodgers: "We've had our battles over the years, man. I love competing against Aaron. Happy to see him back healthy, so it'll be a great matchup.
"He always has the savvy right? The ability to extend plays, to make the big plays, keep control of the game, make plays in big time moments."
49ers DC Nick Sorenson on Rodgers: "He's seen everything. You have to be able to be tight on the guys and he's good when he has a good run game, so you always want to stop the run, and then he's got different elements off of that. When he trusts receivers and has had time with them, he can be really pinpoint accurate when he knows where they're going to be. I think that's the one thing, that he's always been really connected with someone on his team that's really good. He can put it in a spot, much like [Chiefs QB Patrick] Mahomes and [Chiefs TE Travis] Kelce have. He's had that throughout his whole career. He's confident, he's got a confident arm. It's strong. He can make every throw, he can see the field."
49ers Run-Game Coordinator and OL Coach Chris Forester on Jets All-Pro DT Quinnen Williams: "He's got a great low center of gravity. He's gotten bigger. Our guys were laughing the other day. He's listed at 303 pounds. I don't think he's at 303 anymore. That might have been his Combine weight. But he is a load and he plays with a great center of gravity. He plays with great energy. He's got explosion in his body. … He's just one of those real strong and explosive guys that if you don't get on him quick, if you don't take care of your business, you're not recovering. He's too strong and too powerful a guy, and it makes it hard to recover."
Forester on new Jets DT Javon Kinlaw, who was drafted by the 49ers in 2020: "Great challenge. We get challenges every week and Javon's another crazy, great guy, great player. Loved our time with him here. We really respect him and the job that he does. It's going to be a great challenge for whoever has to block the guy. He can be as dominant a defensive lineman as we see. And from what we've heard, he is having a great camp and is ready to go. So obviously we've got a great challenge ahead of us."
