by: Mike Parker
Holmgren so far seems to be focusing on the silver lining of the game in answer to the questions, praising special teams for their play--notably Forsett and Herring coming back to give things a spark.
He just said there is a possibility that Matt will play against San Fran on Sunday. The pain issue, he said, is the disc pushing against the nerve.
"Some people live their whole lives with things like this," Holmgren said. "I don't think he's in pain. You'd have to ask him. It just depends on when the medical people give him the OK."
Holmgren also acknowledged that this isn't the same team that was lined up in training camp. I think we can all agree on that one. "We need him back," Holmgren said of Matt. The team has the day off, so the two won't see each other today, but it's a matter of judging how things go this week in practice.
On Lofa:
"Lofa will be fine this week. He came out of the concussion the way medical people would like to see him come out. He's feeling much better and I think he'll be okay for [Sunday]."
On Josh Wilson and Kelly Jennings:
"They have to keep working. They have to keep getting better, and when we call a blitz, we have to get home. We have to at least make the quarterback make a poor throw."Holmgren added that none of that happened last night and it hasn't all year. We've noticed.
Tapp and Jackson both played well, and Coach also praised the efforts of Red Bryant.
There were 39 offensive plays in this game. Holmgren said this was the lowest total he's probably ever had in a game in his career.
"We can't expect to win and not take advantage, and shoot ourselves in the foot. Until we can start getting better . . . bless their hearts. They came out in the second half and played pretty well in spots, but it was too little, too late.
"I don't think baby steps are going to work now. In order to help us win, we've got to get back in there and start playing. The second thing is we can't mistakes like the holding penalty. That's two weeks in a row that's happened on big running plays. It's like Groundhog Day. I hope we can take a bigger jump here offensively and win some games here."
The offensive situation, he said, is not what he's used to. He said he can't remember when the team wasn't in the top 10 in passing. But they are still 5th in rushing, "believe it or not," he said.
Right now, any substitutions the team makes will be to make the team better now as opposed to later in the season. The mindset is still on this year, and it seems Coach hasn't lost hope.
But, he admitted he may have "called the wrong stuff" in this game last night.
"That's what it is," he said. "I put them in bad situations sometimes. But we're gonna look at that this week. They have to hold up their end of the bargain, too."
On the injuries:
"We gotta get some of these guys back. We have to. If Seneca or Charlie plays this week, they'll be better. Right now, everyone's disappointed. We're not gonna just cash it in and start thinking about next year. We have to keep plugging away. We're not the first team to go through a time like this. How we handle it is important."On the 49er game this Sunday:
On the adversity of this season:
"Our focus has to be [on] playing better, no matter the opponent. It's always an important game when you play San Francisco."
"It's important that we still have the confidence to rely on each other. That'll be in my message this week."
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