Q&A: Patrick Willis on the Jets
Thoughts on the Jets’ offense line: “They have some stout guys up front. They run the ball really well and Green and Powell are two really good backs.”
Jets’ weaknesses the 49ers can exploit: “I don’t want to say weaknesses. For us it’s about getting after the offense and creating weaknesses while we’re out there. They have a solid football team and we have to be ready to play.”
Possibly facing Tim Tebow and the Wildcat: “Tebow has had a lot of success running the Wildcat package since he was with the Broncos. I’ve seen [the Jets] have success with it even running it as little as they have. It’s something we have to be able to stop as far as the run game.”
How much practice time will the 49ers dedicate to the Wildcat offense? “We don’t want to say it’s on the backburner. We like to prepare for everything. That’s something most definitely that we’ll prepare for today as we have our first practice of the week.”
He’s run the ball out of it most times. But he’s a quarterback so we know that he can throw the ball at anytime and we have to be fundamentally sound.
Reaction to losing to the Vikings: “Certainly wasn’t our best performance as a defense or as a team. But with the bad, it’s what you take from it. There’s a lot of good we can take from it; we can learn… Nobody’s walking around and jumping for joy. For us it’s one of those things where it doesn’t feel good but we can’t sit and mope about a game that we can no longer do anything about.”
Willis on his ankle injury: “It’s feeling well. Today’s our first day of practice so I’m gonna go out and see how it does… In my mind, I’m always ready to go. You can tell me I’m down, that I have a season-ending injury, and in my mind I’m still good to go.”
The loss of Darrelle Revis for the Jets: “Certainly he’ll be missed. He’s one of the best corners in the game today and has proven that. I know they’re going to miss him. But that’s a problem they have to address. For us, we’re going about it as if he’s still there.”
Scouting report on Jets running back Shonn Greene: “He’s a physical guy and he’s a load. I think he’s about 220-plus [pounds] and he’s low to the ground. For a running back that’s good leverage and some size and he carries it really well. He has good vision.”
On spending the week in Youngstown, Ohio: “They always say there’s no place like home. You’d love to be sleeping in your own bed. I have a puppy and I’d love to be seeing him [a blue-nosed pit bull named Zeus]. But other than that, it’s good to get away from the distractions back home. And I don’t mean distractions in a bad way, but we’re able to focus in on football. I think being out here is going to benefit us in a lot of ways.”
What’s the intensity level like going into this game following a loss to the Vikings: “We don’t take this loss lightly. We are humbled by it, but we were humble before it. At the same time, losing one game don’t make or break our season. For us, our goals are still reachable and ahead of us…We have to make sure we don’t make the same mistakes we made last week and get back on track.”