other..
Nick Bosa: “Sometimes it would be better for me to take a couple plays off early in the game.”
Here is the transcript of Nick Bosa Tuesday group interview from the 49ers locker room.
Q: What is the mood of the defense after these past two games?
BOSA: “I think it’s good. I think we’re a pretty mature. We know what we did wrong. Everybody watches the film and knows we have to be better. No better time to be better than these next couple games.”
Q: In college, all of your games were high stakes. Here, it’s more of a grind. What are the differences in terms of the emotional level you bring into each game?
BOSA: “You’re playing a good team every week. In college, you’re playing a good team maybe three times a year. In this league, you have to prepare the same every week. There are no real down weeks. It kind of sounds like a broken record after however many weeks we’re in. But, you really do have to take your focus to a new level every week. Everything is still right in front of us. What we’ve done early in the year has helped us get to this point.”
Q: Have you ever played as much as you’re playing right now?
BOSA: “No.”
Q: Does that surprise you? Did you think you’d be playing 90 percent of the snaps?
BOSA: “I always want to be out on every play, and then I realize sometimes it would be better for me to take a couple plays off early in the game. But, I’ll be out there whenever my team needs me.”
Q: How enjoyable is that to you to be out there so much?
BOSA: “Yeah, I love it. In college, I rotated a lot, and it frustrated me being out for important plays of the game. And now, I get to be an important part of the defense at all times, so it’s a lot of fun.”
Q: Do you have to pace yourself playing as many plays as you are?
BOSA: “I definitely don’t pace myself. Maybe I need to learn how to. I just go hard every play. Might end up biting me in the end.”
Q: You were pretty hard on yourself after the game. When you watched the tape, was it as bad as you thought live?
BOSA: “Yeah, about the same as what I said.”
Q: What are the challenges of going against Andrew Whitworth this week? What makes him so good?
BOSA: “His ability to do the little things. You watch tape — it’s unbelievable how you never see anybody throw a flag on him. He’s so good at holding and doing all these small things and grabbing onto you. I might think I’m having a great bullrush, but in reality he’s pulling me to the ground with him. He just uses what you do well against you. He’s just really good. He has been doing it for a long time.”
Q: Your defense is dealing with lots of injuries. Do you feel like you guys can pick it up and get to where you were earlier?
BOSA: “Yeah, I mean, football is a game of tiny, tiny, tiny things. And when you lose a lot of guys with a lot of experience and you don’t have them on the field, then those little things show up. It’s going to take the guys who are out there to fix those little things. I think we’ll be just fine.”