Daniel Kilgore: “Ray McDonald is a heck of a guy.”

SANTA CLARA — Daniel Kilgore was interviewed next to his locker Wednesday afternoon. Here’s a transcript.

Q: What can you tell us about the Cowboys’ defensive line?

KILGORE: They’re fast. They’re pretty quick. Good defensive front.

Q: What’s the biggest thing you think you’ve conquered this offseason?

KILGORE: Becoming more comfortable day in and day out with practice. The more experience, the more comfortable you get. I’m excited. First career start. Ready to go out there and show what I can do.

Q: Is your comfort level where you want it to be?

KILGORE: It’s right there where I want to be.

Q: It’s been a while since you worked next to Alex Boone. Have you been getting some reps in practice next to him?

KILGORE: He’s been working in. I don’t feel like he has missed a beat. He has done a good job staying in shape and hopefully if he does go in he can do his best and pick up where he left off.

Q: The Cowboys’s defense wasn’t very good last year and they’ve lost some veteran guys. What area do you think they have a chance to be an improved defense?

KILGORE: This is the NFL. There is not any bad defense. They get paid, too. They’ve got some younger guys. Watching preseason, just watching them, they do a great job flying to the ball. They do a good job of moving their defensive line. I feel like right now they’re a good defensive line. We’ll get more into it and watch them the rest of the week.

Q: What has the coach said to you guys as a team to keep you focused given everything that’s gone on with Ray McDonald?

KILGORE: We’ve moved on away from that. I have, personally. My main focus right  now is the Dallas Cowboys. Ray McDonald is a heck of a guy. I’ll let that be Ray’s issue. My focus right now is on Dallas.

Q: What do you notice in your teammates on offense going into this game?

KILGORE: We continue to grow on offense. With it now being the season, not saying we took preseason lightly but I think guys are more focused and really want to get this first win.

This article has 14 Comments

  1. That’s right Danny Boy.
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    Focus on beating the crap out of the Cowboys!
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    I CAN’T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    .
    .
    .
    *ALOHA*

  2. I suspect Culliver will be on Dez, and Willis will guard Witten. I hope we throw the entire thing at them. Miller out of the backfield. Ellington screen. Hyde out of the pistol. Get a mismatch with VMac in the flat.

    I hope Navarro gives an emotional pregame speech.

    1. Willis probably won’t guard Witten much. Since Bowman is out, Willis is playing the Mike role which is his old role pre-Bowman. Thus, either Wilhoite will handle it in base formations or one of the safeties will handle the role in nickel formations. It is possible Willis will handle some TE coverage duties in Nickel but it’s hard to say since Fangio may have altered the nickel scheme with Bowman’s prolonged absence.

  3. I really like that headline. It says so much about Kilgore’s interview. I’ll bet he can’t wait for the next one.

  4. Dallas is a passing team. Sf’s weakness is against passing teams. Should be a fun one to watch from an offensive standpoint . Let’s hope that sf doesn’t come out with their usual vanilla offense. Dallas can put points up. I don’t want a game where I have to count on Room to lose the game. I want to watch SF crush Dallas.

    1. Sf’s weakness is against passing teams

      It is? That’s a funny thing to say considering the team’s recent records against Seattle (in Seattle) and Green Bay.

      1. Ward is replacing Rogers, Culliver’s back, and Brock has another year under his belt. Exciting. But no Aldon Smith.

      2. I don’t consider Seattle a passing team. Yes, the niners struggle against passing teams. ARod was carving up our D in the second half of the playoff game last year in Lambeau Field. Matt Ryan was carving up our D in the late season game we played against them. They were about to score the go ahead TD, except for a pick 6 – bowman tipped pass to Tarrell Brown I think. Finally , Manning carved up our D in the preseason game a few weeks ago.

        1. Aaron Rodgers was carving up the Niner defense? Really?

          His final stat line:

          17/26
          177 yards
          1 TD

          Try again. They struggle against teams that can play more physical than they do but that rarely happens. They’ve been very good against passing teams. Look at how well they’ve played the Saints in the dome the past two years, they’ve beaten GB 4 straight times, Detroit they’ve held in check both times they’ve played them. There is no formula here.

        2. The 49ers don’t struggle against passing teams. Quite the opposite. They struggle against teams that stay committed to the running game.

          1. The 49ers don’t struggle against passing teams. Quite the opposite. They struggle against teams that stay committed to the running game.

            It’s more the teams who come out committed to a balanced attack, isn’t it Jack?

        3. They (Falcons) “might” have scored a touchdown. They didn’t in the playoffs the year before.

          Bowman left his pass rush to go where he could help with a tackle and caught the tipped ball. Both the 49er defender and the receiver tipped the ball. The last tip was by the receiver.

          All pointless today.

        4. I don’t consider Seattle a passing team.

          That was my point.

          ARod was carving up our D in the second half of the playoff game last year in Lambeau Field

          rocket already destroyed that claim.

          Matt Ryan was carving up our D in the late season game we played against them.

          Atlanta scored 24 points in that game, and Ryan threw two interceptions. If you want to label that as the defense struggling, be my guest.

          Manning carved up our D in the preseason game a few weeks ago.

          That’s a joke, right? It was a preseason game in which Justin Smith, Ian Williams, Ray McDonald, and Patrick Willis did not play a single down.

          This would be a good time to concede the point.

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