SANTA CLARA – Frank Gore was the first 49er to speak this morning in the locker room. Here’s what he said.
Q: Did you envision this season going like this for you?
GORE: I just take it one day at a time, one game at a time and try to go out and do the best I can for my team. I know I can play football and, you know, I try my best to go out there and do the best I can.
Q: Do you still feel like you’re a young guy?
GORE: I feel good.
Q: Like you were never injured?
GORE: I don’t think about it. Like I said, I train hard every offseason. As long as I keep preparing myself the way I do in the offseason, I’ll be fine during the year.
Q: Career-high 31 carries – how’s your body?
GORE: I feel good. I felt better yesterday than the couple weeks before the bye. The bye week helped me.
Q: Did you injure the ankle again?
GORE: No, they kind of twisted me under the pile. It kind of got weak. I let my ankle get back strong and I got back in the game.
Q: You’re doing your thing but now for a winner, what’s that mean to you?
GORE: Like I said before, just going out there and worrying about stats and trying to get to the Pro Bowl. Now, you’re getting stats and also winning and people have started noticing how good of a team we have. That’s real big. I’m happy.
Q: Have you thought about your legacy?
GORE: I really don’t think about the rushing yards. Right now, I’m happy about the situation we’re in. We’re 6-1 and we’re still growing and we’re still moving forward. That’s what I’m happy about.
Q: Did you feel a different buzz?
GORE: I think our fans, they’re happy and I’m happy for them. There’s been some rough years, they’ve had some rough years and they’ve always been there and now we’re doing something really great for them.
Q: Did you hear from Roger last night?
GORE: Yeah, we talked last night. He’s happy for me, man. Me and Roger, we became really close these last two years. When I got injured he called me a lot this offseason, telling me what I had to do and that I’d be fine and this year I’d come back and prove a lot of people wrong who probably thought I wouldn’t be able to come back and be the guy who I’ve always been.
Q: What did that mean to you?
GORE: That’s big, especially a guy who did great things in this league and for this organization. I respect him a whole lot. For him to call me like he did this offseason that was real big for me.
Q: What did you think of Joe Staley and Isaac Sopoaga’s catches?
GORE: They big, athletic guys. The coaches are great, they are great at what they do and they put us in great position to be successful. I like that, it was fun to see the big guys get out there and run like that.
Q: Have you ever been in better groove?
GORE: I don’t know. I’m feeling good. The O line is doing a great job. As long as they keep continuing to do the job they’re doing and Alex keeps doing the job he’s doing. And the receivers keep doing the job they’re doing. I feel like I can continue to do what I’m doing. It’s not just me. It takes everybody. Everybody is doing a great job on the field. As long as we keep doing that, everyone is going to keep having success.
Q: But it starts with you, right.
GORE: Yeah, but like I say, as long as everyone keeps doing the jobs they do, we’ll all have success.
Q: You lead the division by four games and could clinch the division by Thanksgiving …
GORE: Oh, yeah?
Q: Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?
GORE: That would be great.
Q: Can you not think about that stuff?
GORE: We just take one game at a time. We can’t look that far. Now we worry about the Washington Redskins. We’re going to try to go down there and get this win against them who I think is a pretty good team. We just take it one game at a time. One day at a time.
Q: What can you say about Bruce Miller?
GORE: Bruce is a very smart kid. He’s been coached very well by Coach Rathman. He’s doing a great job, very athletic, he’s tough. He’s doing a great job. Both of our rookies are doing a great job for our team. Even when I come out of the game, Kendall comes in and makes big runs. I think we’ve got a good group.
GC: How much has Miller improved as blocker?
GORE: He’s doing great. What I like about him he listens to what I tell him before the play, so he can get out faster and read stuff faster, so get on the person he has to block. Like I say, he’s very smart. And he’s doing whatever the coach and I tell him to.
Q: How do you develop great vision – become someone who sees the field so well?
GORE: It’s God. God blessed me with that. I just say God blessed me with that.
Q: Can you describe what it’s like to have great vision?
GORE: I just see whatever goes on. I just look at the defense and I know where I can go before the play even start. That’s God, God blessed me with that.
Q: You guys have already matched last year’s victory total. Things different?
GORE: I’m happy. It’s my first time to be in this position, 6-1. How we’ve won our games is real big. We’ve still got room to grow. As long as we keep taking small steps forward in the right direction, I’m happy with that.
Q: Do you feel 22.
GORE: I do.
Q: Or younger?
GORE: I feel 22.
Q: How did you pick that number?
GORE: That’s when I first came in the league. I feel good.
Comments are closed.