San Francisco 49ers tight end George Kittle explains why his stats are down this season.
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00:00 Along those lines, one catch in two of your last three games,
00:02 is that a function of the game plan?
00:03 Is that Brock freezing you out?
00:06 >> 100% Brock freezing me out.
00:08 Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:09 That's a good one.
00:10 Game plan, we've gone against a lot of really good defensive lines.
00:13 And we're trying to do our best to not let something happen like TJ Walk getting
00:17 three sacks against us, right?
00:19 And if my catch is diminished to help the team win, I don't really care.
00:25 My goal is to win a Super Bowl.
00:26 Accolades and all that stuff come after that, it is what it is.
00:30 And I'm gonna be out there, I'm gonna be chipping, I'm gonna be blocking,
00:32 I'm gonna be catching the ball, scoring touchdowns.
00:34 Whatever they ask me to do, I'm gonna do it.
00:36 Would I prefer to have five targets over one target?
00:38 Sure, any Titan would.
00:40 But if that's not in the game plan, it's not in the game plan, and it's all right.
00:43 >> Speaking of a lot, Brock's first real exposure to the Blitz was
00:47 through to you against the Dolphins last year.
00:49 >> Was it successful?
00:50 >> It was successful.
00:51 >> Let's keep doing that.
00:52 >> Yeah, I'm wondering, he seemed pretty ready for me from the very get go.
00:55 >> Yeah. >> How has he developed and
00:57 improved against the Blitz even so far?
00:59 >> I mean, you look at the New York Giants when we played them on Thursday,
01:02 that wasn't Thursday, that was Sunday night football, right, that was Sunday night?
01:05 That was Thursday, geez louise.
01:06 On that Thursday night game, a short week, and
01:08 at the time I'm pretty sure they Blitzed more than anybody else.
01:11 And he handled that really well.
01:13 We gave him a bunch of really weird Blitz looks throughout the week of practice.
01:17 And we're doing that again now, and just trying to, hey,
01:19 you're gonna get weird things.
01:21 You're gonna think they're in this hook, they're gonna drop the tamp,
01:23 they're gonna do all these different things.
01:24 And he's doing a really good job with that.
01:26 I always say Kyle has a dense game plan, and I think he's trying to make it as easy
01:30 as he can on us this week with all the pressures and stuff that they do.
01:33 But at the same time, Brock's dominating that game plan, and
01:36 as long as he's confident, we're very confident in our offense.
01:39 >> George, it's been a year since you traded for Chris McCaffrey.
01:41 >> I know, that's pretty cool.
01:43 >> Anything that's surprised you about his game?
01:46 I mean, obviously, seeing from afar and then he's on your team,
01:49 what's been the element that's maybe surprised you about seeing him?
01:52 >> You know what, I wouldn't even, wow, that's a good one.
01:56 I'm gonna answer that, and
01:57 then I'm gonna give you guys something else that's on my mind about that.
02:00 First, something that surprised me is, I like seeing,
02:04 you see him from afar, two All-Pros the same year, two different positions.
02:07 He's incredible, probably should have won the Heisman.
02:10 No one watches the West Coast games late at night on the East Coast.
02:14 It's just tough for him, hell of a football player.
02:17 But what I like to see is,
02:18 there's not a lot of guys who are as hard on themselves as he is.
02:21 You see him make a mistake, he's very upset about it.
02:24 And not emotionally upset, he's just like, I need to be better than that, and
02:27 my expectations for myself are way too high for that.
02:29 And you never see him make the same mistake twice.
02:31 I love that about him.
02:32 And then the other thing on top of that, I wake up this morning and
02:37 I'm scrolling a quick scroll on Twitter.
02:39 It's 6 AM and I see a tweet from Adam Schefter, and
02:43 he tweeted at midnight that said, today's the day that Chris McCaffrey got traded.
02:48 And I'm just like, is it that big of a deal that you tweeted at 1201 AM?
02:52 East Coast time, man.
02:53 Did you wake up just to tweet that, or did you stay up that late?
02:56 So I asked Mike Crunchy, is that that big of a deal?
02:58 It is for us.
02:59 I mean, I think ESPN graded us a C-, and they're really good at their gradings.
03:04 I'm Greg, great ratings, they're fantastic.
03:07 >> The first week and a half that he was here last year,
03:10 Kyle said that he did not expect him to be ready to play in that Chiefs game.
03:14 Obviously he did, then he scored all those touchdowns next week.
03:16 What was it like being next to him,
03:18 Walker makes as he was cramming and learning that playbook?
03:22 >> It's honestly the same thing now.
03:23 I mean, obviously he has a better grasp of our playbook at this point.
03:26 But helping him out as best I can, juice something out as best he can.
03:30 I fully expect him to play.
03:32 I think Kyle might have been lying to you, but he would never do that to you guys.
03:36 Just basketball's back, baby.
03:38 He's a pro's pro, and when you sit next to a guy like that, and
03:42 I get to sit across from a guy like Hargrave and Mooney.
03:46 It's like you get to sit around these players who are very elite players, and
03:48 you can see how they operate every single day.
03:50 And while I'm gonna say Christian is an elite player, but
03:53 he's got this other level to him that you really appreciate seeing.
03:55 Whether it's his dedication to the playbook, whether it's his dedication to
03:58 his body, and just his effort every single day.
04:01 Whether it's being a good teammate, whatever it is,
04:03 he's just doing everything at a very, very high level.
04:06 >> George, do you know the best any player in basketball status?
04:09 >> He said the best one.
04:11 No, it's okay, you can go one more.
04:13 It's your world.
04:14 Peter is on my list right now.
04:16 >> Yeah, exactly.
04:18 >> Yeah, I know, trust me, I know.
04:20 >> [INAUDIBLE]
04:30 >> Tune in Monday for a surprise.
04:35 We'll see, we'll have some fun with it though.
04:37 >> Thanks guys.
04:39 >> All right, sounds great.
04:41 >> Well, seen as shit.
04:43 >> [LAUGH] >> Hi, everybody.
04:47 >> What do you like about TJ Hawkinson's?
04:50 >> Hawk?
04:51 >> Yeah.
04:51 >> TJ Hawkinson?
04:54 Let's see, I mean, I love everything about it.
04:56 He's got his own swagger to it.
04:58 He plays the game at a really high level, a lot of effort.
05:01 He tries in the run game, you can see he takes his first, second step.
05:05 Seriously, his aiming point, hand placement, he runs good routes,
05:08 he's physical at the point of attack.
05:11 And he's an Iowa Titan, those are things that I really enjoy.
05:13 And it's an honor to get a train with him every single day throughout the entire
05:17 offseason.
05:18 I know his secrets, I'm selling the secrets to our DBs at a low rate.
05:21 I'm kidding, but I mean, I love everything about TJ and
05:26 I really respect his game and how he plays it.
05:28 And he's in an offense too where while they're missing Justin Jefferson,
05:31 TJ is a very formidable threat that's getting fed the ball a lot.
05:34 So I'm looking, if I had him on my fantasy team, I'd probably start him this week.
05:38 But going against our defense, I'm giving our guys tips,
05:40 trying to slow them down so I can have a better National Titans Day.
05:43 >> What is it about Iowa Titans, why are you guys, why is it a success?
05:47 >> The success for Iowa Titans?
05:49 >> Yeah.
05:50 >> Well, going back to when my first day on campus,
05:53 they told me if I didn't learn how to run block, I'd never touch the field.
05:56 And so I made it a passion of mine in the run game.
05:59 And then when you try really hard in the run game, all the play action,
06:03 bootleg, all that stuff kind of comes naturally with it.
06:05 And then I was fortunate enough to go to an offense where it's all outside zone,
06:08 so I basically was five years ahead of everybody else that was here in
06:10 the building.
06:11 And Iowa just kind of instills in you that you just have to work harder than
06:14 everyone else no matter what, no matter how talented you are,
06:16 no matter how lack of talent, no matter what it is,
06:18 you're gonna grind every single day, 365 days a year.
06:21 And it's not a mindset for everybody, and
06:23 there's a few colleges that I think do it really well, and Iowa's one of them.
06:27 And if you can make it through three years or five years of that,
06:30 your head's on straight and you can do some of the next level.
06:33 Yes.
06:33 >> Is National Titans Day a day, or does Thursdays be a day?
06:37 >> National Titans Day is actually every day, if you choose to celebrate it.
06:40 It's a rookie question, it's okay though.
06:42 I'm out here helping everybody.
06:43 It is celebrated on Sunday, that's what's on your calendar.
06:48 Don't check it, but it's what's on your calendar.
06:50 I will say that I was thinking about, am I gonna be offended that I'm playing on
06:55 a Monday night and National Titans Day is on Sunday?
06:59 But like I said, I celebrate it every single day, so
07:01 it's okay with me as long as you guys celebrate it with me.
07:03 >> You've had success in prime time games, a lot of success.
07:08 >> Occasionally.
07:09 >> Is there a reason you get prized?
07:12 >> No, there's opportunities on prime time games.
07:15 And when the lights are on, it's really fun, it's really easy to get your switch
07:21 flipped, and it's usually pretty easy from here anyways.
07:23 But going back to the Midwest, it's gonna be a really fun time.
07:26 Hear that skull chant really loud, it's gonna be an incredible atmosphere against
07:30 a very strong offense and a defense that is pressuring more than anybody in the NFL
07:37 right now, so they've figured out what they're doing well the last two weeks and
07:41 they're gonna try to continue that against us, so I'm just really looking forward to it.
07:44 >> Is that a good thing for you or bad thing for you, to stay in, to protect more?
07:49 >> I can't tell you that, who knows?
07:50 I mean, there's games I play, left tackle B, I guess is what it would be.
07:55 And there's games I don't, you get chip, get the flat, whatever it is.
07:59 But we're gonna, as long as we're winning, I'm doing a good job.
08:04 You can't look at me like that, man, that's crazy.
08:07 But lost my train of thought, but yeah, I mean, whatever it takes.
08:13 I mean, if I'm chipping a bunch, I'm chipping a bunch, and this is what it is.
08:17 And we'll get back on the winning track.