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Evans, Warner, McCaffrey on Adjusting to Australia, Week 1 Outlook | Press Pass

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San Francisco 49ers WR Mike Evans, LB Fred Warner, and RB Christian McCaffrey discussed embracing the experience of playing in Melbourne, the team's smooth travel and acclimation process, and what to expect facing the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1.

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Evans, Warner, McCaffrey on Adjusting to Australia, Week 1 Outlook | Press Pass

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49ers: Press PassEvans, Warner, McCaffrey on Adjusting to Australia, Week 1 Outlook | Press Pass. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.

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but it's been pretty good. Can you guess the question back in March? All right mate. That's all I got honestly. But I do love, I love, I love, me and my wife watch love Island Australia. I love and we love the accents. Thank you. Appreciate it. I have the body feeling. It's feeling pretty good. Feeling bang on the new day. Same for it. I love it here. Honestly, I love it. I know I've been, I was in a different place for a long time. But it feels good. The transition has been really good for me. I love my teammates and, and love the staff that we have. How many guys with a lot of teammates have you had in the summer? The new corners they got. Some really good players. They got paid for a reason. I played against 35 before when he was a rookie. He was good back then. He's gotten better that I've seen on film and make Duffy. He's an other player. So, got to come out and be fast, be physical and try to win those matchups. Did you now see how another team has handled problems especially with the small flight?

How did the Niner, what was your impression of how the Niner team was? It was easy. I thought the flight was going to be extremely hard, but it was easy. You know, we had fun on the flight. We got good rest. And I think we're all pretty acclimated right now. You see, you have fun on the flight? Yes. What did you get to do at the moment? Movies, you know, a couple of card games, board games, everything. He spent a lot of time in the long run. I'm not sure if it's good. Did that carry over into the locker room into the meeting room? You think that that sees higher side of the locker room? He is. A lot of all the receivers really are. But you know, since he's not on special teams, you know, we do extra work together before, during and after practice. He's going to be a great player, and he's going to help us out a lot this year. Just, I mean, I saw a snippet of it in the preseason, but he's an ultimate playmaker. He's physical, he's tough, great hands, really smart, and he's low maintenance.

You find yet the main thing is that an extra receiver at some point? Whatever he wants to be, I'm sure he can. He has the skills to do it all. So he won't be limited in any capacity. He'll be able to play wherever he wants. Mike, I know that George helped recruit you here. What have you learned about him since being with him? Well, I'm new George for a while now, so everything that I learned from him, knew about him in the past is the same. You know, high energy, great teammate, great person, fucking hall of fame player. You see how fast he's coming back. I mean, if we have him out there, it's going to be hard to beat us. You've got to be playing a lot of games in 100,000 close seats, stay in the apex. What are your expectations? Well, I'm just getting kind of back into that atmosphere and what do you want to see there? Well, nothing beats that college atmosphere. I probably played in the Super Bowl, played in big playoff games, but that college atmosphere, when it's 100,000, rowdy fans, it's hard to beat that. So that'll give us some extra juice going into this our first game of the season. So I'm looking forward to it.

I mean, we just watched the film that we have. Obviously, we watched the corners and the defensive backs that were going against. And we just do that throughout the week. And obviously, we've had more time to prepare for them because it's the first game of the season. So we've just been watching a lot of film on those guys. And what their defensive corner is like to do in the past. What's the point? Well, I don't... They're the Australian fans. I know some of the staff plays like in the Japanese games. So I'm pretty... Who's the outside hero in the Northland and pick a movie like this? I can't just pick one guy. I'm going to go with my guy, Stria, I guess, because he's in my receiver room. And I've seen him up close and personally, and what he can bring to his team. So they're on Shriblin. These are rookie. So, be on the lookout. You see what? You miss a practice type this year? Different things.

But you weren't out for very long. Did that come with better things? You know your body, when you hold back the whole time? I think so. And I think the training staff did a great job working with me. I know I'm an older player. I've had probably over 1,000 practices. Football practices in my life now. So I know what I'm doing out there. And they know what they're doing. They did a good job. You know, it's ain't caring me. None of my injuries were significant. So, if it was a game week, I wouldn't have missed any time. You were in the camp for a lunch, and I pressed one, and I pressed the same. You remember that that day? And you actually had a break? What did you see from that? How we around? Fred is another Hall of Fame player. We have a surplus amount of talent on this team. And I was there when Fred had that horrible injury. If they had him, they probably had a great chance to beat the books. We got hurt earlier in that game. He's the ultimate game rucker. Ultimate leader. Having him healthy, we always have a chance. I feel like I was just a great, you know, I think obviously there's all the science

and everything that our team did to make the decision that we made of coming out early. But, you know, ultimately, I think it's a mindset, you know, you got to come out. And just know that you got to get to work, right? Business trip. And making sure you're going a bit at the right time. Staying up during the day and doing the things necessary to make sure you're ready to go by Friday. What did you made of the CD set of last week? I love it. I love Australia. I love Melbourne, even though it's spelled Melbourne. I've learned it's Melbourne. And I love the people. Everybody's welcomed us with open arms. I know it's the weather's been a little rainy, sunny. But, you know, I like it. I think it's great. I think it'll make for a great game. Come Friday. Fred, the man's both here going to keep him fresh with the travel. How do you go to school with the new approach? How many times have I? Yeah, you know, I can't really speak to how, you know, the Rams are approaching it. I can only speak to how we're doing it, right? I think I'm happy with what we decided to do. I'm happy with our progress up to this point.

You know, the day of practice we had today. And all the days leading up going into Friday. You know, I'm excited about it. I think we're giving ourselves the best chance to win on Friday. Right, I'm like, we're going to be going to turn in after every victory into this point. That's something for you. You know, not really. I just, I don't know. I guess maybe it's a product of just feeling so great going into, into Cam, going into the season, right? I haven't really had to think about my leg and everything that happened last year. I've just been acting as if it's, it's the next one. You know, this game will coming up. It's the next one for me, right? And I don't know. I don't know what those emotions will be the day of the game. But I'm expecting it to be business as usual. Go out there. Be the best player I can from my team to ultimately get a win. The time you stepped back to practice or make the game go into practice. You're in the playoffs. You think that felt like your mindset as far as maybe kind of minimizing the comeback? 1000%. Yeah, I don't know if I said that in the beginning of this training camp, but most definitely, right?

I think that gave me so much confidence going into the off season to just train like normal, not worrying about, you know, the rehab of it all. The monumentous moment of that first practice of always back, like, not already. I did experience that, you know, in the playoffs, like you mentioned, right? And everything that came with that. So I think that definitely helps just ease the mind going into the next season. What you're here, you're obviously water with the game, but you're also sort of ambassadors for the week. Do you feel that a little bit when you're playing international games like this? Yeah, of course. I mean, we want to make sure we put our best foot forward and we come out here. I want to make sure that, you know, when we're walking around and we're part of the community that the people are seeing us, they're excited about what we have going on. I know there's been a ton of stuff in the community that our team has done to try to reach out and be involved as much as possible. And, you know, I think it's our job to put out the best product on Friday to give the fans of Australia something to get excited about and see our sport and person for the first time.

Do you recognize your character when he's on the line? I below the jury action and I'm like, do you remember that? We. He's obviously one of the greatest of all time. You know, they were already a stacked team to begin with, but to have Aaron back, you know, mix them even that much better of a football team. So, you know, I know our offense has their hands full with what they got what their defense has on their side of the ball. But, you know, it's our job to put the right plan together to make sure we're not letting them record the game. Right when you're looking at the Rams offense, you got the staff of a winning team that they beat. You flash back that game last year we asked about the players 4,000. And then, is that a more fresh one than I was still? Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, I remember that game vividly because that was just the game right before I ended up getting hurt. But that was a big moment for us last year for our team in the moment that we walked into everybody doubted us going into that game, not having a lot of guys available. You know, Mac Jones just starting quarterback, Kendrick Borne, your lead receiver, Nick Bolso was down.

So, you know, there was a lot going against us that game and that was a huge win. But, don't look into this season. You know, it's a completely new situation, new teams. You have similar faces, familiar faces, but at the end of the day, men, it's week one and everybody's trying to see who you are in week one. And nobody really knows. You kind of have a sense based off of past performance, but, you know, week one will kind of show where everything lies. But this match, you know, it's been no secret how much you had your bandwrenged, and I was getting it in the past. What are your expectations and hopes for the crowd on what they're playing on the fight? I mean, the hope is that it's a sea of red. That's what the hope always is. Man, the faithful, you know, in my opinion, are the best fans in the world. You know, we always travel no matter the situation where we're going, whether it's in the states out of the states. They've always shown love. I'm hoping they show a ton of love come Friday. But yeah, you know, I think that's the hope. It would like to be something that's a vision right now.

I guess it wouldn't matter who it was against, but it does increase probably the level of urgency and intensity of the game. You just have an understanding of what divisional matchups mean, right? In terms of like, you know, for the division, winning the division in the long haul and how important those games are, especially in our division, how competitive it is with, you know, obviously the reigning Super Bowl champs in Seattle and everybody's going to win. How stacked rams are. So I guess yeah, we're excited regardless though. What do you have to say to the players and the teams that you've been talking about? You know, I hope it just brings a greater following to the game. You know, the NFL and football is just such a beautiful game. You know, I'm blessed to be a part of it. And, you know, I think it's our job to go out there and put the best product on the field that the fans could really, you know, enjoy and be proud of. And hopefully it just grows the game even further.

You know, I didn't get to go out there to that game and watch, but I did watch some clips on YouTube and it looked pretty intense. I mean, the time you got no pads on and you're just running full speed and hitting each other. It's like, whoa, it's kind of insane, but it seems like a lot of fun. How is the recovery going to be the number one flight over? It's been great. Yeah, the staff did such a good job giving us a great plan for, you know, traveling here in the first day, first couple days back. So they've done a great job. I think everybody feels pretty great. And I think the details about that plan just developed like sleep and recovery. Yeah, I mean, I can't imagine it being more detailed than what they gave us. There was, you know, big packets on the plane, different supplements to take, different hours, different sleep suggestions, when to stay up during the day, when to go to bed. And so they kind of, any questions you think you would have had they answered in these packets and were really prepared. I feel like just a whole different pregnancy to know. Obviously, just what the crew apply around it like a playoff atmosphere.

Yeah, it feels great, man. It feels like it just feels like football is back, you know, wherever we are. It's nice knowing that now we're playing, you know, real football, meaningful football, with a great bunch of guys. Christian, how much started, firstly, after Melbourne? Thank you. How much started to you to be going out to a field like all the same thought at this area, Melbourne? Yeah, we're fired up, man. This has been such a cool experience. Obviously, there's a lot of question marks when you hear your plan in Australia. But since we've been here, man, it's been, it's been so cool. The people are unbelievable. The food's incredible. The coffee's great. The atmosphere, you can already feel it. And, you know, it's just, it's been a lot of fun, so we're super fired up. We're here. You're sure how much you've been out in the city. Have you got a sense for maybe what type of support we have in town? I haven't been out in the city much, to be honest with you. Yeah, haven't. I think I explored just around the hotel a little bit the first day and there was definitely some fans already, which was awesome to see.

But I probably, I'm not the guy to ask. Christian, what do you want to do? I'll probably cheerle up that NFL game. So, to be the worst, I'm going to cry tonight. Same as before for physical answer, we're forcing it just first off. Yeah, stadiums huge. The fans are awesome. And I didn't go to it, but I saw videos and pictures and stuff. And I think once you, we felt it. That's for sure. What's the toughest sport you think NFL NFL? The toughest sport? I've never played AFL, so I can only speak for football, but... I don't know. I think I like our sport. It's not that I don't like the AFL. You put me in a bind here. I just want to make sure. Yeah. Hey, Christian, I spoke to Scott Hanson, Nikang, to know how much to go. He was taking the oath and he was fine for the propped 30. Still helping prepare the MCG. He kept much information as possible for free trail. What have you been out of it for yourself before getting to know this experience? Yeah, I think it's all about just getting your body in a good spot.

Just from the jet lag standpoint and the travel fatigue, all that. So for me, it's just about being really diligent with the recovery, with the training. When you're eating, when you're taking caffeine, when you're not napping, when you're napping. So everything for me is just the mental part of it will come you at all week to get the game plan perfect. But it's the physical part that you really got to be diligent about. And I think again, our staff's done such a good job with that. How did you get that? That's why I spoke to the reaction to you about Aaron Donald, having a return? Give me one sec. The jet lag didn't hit me that bad to be honest with you. It was more just how long you're on the plane. Which, you know, I think you get a couple days here. You get that out of you. But from a jet lag standpoint, I think if you went by the protocol that I think they talked to all the experts in the world on it. For us, it wasn't too bad. Sorry.

Sorry, I'm sorry. No, no, that's my fault. Aaron Donald, you got a new car. What's your reaction? Yeah, I mean, he's a force, man. He's such a good player. Has been his entire career. You know, when you're going through the scouting report, you got to know where he is. You got to know where 95 is, but their defense as a whole, I think what makes him good is when they commit, they play well together. And obviously him being one of the focal points of that is, you know, somebody you definitely got a plan for. First of all, today, the day you guys kind of turned the page on every convention going on leading up to today. Now there's Dr. Prakis and really focus on the game. Yeah, today, it feels like we're back to a normal game week where, you know, we kind of got all that other stuff out of us and we're ready to go. Are there any challenges for you, but I'm excited to start it. That's what we think. That's a good question. I don't know. Probably no better after the game. But I think one thing, it's always weird when you're going to a new stadium that's not a football stadium is, you know, where the game clocks are.

Hearing calls, you know, hearing audible, you know, regardless of noise. That's all stuff that you'll adjust to during the game, but some of those challenges I think would be more pertinent. I'm not sure about the wind. We're in kind of a chance to do a walk through there and step on the grass, things like that. I don't know. I don't know if we have a walk through there. I know, I think this is the same field surface that we're going to be playing on. So we've had a couple days doing some bonus practices where we can get used to the grass. I know you've shared stories of your dad when you were in high school. You're still on Fridays before games. You would take a bunch of precautions. You guys are doing more stuff to get you ready. What's his reaction when he finds out that you're going to play in Australia? He's fired up. I think when he was playing, I know they played a preseason game in Japan. I think they might have gone Australia for a game too. So, you know, he's simple though. There's nothing. There's really nothing to talk about other than to enjoy the experience and when it's time to buckle down, buckle down and do all the things that they tell you to do.

Christian, is there a pot of tea to play at 10.30 in the morning? Do you have to get your blind around at it or what other brands are staying on with American time? So we technically have to learn for them. But for you, is that the strategy experience in the morning or in changes? No, not necessarily. We've been practicing at 10.30 all-camp. So that's, I think we're pretty used to that time now. Do you still have a workout? I have a workout in 3,000 posts in stadium. I think the Mexico game. I think that had 100,000. It's a lot of people, man. We're so excited. You guys were on day three. When did you sleep through the night for the first time? The second day we were here. We adjusted pretty quickly. I think that first day staying up is important. Not taking a nap because that could have been dangerous, but second night. Christian, is that any last words to the prosecutor about Australia? Is that fine? Who do you expect to get up? It's been great. Yeah, the coffee's unbelievable. I don't know why nobody talked about that as much as they should have beforehand.

Coffee's been great. Food's awesome. The people are really nice. Yeah, I mean, it's been a really, really cool experience for all of us.

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