Javon Hargrave admits 49ers let their guard down after perfect 5-0 start – NBC Sports Bay Area & California
Javon Hargrave talked about the 49ers’ mindset heading into their 34-3 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday at TIAA Bank Field.
The dominant victory resembled that of San Francisco’s first five weeks of the season, in which the team did not lose once. Did the 49ers simply let their guard down during the three-game losing streak before the bye?
“Yeah, it’s hard not to,” Hargrave said Tuesday on KNBR’s “Murph & Mac.” “Everyone has to learn from it. Just don’t read too much, don’t watch too much. They say it’s like a little poison (when) everyone tells you how good you are. And then you can’t read and hear when everyone says it. you are how bad you are.
“Just keep their blinders on, stay focused and try to grow every week.”
Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field goal attempt in the final seconds of San Francisco’s first loss of the season, a 19-17 road defeat at the hands of the Cleveland Browns. Quarterback Brock Purdy threw four picks over the next two games, losing to the Minnesota Vikings on the road and the Cincinnati Bengals at home.
But on Sunday, the 49ers played a game that was as close to perfect as possible.
“We were a little fed up with it,” Hargrave said. “We felt it. I think the bye was a good time for us, just to get away and get our minds together. When we got back into the building, everyone felt it with everyone else.
“It was just the weather. I think it’s been like that from the first snap of the game to the last snap. Everyone was just hungry. I feel like that’s going to be the mindset from now on.”
Even with the three-game losing streak, the 49ers still sit in first place in the NFC West and hold the third seed in the NFC playoffs. If they plan to challenge for the conference top seed and a first-round bye in the playoffs, the 49ers will have to stay hungry over the next four weeks with upcoming matchups against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, their division rival Seattle Seahawks (twice) and the current No. 1 seed Philadelphia Eagles.
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