A hundred and twenty-five days have passed since the 49ers rushed for 285 yards on 42 carries in a 37-20 victory over the Packers in the NFC Championship Game. Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine remains disappointed.
Pettine spoke to the team’s beat reporters Friday for the first time since the 49ers ran over his defense.
“I can’t use any other phrase other than beyond disappointing,” Pettine said, via Ryan Wood of packersnews.com. “It’s tough to realize that we played our worst game at the worst time. But at the same point, we own it. We’re not running away from it. I mean, we went through it in detail with the staff. We talked to the players about it. There’s no excuses being offered. We just weren’t good enough in every aspect, whether it was scheme, effort, energy, technique.
“The key thing is to learn from it so it doesn’t happen again.”
Pettine kept his job, returning to Green Bay for a third season. Now, he is charged with stopping the run without significant personnel upgrades.
He said run defense will be a “huge point of emphasis” during training camp, with Pettine stressing the need for sound gap control.