‘This was a tough one': 49ers clean out locker room, officially end season

It was locker clean out day at Levi's Stadium Tuesday as the 49ers officially end their season, and the players go their separate ways.

It was also the last time players and coaches talked to local media before heading into the off season.

It was pretty quiet and solemn, with players saying this time -- it really hurts. 

Fullback Kyle Juszczyk said he keeps going through the game in his mind, and that they should have scored more points as an offense.

Adding that he wishes he could snap his fingers and play the Super Bowl over again.

Many gave each other final hugs and signed each other's helmets as they shared the disappointment of losing the last game of the year.

“Yeah, this one’s real tough. This was a tough one,” said wide receiver Deebo Samuel. 

“We got to the Super Bowl and went to overtime and we fell short of it. It sucks,” said quarterback, Brock Purdy. “We wanted it and gave our all this year. I had the opportunity to do it with some really good people and I’m thankful for that.”

“You’ll find a way to channel it, use it, or just be able to flush it and be able to move on and attack the next stage,” said tight end, George Kittle.

General Manager John Lynch says they're constantly evolving and building their team. Adding that after the loss in 2019, they needed players who are”finishers.”

Now, he said the Niners have a lot of them, but it still wasn't quite good enough.

Coach Kyle Shanahan was asked about the perception or talk since the loss, that he or the Niners can’t win the big one.

“You’d love to fix perception because I would love to win one for what I know about football and stuff, and I know if I fix perception that means I did everything I wanted to do which isn’t fix perception it’s win a damn Super Bowl,” he said. “But I also know when you say ‘big games,’ like we’ve got to win a bunch of big games to get to Super Bowls. We’ve won a lot of big games here, we’ve won a lot of big games to get into playoffs.”