Malik Mustapha Talks Fourth-Down Stop, 49ers Defense and Thriving in the NFL

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

Now, back to Murph and Markus on The Sports Leader. Streaming live on thesportsleader.com and KNBR. The Sports Leader app. Murph and Markus is sponsored by Bigelow Tea. Grab a mug and tea proudly.

His helmet is off. Here we go, baby, knot is on three. One, two, three.

And his mic is on.

Malik Mustapha (0:24)

That's a saccarone, baby.

SPEAKER_1 (0:26)

Time for our 49ers Player Of The Week with Murph and Markus.

SPEAKER_3 (0:30)

Sorry, I saw your saccarone, buddy.

SPEAKER_1 (0:32)

But hey, there'll be more on the Sports Leader.

SPEAKER_4 (0:35)

Well, just hours ago, he was laying the wood to Jeremy McNichols and throwing down Traylon Burks and shouting to the heavens. A great picture of him here in our stack of number six, screaming, enjoy after a win.

And what a dude. He gets up early and hops on the radio with us. That's very nice. Malik Mustapha, I think we had you on a couple of years ago when you were a rookie. Great to have you back as our 49er Player Of The Week, which is, of course, sponsored by Bigelow Tea. Grab a mug and tea proudly. Also sponsored by Benjamin Moore Paints. Experience the Benjamin Moore Retail Difference at our independently-owned Authorized Retailers Today or at benjaminmoore.com. Malik, you got your boy Brian Murphy. You got your boy Marcus Boucher. Murph and Marcus, we do these Player Of The Weeks every Tuesday. You're the dude, Malik. Congratulations. How are you feeling this morning?

SPEAKER_3 (1:21)

What's up, Malik?

Malik Mustapha (1:24)

What's up, y'all? I appreciate you guys. It's been an honor for sure. You know, I feel a little sore, but you know, just happy to be fixing up.

SPEAKER_4 (1:32)

I am curious. You know, it's really nice of you to hop on. But, you know, when the Niners and Corey and them say, hey, man, can you do the radio at 830? You're like, man, we had a night game, dude. Can I sleep in? Can I be able to get some sleep?

Malik Mustapha (1:46)

I always wake up early anyway, so it really doesn't bother me.

SPEAKER_4 (1:49)

Nice. All right. Well, let's take us back. We want to talk about your career and everything, but let's start with last night.

Those two plays, I know you talked to the media about it after the game, but as you wake up this morning, can you take us through that third down hit on McNichols and the fourth downplay on Berks? What comes to mind now as to how you process those plays and how you attacked them?

Malik Mustapha (2:12)

Yeah, so, I knew it was a four down territory situation and I saw the soft edge, so, you know, if I saw it, I knew the running back was able to see it as well. So, it was really just beating them to the spot. And then once, you know, the opportunity was there for me to make the tackle, I made sure to get there, you know, as physical as I could and make sure you didn't get any positive gain on that run.

And then four down, on four down, we just, I come just recognize the formation where our man covers and just saw the stem of the receiver and sped turn till I try to beat him to the pylon and then was aggressive on the point of attack.

And then luckily I was able to get the ball out on that one.

SPEAKER_3 (3:00)

Malik, it was super impressive just to see your kind of natural instinct on both of those plays. So talk to us about how much you rely on pre-snap reads, what you're talking about seeing that soft corner with the running back versus those natural instincts taking over in those moments.

Malik Mustapha (3:15)

Yeah, just, you know, just read and react, you know, just trust in it, you know, through your preparation, while also just a feel for the game. You know, I'm in my 30 now, so it comes with experience. So with experience and film study, just, you know, kind of meaning both aspects is helping me just fly around, just trying to make plays for my teammates.

SPEAKER_4 (3:35)

Malik, how was the feeling in the building last night? Cause you guys were up 23 to three, everything was showing pretty darn good. And then it started turning. And you know, momentum is the thing in sports, man. And sometimes momentum is hard to explain, but all of a sudden Washington had it. So can you take us through like, what was it like in the defensive huddle or on the sideline when you guys felt the momentum turning and you had to put your foot in the ground?