49ers Notebook: Chris Jones says 49ers 'crazy' for taking ball to start OT; Players shocked at Dre Greenlaw injury; Moody discusses missed PAT; Where do the 49ers go from here?

Linebacker Fred Warner said he was brought to tears at the sight of seeing an injured Greenlaw in the locker room at halftime.

"I'm sick to my stomach," Warner said after the game. "I'm still sick. I see him at halftime and I'm crying because I'm so hurt for him and obviously wanted to win this for him. Sickening."

Warner added, "He's just been dealing with that same Achilles injury for the past few weeks, so we ran out on the field together and I see him drop down and I knew exactly what happened."

Greenlaw had been having a difficult year with injuries before his Achilles problems, which made it even tougher for his teammates to see him unable to finish the Super Bowl.

"It was hard," Bosa said. "It was hard. Sometimes when things like that happen, it can sway the momentum just because it's such an emotional feeling, but I do think we did a good job of continuing to play the way we were playing. Dre is one of one human being. He was pushing through so much this year, and I think 99 percent of players wouldn't be able to do what he did. He put his body on the line for this and it sucks we couldn't get him one."

A long rehab awaits Greenlaw, who can probably be expected to miss some game time next season before returning to the field. The 49ers can hope he heals unexpectedly fast like Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers did last season, but in most likelihood they'll need a backup plan, at least initially.

"That's depressing," tight end George Kittle said. "To get injured in the Super Bowl -- hopefully he hits up Aaron Rodgers and figures out how to heal that quickly. Besides that, Dre's the heartbeat of our defense -- him and Fred in there. I know they feed off each other. OB and Flan, they stepped in and I think they did a really good job. But we lose a guy like Dre, it's tough. He's just such a fantastic football player and he's everything the Niners stand for. To lose him, it just really, really sucks for him."

Earning some respect, for what it's worth

The 49ers gave the Chiefs all they could handle in Super Bowl LVIII, outplaying them for much of the game. It didn't matter in the end, but their effort earned them a newfound level of respect from Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who said he was surprised at how tough the 49ers made things on the Chiefs.

Kelce was asked after the game what he said during a speech to the team over the weekend that reportedly left teammates in tears. He responded by saying his speech was about how the Chiefs knew how to win Super Bowl LVIII while the 49ers did not, but the 49ers almost wound up proving him wrong.

"That we had the formula. That we know how to go and get it and they didn't," Kelce said. "But that being said, I've got nothing but respect for the 49ers. They showed a lot more than even I imagined. There's going to be a lot of words being thrown around, but that team was every bit as deserving as we were. I've got a lot of respect for them, their coaches and how they go about their business. That game went all the way down to the wire for a reason."

This one will take a while to get over

The 2023 season was viewed as perhaps the best opportunity for this particular group of 49ers players to win a Super Bowl ring, which made the loss to the Chiefs even tougher to handle.

When the Chiefs beat the 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, there was a sense that the young 49ers standouts would get another chance at a Lombardi Trophy someday. But with a number of players getting older and key contractual decisions looming on the horizon, particularly after the 2024 season, the window of opportunity for this group of players isn't very large.

"It was a great season, but no moral victories," cornerback Charvarius Ward said. "You want to win a Super Bowl. We didn't get that done... A Super Bowl, it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You don't know who's going to be back next year, who's going to be gone next year. Gotta love each other while you can because there's a short window to win Super Bowls in the NFL."

Fullback Kyle Juszczyk got choked up when speaking about the loss Sunday night, especially when discussing what his teammates mean to him.

"It's really hard," Juszczyk said. "It's really hard. I don't really know how to put it in perspective yet, and I still haven't had all the feelings of it yet. Right now, you feel numb a little bit. You don't know what to say to your teammates other than you appreciate them and you love them and you did some really good things together. You've just gotta finish it."

But that window of opportunity is expected to remain for at least another year, and the 49ers plan on being back for another go-round.

"Yes, 100 percent," quarterback Brock Purdy said. "I mean, that's the mindset every year. I think we have the team to do it.

"That's what's tough about all this, man. It's a long season, and there's a lot of stuff that you go through, but at the end of the day, we all have the mindset of being able to do it, so yes."

Still, it's going to take a while for the team to move past this loss. Kittle isn't sure which Super Bowl loss will be more difficult to deal with but knows the team will continue to have a chance to do good things in 2024.

"I don't know if it's worse," Kittle said. "Give me a couple days. But I know we still have a talented team. We still have a great foundation. The only answer is go back to work."

In the meantime, the 49ers planned on hanging out with each other after the game for a little while longer while they still can -- somewhere away from the Super Bowl.

"We all just said we want to be together tonight," Bosa said. "Groups change every year, so you'll never be with that same group. We wanted to do it for Dre. We wanted to do it for all the guys on the line. Hopefully we can hang out tonight in a quiet place."