San Francisco 49ers cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon found himself watching the end of his team’s 26-21 win over the Seattle Seahawks from the sidelines after being benched for the last two-and-a-half minutes of the game.

Witherspoon was lifted in favor of Emmanuel Moseley after DK Metcalf caught a 14-yard touchdown pass against him with just under four minutes left to play. Tyler Lockett had caught a 14-yard touchdown pass of his own with Witherspoon in coverage in the third quarter as well as Seattle tried to make a late surge for the division title.

“I think I played average,” Witherspoon said, via Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “And I’m not an average player. So that’s a poor game for me. Just little things that just don’t need to happen.”

Now with their first playoff game upcoming against the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday, Witherspoon said he will return to his stating role this weekend.

49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh disputed the notion that Witherspoon had a bad game in Seattle despite the change in personnel late.

“When you look at it from a surface level, it’s very easy to see. It’s easy, right: There’s Ahkello and there’s a guy catching the football,” Saleh said. “But people don’t really understand what happened. … Ahkello, when you actually go back and look at that tape, played a pretty good football game. There are a couple of situations where he got caught in a bad situation. … To say he played a poor game against Seattle, I’ll be honest with all of you, would be inaccurate.”

Witherspoon has been the closest defender in coverage on the last four passing touchdowns allowed by 49ers over the final two weeks of the season. While he was in man-to-man coverage on Metcalf’s touchdown and Cooper Kupp‘s 22-yard score for the Los Angeles Rams in Week 16, two of the scores have come on extended plays with team in a zone coverage and Witherspoon ultimately ending up the closest defender on throws to Lockett and Brandin Cooks.

“There are just plays that I have to make if I’m going to be the player that I want to be,” Witherspoon said. “It’s not about (playing) good or bad. It’s just the potential I have in my body and what I’ve done already with my body, with my gifted abilities. I have to capitalize and make certain plays in football games. And that’s it.”