SANTA CLARA – The 49ers’ run defense is the best in the NFL, but their pass defense stood out on Monday.
Justin Smith dominated the first half of practice, sacking Alex Smith twice. He constantly forced quarterbacks to abandon the pocket and throw on the run. He sat out the second half of practice and as a result the offense played much better.
Perrish Cox picked off Alex Smith. On third and long, Smith threw an intermediate pass intended for Ted Ginn Jr. on the sideline, but Cox broke on the pass before Ginn even saw it.
Chris Culliver intercepted another Josh Johnson pass today. It was third-and-7 and Johnson tried to force a throw to Brett Swain, who had zero separation from Culliver.
Tramaine Brock, playing nickelback, picked off Colin Kaepernick when the second-year quarterback tried to rifle a short pass to Konrad Reuland over the middle of the field. Brock popped the ball out of Reuland’s hands and snatched the ball out of the air. All of the Niners’ cornerbacks played very well.
Michael Crabtree returned to practice Monday as a limited participant. He did all the individual drills, but he watched the team drills from the sideline. After practice he walked off the field with Alex Smith, talking and laughing about something. Smith had his arm over Crabtree’s shoulders.
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Good sign with the secondary.
Secondary is going to be well tested this year. They need to be sharp.
i tell you if this d stays healthy we have a chicago bears 47 kind of defense this yr
“After practice he walked off the field with Alex Smith, talking and laughing about something. Smith had his arm over Crabtree’s shoulders.”
How is this possible? Crabtree hates Alex, he bad talks him all the time to reporters. And why is Alex talking to a player that is lazy and unmotivated. Tisk tisk.
Crickets…
Maybe you can answer this Adam,
Question: What has Crabtree done in the past 3 years to warrant being labelled a #1 WR and why are some convinced he is an automatic starter?
Hey Stupid Time, He led the teams in receptions last year with a bad QB under center. He can only catch what the curse throws him. Yes, Smith is a curse!! No name told you so!
I can’t hear you Welcher23, your suppose to honor your bets so why are you here?
Your boy JJ needs to learn how to read a defense before winning any starting jobs in the NFL. You say a lot but it’s all just Big Talker Betty Crocker, maybe next year Smith will be gone hey Willy? Should we wager, Buwhahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Prime,
Crabtree is considered an automatic starter because that is what the coach has said with the depth chart they released today.
He is still the starter despite missing all but 2 hours of training camp before today.
Same old sad song from you 23.
Prime Hypocrite,
You have no credibilty when it comes honoring your word. Why are you criticizing MC? Isn’t that piss and vinegar like you said last week.
I told you before Nick, I don’t speak dumbinese, stay off my comments, I can’t explain things any clearer to you, you don’t have the brain capacity and I don’t engage haters any longer, there all a waste of time!
Primate,
Back track much hypocrite?
If criticizing Alex Smith makes one a hater, then what do you call someone who criticizes MC?
Nick
I’ve said the whole time being called a “hater” has nothing to do with football. But what/how you say it.
You can “not like” something, but not “hate” it either. The 2 are not the same. Most recently, md saying I’m racist for liking 2 white players more than a single black player (while ignoring every black player I have/do like in the past/future) is something that has nothing to do with football. It does ring true of “hate”. Thus, “hater” is used. The term is not to be used lightly, like the word “a”.
That is the difference to me.
…finally i get why I never understood nickrow….he is from dumbinese….. lol
……
Hey genius, next time you double post, be sure to double check the box that’s labeled Email. You and Primate are known double posters, perhaps you’re the same lame person. What a loser – he comes to his own defense under a different name … Ha ha :)
DS
Fair enough. Unfortunately, some folks use the word ‘hater’ just in reference to AS.
If MC isn’t a “number 1″ then why is he the only WR thats labelled a starter on this weeks depth chart? Clearly the coaches see MC for what he really is. Haters keep hating
Jim Harbaugh to Pete Carroll:
“Stop copying me…..what’s your deal?”
Grant, we’ve all got a pretty good idea that our defense doesn’t suck. In fact I’m willing to guess that if you put up a national poll, most fans of the NFL realize that we have one of if not the best defense in the league. Don’t you think it’s a little redundant at this point to keep telling us about how the defense dominated the day?
Frankly, tell us something we don’t already know. Please.
Here’s something you don’t already know: Despite the fact that Harbaugh insists Kaepernick is his No. 2 QB, Kaep looks like the fourth-best QB in practice.
Wow Grant, that’s surprising. However, CK may perform better during real games. Let’s see how things go in the pre-season games.
Nick,
That’s not too surprising. Compared to the other 3 CK’s motion is the most unpolished, and doesn’t look as pretty. He can make all the throws and really needs to work on his touch, not every pass needs to come out so hot. I do agree with you that he is a gamer though.
Well, I’m no coach, but I’ve played QB at a JC, so I know a little bit about the position.
From what I’ve read about CK is that he constantly running. The obvious is that he can run. The other obvious is that the play has broken down or he doesn’t make the read. And the last obvious is that he feels comfortable running being that he was a runner is college.
This concerns me. 1) Running QB’s don’t win a lot of games. Cam Newton may prove that wrong, but he is also a better passer then CK. 2) Running QB’s get hurt. 3) Instinct overtakes training and when CK is uncomfortable, he flees.
I guess what I am trying to say is that at this point in his career, CK is not a passer and in my opinion can’t be a #2 QB, so Grant, this is not surprising.
If anyone calls Steve Young a running QB, I might start a war up in this biotch.
Indeed I did not know that.
When he pulls the ball down and runs how often do you from the sidelines see that there is in fact a receiver open? Is he still struggling to put some touch on the ball, it’s clear he’s got a howitzer attached to his shoulder but the action I’ve seen he tends to laser it at 100mph even on the 10 yard crosses?
Although your overall opinion of the 3 backups hasn’t been what I would call consistent through the early parts of camp(attributable I’m sure to their inconsistent play) I will admit that you have been consistent in mentioning recently that Kaep’s been struggling so I’m curious to hear what’s causing the slide?
I haven’t seen improvement from Kaepernick’s throws. He still rifles everything and misses badly too often. The only difference from last year is he seems less willing to throw for some reason.
I should have added this to the first part but;
if Kaep is in fact truly the fourth worst QB out there then what can we really take to be truth from him anytime he praises a player. Take for example your next piece about JH saying Hunter is have a great camp, is that actually true or is it just coach speak?
..damn Grant…..you are killing the guy…….don’t blame you though….all reports indicate that CK is playing RB at camp not QB
oneniner
Maybe CK should change positions then.
Grant
That is clearly just your opinion. But then everybody does that on a blog. That is an interesting opinion.