Eric Reid on Marlon Moore: “He’s a deep threat for this team. He’s reliable.”

SANTA CLARA – Eric Reid spoke in the 49ers’ media tent Tuesday afternoon. Here’s what he said.

Q: After studying your performance from Game 1, what was your takeaway?

REID: I felt comfortable. I do think there were some things I can improve on, but for the most part I felt like I had a good game. I made some tackles. We didn’t give up a big play on defense, that’s always good. But we need to get better.

Q: You’re going to be facing Aaron Rodgers Week 1. If you’re going to start that game, do you want to be starting these preseason games?

REID: I try not to look too far ahead. We’ve got a pretty good quarterback here that I go against on a daily basis. I’m trying to use that every day to get better. When the coach decides who is the starter, whether it’s me or it’s another guy, I’m going to try to help this team out in any way that I can.

Q: Kaepernick throws some 40-yard lasers. Has that been eye-opening for you? I assume you didn’t see that even in the SEC.

REID: I don’t imagine it gets much tougher than that. Coming out of the middle and he throws 40 yards on a line, you’ve got to take a pretty sharp angle to get there and meet the ball. That’s helping me out. You’ve got to take that mindset into every practice that you’ve got to get better, because Kap will make you look bad if you’re not on your toes.

Q: Does that change what the definition of good coverage is to you?

REID: Oh yeah, it definitely does. If you’re a half step behind a guy, he’ll put it in there. It’s great for me in preparing for the season getting to go against Kaeprenick every day in practice.

Q: How do they coach hitting?

REID: It’s all about the technique of a tackle. We do the bag drills. You’ve got to make sure your feet are in the ground. For me, it’s not lunging at a guy. Coach Donatell likes to say you get your power from the ground. As long as you have good mechanics and your feet are on the ground and you make contact, you can deliver a blow.

ME: We just interviewed Marlon Moore. What’s your assessment of him as a wide receiver from playing against him in practice?

REID: Speed guy. He is a deep threat for this team. Yesterday he caught a nice ball on the sideline. He’s reliable. We can send him down the field and throw him the ball. But for me, I’ve got to get him covered so I’ve got to make sure I take good angles and I have to get to him.

Q: Do you have a bit of back issue?

REID: It was tight. The other day it tightened up on me, so the trainers wanted to hold me back a little bit just to make sure I didn’t overstrain it. I’m good now. I just had to get it stretched out. I saw a chiropractor yesterday. I didn’t know my spine could pop that much. They fixed me up.

Q: Were you a full go yesterday?

REID: Yeah.

Q: How much film study have you done for the Chiefs?

REID: Today was really the first day we watched some stuff on special teams. I think the coaches are going to figure out what they want to do as far as the game plan.

Q: How much have you had to cover Vernon Davis in practice and what has that been like?

REID: I’ve covered him quite a bit. Yesterday he ran open down the seam and I had to go get him from the other side of the field. I thought he was getting the ball but thanks to our pass rush, Kap wasn’t able to throw it. He’s definitely a threat. I don’t want to sound redundant, but it’s fortunate for me that I get to go against him because I don’t know if there’s a better tight end in the league.

Q: How does he compare to other tight ends you faced in college? Does he seem to be more athletic, faster?

REID: Is that a serious question? That can’t be a serious question. He doesn’t compare at all. He can line up at receiver if he wants to. I think that’s something they might be working on. They could do that if they had to. He’s probably the biggest, fastest, strongest tight end in this league.

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