Gore sets tone for day with Raiders

Gore sets tone for day with Raiders

 

The 49ers and Raiders have concluded their first of four practices over two days. Then, the teams will get together on Saturday to play a little exhibition game.

 

“I expect it to get heated,” 49ers linebacker Takeo Spikes said.

 

Coach Mike Singletary delivered the edict to his team. He said there would be no fighting allowed.

 

“We didn’t come here to fight,” Singletary said. “We have too much work to do. We’re not good enough for that.”

 

Running back Frank Gore provided the highlight of the morning practice for the 49ers. He was incredible in blitz pickup, as he pancaked both Ricky Brown and Kirk Morrison in the drill. Gore was so fired up, he acted as if he wanted more. RBs coach Tom Rathman took Gore out of the drill the next time he was lined up to go against David Nixon, a rookie linebacker from BYU. (At that moment, Nixon might have been the happiest person on the planet.)

 

Singletary said he liked Gore’s enthusiasm, but wanted to see him keep his emotions in check. After Gore won his battles and had to be held back from continuing to go after the Raiders players, Singletary said, “I told Frank I’ll put him on the bus if he does that again.”

 

Gore said he takes great pride in his ability to block. He said Rathman has helped him tremendously in that area, showing him how easy it can be as long as he takes proper angles.

 

“In this league, anybody can run and catch the ball,” Gore said. He said blocking is where a running back can distinguish himself.

 

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Veteran receiver Isaac Bruce had a strong day for the 49ers. He created great separation against the Raiders’ DBs. Shaun Hill had a better morning practice than Alex Smith. Hill threw the ball well, and did a better job in the two-minute drill. Smith was unable to connect down the field, as he settled for short passes to running back Glen Coffee.

 

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Following the morning practice, coach Mike Singletary walked the 2 miles back to the 49ers’ team The teams will return to practice in the afternoon.

 

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For a blow-by-blow description of the morning session, you can check out my updates on Twitter.

 

From the pages of today’s Press Democrat:

 

Adam Snyder agrees that he was not a good right tackle last season. But he came up with a plan for how Mike Singletary can have a solid player at that position for the next 10 seasons.

 

And Patrick Willis returned to practice on a limited basis.

 

Today, Willis, Michael Robinson and Tarell Brown took part in only individual drills. David Baas did not suit up.

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