SANTA CLARA – Starting center Jonathan Goodwin spoke in the media tent Thursday about guards Alex Boone and Leonard Davis, how the Niners 31st ranked red zone offense can improve and how physical these padded training camp practices can get. Here’s a transcript.
Q: Greg Roman said you guys are going to do a lot of red zone work today. Is that one of the main areas you guys need to work on this camp?
GOODWIN: Definitely. We scored a lot of field goals last year, which is nice but you’re leaving four points on the table. As an offense, we can put up way more points this year if we can find a way to score more touchdowns in the red zone. We had a lot of opportunities down there and we settled for a lot of field goals – being able to convert even half of those into touchdowns would do wonders for our whole team.
Q: Does Moss give you guys a red zone target you didn’t have last year?
GOODWIN: I think so. When you’ve got a guy of his height and talent, sometimes you can throw it up and he can go up and get it. Definitely another weapon to give defenses something to think about. He’s done a great job for us thus far and hopefully we can use him down there.
Q: How’s Alex Boone playing at his new position – right guard?
GOODWIN: He’s done a great job. It’s been a smooth transition for him. I see nothing but good things happening for him.
Q: Have you ever worked next to a 6-foot-7 guard? (you include foot in there on first height reference, according to AP style)
GOODWIN: Not quite 6-7, but I’ve played with some big guards. Alex is a little taller but he’s done a great job. He’s getting low when he needs to. He’s getting under guys. I’ve seen him stop bull rushes. He’s slowly becoming a great guard.
Q: What’s your impression of Leonard Davis?
GOODWIN: Big, physical guy. A lineman who’s been around the NFL for a while and he can still get the job done. Powerful – I’ve seen him throw guys around already. It’s pretty amazing.
Q: How does the physicality in the trenches of a padless training camp practice compare to that of a game?
GOODWIN: We’ve had some pretty physical practices. I think for the most part it’s been about the same. I know guys aren’t tackling or anything like that, but we’ve had pretty physical practices up front. I know that’s something Coach Harbaugh likes. That’s the norm around here, and in some ways it makes the games easier for us.
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