SANTA CLARA —
Adam Snyder just spoke on behalf of the offensive line today, and he sounds confident in their ability to improve. He also feels confident in his transition to center.
Here’s the complete transcript of the interview.
Q: Did you come to camp expecting to play a number of different positions?
SNYDER: Yeah. Right now I’m focusing on what I’m doing at center. That’s the one position I haven’t played much of, and the transition to guard for me is easier than what’s it’s been to play center. Right now they’re just trying different things; they’re trying guys all over the place. That’s something I’ve done my whole career. I’m used to it.
Q: How is center coming along?
SNYDER: Pretty good, pretty good. I’ve got a pretty good understanding of the offense. Having (Jonathan) Goodwin here has really helped me. He’s been giving me pointers and stuff like that. The competition’s good. We’ve got a lot of guys that can play ball, and I’m excited about how this is going to end, to see who the best five guys are.
Q: Is that a big emphasis in the meetings, that the best five guys are going to be out there?
SNYDER: Yeah, I think it’s something they’ve made clear to us, but obviously with any team the best five guys are going to play. Right now we’re mixing some stuff up, trying to see who the best five are. Right now our starting five is playing well. Obviously we’ve got to get better, and that’s what we’re working towards.
Q: When you line up and you see the Saints are going to blitz, is that the center’s job to call out the protections, or is that the quarterback’s job?
SNYDER: It’s our job at center to call out protections and all of our calls were on point. From there it was just breakdowns of technique. Sometimes it’s not the offensive line’s fault either. It always falls back on us, and that’s fine. That’s how it goes. A lot of the times it’s a technique error. Guys are getting beat, or whatever the situation. But our calls were on point at center. We do a lot of studying, a lot fo talking about different stuff, and you know it’s the preseason. It’s good we got it on tape, and now we’ve looked at it, and we’re expecting to get better, just like everybody else is. Obviously we’re going to get better. The more we play, the better we’re going to get.
Q: Is this team better for what happened against the Saints?
SNYDER: Absolutely. Having that film is good for us, to be able to see where the breakdowns were, and see what kind of communication happened, and to talk about it. For the first game, obviously it wasn’t what we wanted. We’ve corrected those issues now, and now we’re moving forward, and we’re looking forward to this Oakland game.
Q: Is the communication the toughest thing to get down?
SNYDER: We’re two weeks into a new offense and trying to get everything figured out has been tough, but that’s just part of the job, and us getting more reps together as a unit is definitely going to help, and that’s what we’re doing now, just trying to get the right fit and get all the calls, so we can get it all done quickly. Obviously that’s not how we wanted it to look, we wanted it to be better.
Q: Given all that, does that make this preseason more important for the 49ers?
SNYDER: I think yeah, because we have a new staff and a new terminology. The preseason’s definitely more learning for us than anyone else. We’re getting different looks with the new offense and trying to figure all that stuff out. It’s good for us. We’re 0-0 like everyone else, and we’ll be prepared week 1 for sure.
Q: Have you been working on techniques to call the plays quicker?
SNYDER: It’s not technique it’s more tempo. Getting up the line of scrimmage, getting all of our calls. That’s something we’ve seen over the last couple years. We’ve been getting calls late into the offensive huddle, we’re having to hurry to get to the ball. So I think now we’re just trying to get up, get it going quicker.
Q: Do you need more time because this offense is more complex?
SNYDER: No, not necessarily, I think it’s just more of a…The offensive line, we want to have good tempo. We want to get up and get everything set and ready to go so we can get the ball snapped and go.
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