SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Friday press conference. TOMSULA: I think you’re all aware, the San Francisco 49ers released Aldon Smith today. It’s a sad day. This is a day that doesn’t have anything to do about football. Although he won’t be playing football for the San Francisco 49ers, he will be supported and helped, and he will not have to walk this path alone….
This is my Friday column. Halfway through 49ers’ training camp, these are the biggest differences from last year: The mechanics of calling plays during practice Jim Harbaugh would stand in the middle of the huddle and call the play while holding a diagram of it. The quarterback would just watch, a passive observer like the offensive linemen and everyone else. Harbaugh was the de facto quarterback in the huddle during…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Tuesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Injuries: [G Ben] Gottschalk’s got a foot, he’s up at Stanford getting a procedure today. I don’t have any information on that. Obviously I haven’t gotten a report since. [WR Issac] Blakeney and [WR Bruce] Ellington, they both have muscle strains and Ellington, we’re holding him. I want to make…
SANTA CLARA – Darnell Dockett spoke in the 49ers’ auditorium Monday afternoon. Here are selected quotes. Q: It seems like Jim Tomsula is intent on resting the veterans as much as possible during training camp. Have you been battling him to get out there? DOCKETT: I’ve had some words with him, but he’s a good guy and he’s obviously been doing this longer than I have. And I’ve been doing…
SANTA CLARA — Here is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Sunday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “Let me give you this real quick. Practice yesterday, everything is the same. [WR Issac] Blakeney is the one thing. Blakeney, he’s got a muscle pull. It doesn’t seem real severe, but he won’t be in practice today. So, that’ll be the only guy that will be changed in…
This is my Sunday column. SANTA CLARA – Training camp for the San Francisco 49ers started today. What person on the 49ers is this season all about? Is it the man standing in the middle of the practice field directing drills — head coach Jim Tomsula? No. Practice isn’t the full picture. Games may not even be the full picture. Look beyond what the team presents you. The key figure…
SANTA CLARA — Here is the transcript of defensive coordinator Eric Mangini’s Saturday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. LB NaVorro Bowman prepared for this and you’ve got to be excited to see what he does back on the field? “He’s been great. He had a really good spring. I’ve gotten to know NaVorro a little bit since I’ve been here, but it’s different when you start coaching…
SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Friday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Opening comments: “First, thanks everybody, thanks for being here and I’m excited to talk about football. We can talk about the field and on-the-field and all that stuff, so I’m excited to get going that way. First thing I’m going to do is give you this injury. Just so we’re all…
SANTA CLARA – Here are selected quotes from Anquan Boldin’s Friday morning press conference in the 49ers’ auditorium. Q: What gives you confidence that you guys can achieve what you set out to achieve last year and the year before? BOLDIN: We still have a lot of talent in this locker room. That hasn’t changed. The thing I’m excited about is all of the young guys who had to play…
This is my training-camp preview for the 49ers. The 49ers may be on the downswing. This offseason, they fired a top-notch coaching staff and lost almost a dozen veterans and leaders. Who will fill those voids? That’s just one key question the Niners face. Here are five more they’ll face during training camp: 1. Is Jim Tomsula a competent head coach? He’s never even been a coordinator in the NFL….
This is my Saturday column. SANTA CLARA The 49ers have a brand new offense. The old one was the slowest in the NFL, and not just during plays when they lumbered around the grass. They were slow between plays, too. They couldn’t even get plays off. The Niners led the league in delay-of-game penalties each of the past two seasons under head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman….
SANTA CLARA This is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. First off, how’s LB Aldon Smith’s foot? Is it minor? “He got it stepped on. He had it stepped on earlier in OTAs. So, then he got banged again yesterday, that’s all. It’s aggravated. We’re not going to push it. He’s got the ice bags on and there’s really nothing else to…
SANTA CLARA Here is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s post-OTA press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Was this shocking news that T Anthony Davis decided to retire? “No, I can’t say it was shocking at all.” Why is that? “Well, Anthony’s been working on himself right now, that’s what he’s been doing. Look, Anthony wants to step away and he wants to get his mind and his…
Here is my Sunday column. SANTA CLARA Colin Kaepernick looked like a new guy during warmups Friday afternoon. He’d drop back, raise the football to his ear and fling it in one quick, compact motion — up and out. It seemed like a perfect recreation of Aaron Rodgers’ throwing motion, the ideal throwing motion. Kaepernick used have a long, loopy motion. When he threw a football, he’d bring it down…
Here is my Saturday column. SANTA CLARA Little differences. Jim Tomsula wears a black 49ers tracksuit with red sleeves and a gold zipper on the upper left arm during Thursday’s OTA. He tucks the jacket of the track suit into his polyester pants. Jim Harbaugh wore khakis, a sweater and a baseball cap during practice when he was the 49ers’ head coach. He looked like a giant kid who had…
Here is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s post-OTA press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ public relations department. Pretty up tempo practice out there. Is that the goal here to emphasize a faster pace environment? “Yeah. We’re just going to go at a pace. We’re just working on the clock.” When you say working on the clock, you’re talking the practice clock or the–? “The play clock and the practice…
SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s post-draft press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ public relations department. It seems like there’s some good guys that you took. Was that a priority for you? Was that something that you really looked at, who these people were as people? “Yeah. Can’t separate the person from the player.” Did you talk to each of those guys beforehand? “Yes.” …
SANTA CLARA — Here is the transcript of Jim Tomsula’s post-Round-1 press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ public relations department. As an old defensive line coach at heart, how exciting is it for you to get a defensive lineman that has a lot of high ceiling so to speak in terms of your first round pick? “It’s exciting. He’s a really good young man and obviously a defensive lineman….
SANTA CLARA — Colin Kaepernick, Vernon Davis, Antoine Bethea and Jim Tomsula answered questions in the 49ers’ media room Friday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Head coach Jim Tomsula, just tell us about the start of the offseason program and sort of the vibe in the building that you’re picking up so far? JT: “Awesome, it’s awesome. The guys are awesome, everybody’s working….
SANTA CLARA— Trent Baalke answered a few reporters’ questions in the 49ers’ media room Wednesday afternoon. Here’s a transcript of the interview. BARROWS: Has Justin Smith decided whether he will retire? BAALKE: As I said at the end of the season, I think at this stage of his career, he has earned the right to make that decision when it’s right. I think he’s still sorting through that process. He’s…
