Anthony Dixon clears the air

SANTA CLARA –

Last week Anthony Dixon had two showdowns with Patrick Willis on the practice field.

Dixon won the first one, giving Willis a hard helmet-t0-helmet hit, but Willis won the second, stripping the ball from Dixon in the backfield and seemingly twisting the backup running back’s ankle.

Today, Dixon shed some light his injury, or non-injury, and his confrontations with Willis. He also compares the coaching styles of Jim Harbaugh and Mike Singletary.

Enjoy.

Q: Did you get nicked at all on that run two days ago?

DIXON: No, I didn’t get nicked on that run. I got my feeling hurt a little bit, because Patrick (Willis) got the ball away from me, but I guess that was just payback, and I’m definitely looking for revenge today.

Q: Payback for what?

DIXON: When I got him on the sideline, he’s a little salty about that. I knew he was coming for me, so, he got me, he got me.

Q: Will you be able to practice today?

DIXON: Yeah, I’ll be out there.

Q: How does training camp feel different than last year?

DIXON: Right now, it doesn’t feel any different. We’re having some long, tough days out there. I know at one point I was out there I had to remember, “Is Coach Singletary out here?” It was getting tough, it felt like Coach Singletary was out here. Coach Harbaugh is a tough dude. They’ve got things in common, I’ll put it like that.

Q: Is there a different atmosphere though?

DIXON: Yeah, there’s definitely a different atmosphere. We’ve got the weight-room outside, we’ve got a different warm up, we’ve got a different coach. It’s definitely a little different, they’ve both got different styles. Coach (Harbaugh) mentioned he wants us to be loose, but Coach Singletary did too. He wanted us to have swag. Some of the things are still the same. Time will tell.

Q: Is there a bigger emphasis on the mental side of the game?

DIXON: No, Coach Singletary always preached that the game was more mental than physical, and that’s every coach. I don’t think it’s changed in that aspect. We’re just out here getting a little more physical. We’ve actually had some tackling going on. Tackling in the 7-on-7 drills, that definitely was an eyebrow-raiser for everybody. We were like, “What?” But, it went down, and we’ve got to do it, so we’re moving on.

 

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