Back at Santa Fe High School in Edmond, Okla., Niners safety Reggie Smith intercepted a pass from Sam Bradford, then playing at Putnam City North in Oklahoma City.
No telling if Smith can repeat the feat Sunday when San Francisco meets surprising St. Louis, which is 4-4 in Bradford’s rookie season.
But his odds of again victimizing his former teammate at the University of Oklahoma improved this week.
Smith, a third-round pick in the 2008 Draft, will share time with rookie
Taylor Mays at strong safety Sunday. Smith played in third-down
situations in the season’s first three games, but he’s played primarily
on special teams since Mays replaced the since-released Michael Lewis in
the starting lineup in Week 4.
Mike Singletary mentioned Smith would see more playing time in response
to a question about improving the Niners’ pass defense, which ranks 20th
in the NFL and has allowed 679 passing yards in the past two games.
Smith has five career tackles, four this season.
“Reggie is just a guy that’s been steady, continued to make progress,
and he knows what he has to do,” Singletary said. “And he’s going to
have the opportunity to play a little bit more and we’ll see how it
goes.”
Mays had 11 tackles in his first career start against Atlanta, but he’s
averaged 3.8 tackles in his past four games. He was burned on a 71-yard
catch by Brandon Lloyd in the Niners’ 24-16 win against Denver. Smith
suggested that his increased playing time, though, isn’t a reflection on
Mays’ performance, but on the rookie’s heavy workload. Mays also plays
on every special-teams unit. Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky
mentioned last week that Mays occasionally misses the start of series
because he’s winded from playing on special teams.
“I’ve been told to give Taylor a little bit of rest,” Smith said. “He’s
been running all defense and every special teams, so he’s kind of tired
out there … So I’m going to try to come in at certain times so he can
get a breather so he’s not over there huffing puffing like the past few
games.”
Sunday’s game will be a chance for Smith to reunite with Bradford. The
pair played against each other more than once in high school and spent
two years together at Oklahoma.
Bradford, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 Draft, has thrown 11
touchdowns and eight interceptions this season to help revive the Rams,
who went 6-42 from 2007-09. Smith said he wouldn’t have predicted such
success based on what he remembers of Bradford at Putnam City North.
“I’ve been watching some film on him,” Smith said. “Never would have
thought he’d come this far, but he’s a great player … Coming out of high
school he was just another guy. Then we got to college at OU together
and he started blossoming. He’s a great athlete always, but I didn’t
think he would that great Heisman-type guy.”
As for Bradford, he called Smith, who returned punts and kickoffs in college, a “great athlete and a great player.”
And Smith’s assertion that he picked off Bradford at least once in high
school? The rookie laughed, “He actually did. As much I hate to admit
that, I’ll be honest.”
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