SANTA CLARA – Here’s Part II of Jim Harbaugh’s Thursday press conference – the part where he talks about football. He confirmed three things: 1. Colin Kaepernick is the No.2 quarterback. 2. Brandon Jacobs has made the team, and 3. Harbaugh doesn’t want to talk about Peyton Manning. This third preseason game – do you see this as the closest thing to the regular season as far as a dress…
SANTA CLARA – I’m splitting Jim Harbaugh’s Thursday press conference transcript into two parts today, because the first part has nothing to do with football. It’s about Indy car racing. Here it is, courtesy of the 49ers. Enjoy. Opening Statement: “Hello. Doing great. Obviously, great to have the National Guard IndyCar here. Panther Racing, with owner John Barnes and Jane Barnes here. National guardsmen and women here today with us….
SANTA CLARA – Ted Ginn Jr. spoke to a group of reporters at his locker Thursday afternoon, and he spoke primarily about his development as a wide receiver. Here’s a transcript. ME: What excites you about your role in the offense this season? GINN JR: Just being able to go out and compete and be on the field as a receiver. Competing with my team and keep playing as a…
SANTA CLARA – Yesterday I asked the defense five questions. Today I asked Greg Roman and Alex Smith four questions. Here are their responses followed by my conclusions. Question 1: Now that Moss and Manningham are on the team, can we expect more long passes in the games? ROMAN: It all depends on who we’re playing. If (the cornerbacks) are playing way off (the line of scrimmage) then I doubt…
SANTA CLARA – Here is the full transcript of Alex Smith’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Both head coach Jim Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Greg Roman said something recently that you have great ideas, what are they talking about? Are they talking about different plays to run, different ways of running them? “That’s a good question for them. I think it could be anything. I think the great…
SANTA CLARA – Here is the full transcript of Greg Roman’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening Statement: “Good morning. Grinding through training camp right now. It’s a great opportunity for us to look at guys and how they deal with the day in and day out, week after week. So much of the NFL season is how consistent guys can be day-to-day, week-to-week. So many players over…
SANTA CLARA – Tuesday was a defense-dominated day in the 49ers’media tent – Vic Fangio, Larry Grant and Ricky Jean Francois all spoke at the podium, and I spoke one on one to Chris Culliver in the locker room. I asked each guy the same few questions, and here are their responses followed by my conclusions. Question 1: How would you characterize this defense? FANGIO: To me it’s in the…
SANTA CLARA – The 49ers play their third preseason game Sunday night in Denver against the Broncos, and it’s well known that the third preseason game is different from all other preseason games. Typically, the starters play the entire first half, and the coaches create a game plan geared to what the other team does – they don’t do this in Games 1, 2 and 4; in those games they…
Each quarterback made one great play against the Texans, but overall the QBs did not play well like they did against the Vikings last week. QUARTERBACKS: C-. Alex Smith made one brilliant play: On the first series of the game he faced third and five. He bought time by rolling to his right, he kept his eyes downfield looking for receivers and he threw an accurate pass as he took…
Here are my preseason Week 2 grades for the 49ers’ offense. OFFENSIVE LINE: B+. They opened up big holes in the running game and played pretty well overall, but it’s important to note they didn’t have to face two of the Texans’ starting defensive linemen – Shaun Cody and J.J Watt. Alex Smith got sacked twice and took five big hits in the first quarter, but the offensive line wasn’t…
Here are my preseason Week 2 grades for the 49ers’ defense. DEFENSIVE LINE: B+. The starters didn’t get much pressure on the quarterback, but they mostly shut down Arian Foster and the Texans’ great running game – Foster gained most of his yards in the second quarter against the Niners’ backups. Speaking of the backups, Ricky Jean Francois and Ian Williams played well, busting into the Texans’ backfield a few…
The 49ers play exhibition game no. 2 tonight in Houston against the Texans. I’m sitting in my living room watching it on TV like you. Chat here in the live blog, which I update frequently with information and analysis. 4:55 The Niners two starting outside linebackers – Aldon Smith and Parys Haralson – did not fly to Houston. Parys Haralson and Eric Bakhtiari will start in their place. For the…
Before he flew to Houston for Saturday’s preseason game against the Texans, strong safety Donte Whitner spoke at the podium in the 49ers’ media tent. He discussed the way the defense practices, what he’s learned from Randy Moss and how good the offense will be this season. Here’s a full transcript of Whitner’s press conference. Q: The fact that you’re bringing back all the starters on your defense – how…
SANTA CLARA – Five minutes after Jim Harbaugh declared Alex Smith an expert in the 49ers’ offense, Smith took the podium in the media tent. Here is the transcript of Smith’s press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Your coach just described you as an expert in this offense. He said that it usually takes two years, you cut that in half. How do you feel about, as far as just…
SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh often makes surprising declarations at his press conferences. On Thursday, he declared Alex Smith an expert at the 49ers’ offense. Here’s a transcript of Harbaugh’s interview, courtesy of the 49ers. Does this mark any sort of break in camp? Do you guys go more to regular season mode next week or are you still in camp mode? “We’ll be in camp, yes.” When do…
SANTA CLARA – Starting cornerback Tarell Brown has been one of the hardest workers in training camp, but he had a rough practice on Thursday against the scout-team offense. Twice Brown got beaten by undrafted rookie wide receiver Brian Tyms – once for a touchdown, and another time for a 15-yard completion. A few plays after the 15-yard completion, Brown gave up a first-down reception on third-and-five to another undrafted…
SANTA CLARA – Thursday’s practice was the last 49ers practice open to the media this season. It was a light practice – the players wore shorts and went about half speed. Alex Smith mostly played against the scout-team defense, but when he did face the starters he threw two touchdown passes – one to Kyle Williams in the middle of the end zone – right in front of strong safety…
SANTA CLARA – Injured pass rusher Aldon Smith was a no-show on the 49ers’ practice field today. I haven’t seen him all week – he has not appeared at practice. I don’t know what that means. CBS Rapid Report’s Kyle Bonagura tweeted he saw Smith two days ago at the facility limping and walking with a cane. Delanie Walker, who appeared to hurt his knee at the Fan Fest on…
SANTA CLARA – Sorry this post is so late; practice ended at 7:30 tonight. This is the good. The not-so-good will follow. Chris Owusu caught roughly five passes, including the catch of the day against the first-team defense. He beat starting cornerback Tarell Brown deep down the sideline and leaped to catch a Josh Johnson pass over free safety Dashon Goldson. Owusu has been on a tear for the last…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Greg Roman’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening statement: “Good afternoon, looking forward to playing the Houston Texans this week down in Houston. It will be our first time on the road, obviously, dealing with crowd noise and all the things that go into playing offensive football on the road. We’ve had a really good week of practice thus far and…
