SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. I deleted the little he said about Patrick Willis to avoid repetition. If you want to read that read the post below this one. Are you pretty impressed with the way LB Larry Grant was able to step in there? Obviously the defense didn’t skip a beat if they posted their first shut out….
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said this afternoon about Patrick Willis, who injured his right hamstring on Sunday against the Rams. Q: Have you gotten any results from the MRI of Patrick Willis? HARBAUGH: No. Nothing to share. Q: What is your sense of the severity of that injury? HARBAUGH: I would not be able to tell you. I’m not in Patrick’s body. Q: But just the black…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what the 49ers all-time leading rusher, Frank Gore, said at his locker this morning. Q: Do you put the division championship aside and move on to the next piece of business? GORE: Our goal was to be division champs. Now our next thing is to try to be No. 1 or No. 2 seed and we’ll go from there. Q: You’re not going to want to rest?…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Tarell Brown said this morning about his injured ankle and the Niners upcoming game against the Arizona Cardinals. Q: Did you tweak your ankle yesterday? T. BROWN: Yeah, I’m alright. Q: Is there a difference playing Cardinals with Kevin Kolb at quarterback rather than John Skelton? Bigger challenge for secondary? T. BROWN: Most definitely. Kolb is a gunslinger. He’s been a gunslinger since his college…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Ricky Jean Francois said at his locker this morning. Q: What does this team still need to work on? JEAN FRANCOIS: One thing I know we’re going to work on is getting a better start, not starting off real slow, and executing plays, getting back into the details a little more better. Winning the division championship was one… HARALSON: A little more better? Seriously? That’s…
SAN FRANCISCO – Here are my Week 13 grades for the 10-2 NFC West Champion Niners, who beat the 2-10 Rams 26-0 this afternoon. Quarterback: A. This was almost an A+ performance for Alex Smith, but the sheer awfulness of the Rams holds his grade back. Here’s his final stat line: 17 of 23 for 274 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 picks, and a 142.3 rating. Two of his incompletions were…
SAN FRANCISCO — This is the live blog for the Niners Week 13 game against the St. Louis Rams. I will be updating this frequently from the press box at Candlestick Park. The 49ers inactive players are Scott Tolzien, Braylon Edwards, Shawntae Spencer, Moran Norris, Daniel Kilgore, Mike Person, and Ian Williams. That means Ted Ginn Jr. will start opposite Michael Crabtree at wide receiver. The Rams inactive players are…
SAN FRANCISCO – Janie McCauley of the Associated Press and I just spoke with 49ers owner John York on the side of the field. You should have seen the smile on his face. The official adjective to describe him is “giddy.” Here’s what he said. Q: We haven’t had a chance to talk to you about your team’s transformation. JOHN YORK: It’s been absolutely exciting, wonderful. We’re very pleased with…
Here are my Week 13 NFL picks. 49ers vs. Rams: 49ers, 30-3. Did I say the Niners would win 30-3 last week? I meant this week. Sorry about that. Here’s why the Niners will crush the Rams: St. Louis ranks last in the league against the run. They give up 159 yards on the ground a game. That’s not a good baseline to work from against the Niners. Either St….
According to the San Jose Mecury News, three banks have agreed to loan the Niners and Santa Clara $850 million towards a new stadium. The three banks are Goldman Sachs, U.S. Bank and Bank of America. The Niners are expected to start construction on the new stadium this February, then move in there for the beginning of the 2014 season. To read the Mercury News story, click here. I would…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Friday’s injury report looks like. Notice that a couple key Rams are questionable to play – Sam Bradford and Chris Long. Jim Harbaugh said in his press conference today he expects Bradford to play. Why? “Educated guess,” Harbaugh said. Also notice that Braylon Edwards is listed as questionable and Adam Snyder and Bruce Miller are listed as probable. I expect Snyder and Miller to start,…
SANTA CLARA — You might be wondering if the Niners lost some confidence after their 16-6 loss on Thursday night to the Baltimore Ravens. Here’s today’s scene from the locker room. You can judge for yourself. In the middle of the room Anthony Dixon started a dance party. He blasted his iPod speakers so loud it was hard to interview the players. The message was clear – today was a…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s Thursday afternoon press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Opening Statement: “First thing I’d like to do is just recognize Chester McGlockton and what a tragedy that was. I know [Head Coach] Jim [Harbaugh] mentioned it yesterday and he was very dear to all of us. I first met Chester at the Pro Bowl following the 1996 season. Working with…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of defensive coordinator Vic Fangio’s Thursday afternoon press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. [LB] Patrick [Willis] was talking about the goal line stand that you guys had in Baltimore a week ago, how he was able to call out the drop there with QB Joe Flacco in, said that was something you showed them on film, even though Baltimore hadn’t run it all season….
SANTA CLARA — This afternoon in the locker room I asked Donte Whitner about the Niners run defense, and here’s what he said. Q: Is this the best run defense you’ve ever seen? And what makes it so special? WHITNER: I think it is the best run defense I’ve ever seen. My perspective is like this: I came from Buffalo last year. We gave up I think almost eight two…
Eric Branch, the terrific beat writer for the Chronicle and good friend, just published an article with valuable analysis of the 49ers offense. I’d like to share it with you. Among the troubling trends Eric points out, the Niners have scored just one touchdown in the last three weeks out of 26 drives that started in their own territory. Also he includes this quote from Ravens D-lineman Cory Redding on…
Here is the transcript of this morning’s Greg Cosell interview on KNBR’s Murph and Mac Show. Enjoy. Q: You told us the Ravens were a homework week – that they presented so many different problems on defense that you needed as much time as possible to prepare. That set off a little red flag in my brain and sure enough, nine sacks for Alex Smith. Do you credit that partially…
Steve Young spoke on KNBR’s The Razor and Mr. T show Wednesday afternoon. Here’s an exchange from that show between Young and Mr. T, Tom Tolbert, on the state of the Niners in the wake of their loss to the Ravens. TOLBERT: What about the offense? I just thought we didn’t learn anything on Thursday, Steve. I think we learned what we thought we knew before. YOUNG: Eh… TOLBERT: This…
SANTA CLARA – Michael Crabtree made his locker room walk-by with a little extra bounce in his step today. You see, he usually walks in with his head phones on, but you can’t tell if he’s listening to music he really likes because his facial expression is all business. He goes straight to his locker, changes from one pair of Jordan sneakers to another and then he leaves. But today…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Alex Smith’s Wednesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Is there any flipside to a short week in that the next week you actually have more time to prepare for a team and you could put more into your playbook? “Yeah of course. Definitely, both sides, rest-wise and game plan-wise, film. For sure, it’s kind of like a little, mini BYE week. Get…
