As expected, Mike Singletary made it officially official:
Troy Smith will start Sunday against the Rams.
And in contrast to Smith’s debut against Denver, Vernon Davis expects the Niners to attempt more than 19 passes — their fewest
since 2007 — in his second start.
“I definitely see it opening up, especially with him getting
more familiar with all the wide receivers and Frank Gore out the backfield,” Davis said. “It’s going to be a lot different from what it was
(against the Broncos). You’re going to see a lot more chemistry.”
Offensive coordinator Mike Johnson didn’t know much about
Smith prior to his first start in London. In fact, Johnson said he and the
offensive staff spent much of the bye week studying film of Smith against the
Broncos and from his Baltimore days to tailor a game plan suited to his
strengths.
Without such background against Denver, the Niners leaned
on Gore more heavily than usual. In fact, according to wide receiver Josh
Morgan, they didn’t stray from their run-first game plan even after the Broncos
made the proper halftime adjustments.
Gore (12 carries, 70 yards in the first half) gained 26
yards on 10 third-quarter carries and the 49ers entered the fourth quarter
trailing 7-3. San Francisco’s final drive of the third quarter was a three-and-out
featuring three straight carries by Gore.
“They made their adjustments and they started putting
nine and 10 in the box and we’re out there in one-on-one coverage,” Morgan
said. “We’ve got to throw the ball. They can’t check any of us one-on-one, so we’ve
got to throw the ball. It was just obvious at that time, but we kept trying to
stick with it, stick with it. But it was like no. It was to that point like ‘No,
they’ve got nine in the box.'”
Morgan said he was one of the players who voiced his
frustration during the game. Who does he complain to during games with Johnson
in the booth?
“You tell everybody,” he said. “You can pick up the phone
and call (Johnson). You tell your coach. You tell everybody.”
It remains to be seen whether Morgan will be making more
phone calls Sunday. Johnson, given two weeks to prepare for Smith’s second start,
suggested the game plan won’t be dramatically different.
“It’s a little bit more, but not too much more,” he said.
“I mean you take an offensive football team and it takes months and sometimes
years to really learn all the different details that you have in an offense. So
we will do a little bit more than last week, but it’s still two weeks into the
process here. So we’re trying to be smart and utilize him in a way where he can
be effective.”
For his part, Smith sounds excited about the offensive
plan, “We will do some things, hopefully, that will be eyebrow-raising for you …
They are doing an incredible job game planning.”
• Alex Smith is expected to be inactive for Sunday’s game.
David Carr will serve as the backup and the Niners won’t have an emergency
quarterback for the second straight game.
Smith was limited in practice again today. He has not
been medically cleared to participate in team work, but has thrown during
7-on-7 drills.
“The throwing is unrelated to it,” he said. “Obviously,
they wanted me to go out there and see how it felt. Really, the thinking still
is taking a hit … when I’m in pads they don’t want me to get
bumped into.”
• CB Nate Clements (ankle) participated in a full
practice after previously being limited this week. Clements injured his ankle on
Oct. 17 against the Raiders, but hasn’t missed a game. Clements appeared gimpy
at times during the Niners’ loss at Carolina the following week, particularly when
he slipped and allowed an 18-yard touchdown reception to David Gettis.
“If I’m out there I don’t even think about it really to
be honest,” he said. “I’m definitely not the type of player to make excuses for
myself. If I’m out on the field, then you’ve got o play.”
• G Chilo Rachal missed practice for personal reasons. Singletary said he
will be available Sunday.
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