Singletary describes boos directed at Smith as 'outstanding'

The problem with Alex Smith winning the starting QB job out of training camp became apparent on his first throw of 11-on-11 drills at training camp this morning.

He looked for a receiver, pulled the ball down, moved to his left and threw the ball away.

And a mixture of boos and groans emanated from the open practice at the team’s training facility in Santa Clara. Smith went on to complete his next three passes. Later he threw a pass that did not come anywhere near the receiver. (Don’t know for sure, but it’s possible the receiver zigged when he should’ve zagged.) But it didn’t matter who was to blame. The crowd let Smith have it.

Mike Singletary’s reaction to the crowd response: “Outstanding.”

Say what?

“Alex has to learn how to deal with it,” Singletary said.

Said Smith, “That’s fine. It’s part of the deal. It’s part of playing quarterback in the NFL. But there are some good things that come with it. You come out here and there’s a lot of energy, too.

“I think we are kidding ourselves thinking you’re going to go out there and you’re not going to hear boos and you’re not going to hear cheers,” Smith added. “You’re going to be faced with that. You’re going to have bad plays out there. You’re going to go a couple of quarters when you’re not playing well and you’ve got to be able to come back and I think that’s a very real environment. That’s how it’s going to be on game day.”

All in all, Smith looked pretty good on the first day of training camp, but there is no leader in the quarterback competition, Singletary said.

“I want to find the guy to lead this team,” Singletary said. “Right now, I’m not seeing that guy.”

Shaun Hill has heard the speculation that it’s his job to lose, based on his strong finish last season. But Hill said he has a different approach.

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