This is the transcript of Vic Fangio’s Thursday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ p.r. department. Last week, obviously, we saw that LB Ahmad Brooks was on the sideline. How difficult of a decision was that for you to make? “It was difficult to do, but it was an easy decision. He missed an entire meeting on Tuesday and then was 20 minutes late on Wednesday, so, at that point,…
OAKLAND – Before we get to the grades, let’s have a moment of silence for the Jim Harbaugh Era. That’s enough. KAEPERNICK: Ω. He gets an omega, the last letter in the Greek alphabet, because English just won’t do. An ‘F’ isn’t low enough. A ‘Z’ isn’t low enough. This was the worst performance of Kaepernick’s career, the kind of performance that gets a quarterback benched and…
This is my Sunday column. What about Trent Baalke? Sure, the 49ers probably will dump Jim Harbaugh at the end of the season. His quarterback isn’t improving and his offense stinks and he ticks people off. We get all that. But what about Baalke? Who’s to say the Niners won’t dump him, too? What makes him worth keeping? Let’s evaluate his contribution to the franchise. Let’s figure out how many…
SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of Vic Fangio’s Tuesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. How is DT Justin Smith, his health? “Good.” He was listed with a back injury. Is that a minor thing? “News to me.” Do you expect him to play on Thursday, no questions? “It’d be news to me if he didn’t.” His snaps are a little bit down…
SANTA CLARA – The 49ers defied the odds and beat the first-class Redskins 17-13 Sunday afternoon. Here are the Niners’ grades. KAEPERNICK: B. Unusually efficient. Completed 20-of-29 pass attempts (69 percent) for 256 yards (8.8 yards per attempt). Three of his nine incomplete passes were dropped. He threw a long, beautiful touchdown pass to Anquan Boldin on the first drive of the game, but he never came close to throw…
SANTA CLARA — This is the transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Monday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Have you had a chance to talk to RB Marcus Lattimore about his future yet? “He’s weighing his options and we’ll have an announcement about that, as we said yesterday. Still to come.” Do you want to just give him space and let him have plenty of time to kind…
This is my Friday column on Khalil Mack. WARNING: This is a Raiders column. 49ers fans — feel free to skip this. ALAMEDA When will the Raiders figure it out? They make the same mistake every week and it costs them wins. The mistake involves a rookie, Khalil Mack. Before we discuss the mistake, let’s talk about the problem. The Raiders have the worst third-down defense in football, allowing opponents…
This is my Saturday column previewing the 49ers’ Sunday home game against the Eagles. What is Vic Fangio supposed to do? Call plays while hopping on one leg? Vic, try patting your head and rubbing your stomach in the coaches’ box. Say rubber baby buggy bumpers. Strike a pose. The 49ers’ defensive coordinator is running out of options. He tried blitzing. He tried not blitzing. Neither has worked. The 49ers’…
SANTA CLARA – The 49ers lost 28-20 to the Bears Sunday Night. Here are the 49ers’ grades. KAEPERNICK: F. His worst game since two games ago. Looked like Tony Romo looked last week. Committed four turnovers – one fumble and three interceptions. Would have been five turnovers but one of the interceptions hit the grass before a Bears’ defensive back caught it. Also committed a delay of game penalty on…
This is my Saturday column. This is not about the fairness or the morality of the NFL suspending Aldon Smith nine games without pay. Fairness and morality are beside the point. This is about reality. No one on the 49ers objects to the suspension. Just after the news broke Friday afternoon, Trent Baalke released a written statement saying, “It’s time to put this matter behind us and focus on the…
SANTA CLAR A — Vic Fangio was interviewed in the 49ers’ auditorium Tuesday afternoon. Here’s a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. staff. How did NT Ian Williams play? I know it wasn’t a lot of snaps, but how did he look? “He did fine. I was pleased with the way he played. I was hoping to get him a few more snaps but he started tightening up a…
SANTA CLARA – The 49ers beat the Chargers 21-7 Sunday afternoon. Here are the grades for the Niners’ starters. KAEPERNICK: D-. Fumbled twice and committed one turnover. Completed 50 percent of his passes. Completed zero percent of his passes in the red zone. Posted a 64.2 passer rating. Performed poorly in areas he needed to improve this offseason – accuracy, touch, footwork and red-zone passing. RUNNING BACKS: C. Carlos Hyde…
This is my Friday column. The 49ers have been by far the worst team in the NFL during the preseason. In two games, the Niners have scored three points and given up 57. That means they’ve been outscored by 54. The Cowboys have been the second-worst team in the preseason. They’ve been outscored by merely 27. That means the 49ers have been twice as bad as the second-worst team. We…
This is my Saturday column. Before we get to the 49ers’ upcoming preseason game, here’s a brief history lesson. In 2010, the 49ers’ defense was ordinary. It ranked 13th in yards allowed and 16th in points given up. Four current starters were key contributors on that 2010 defense – Patrick Willis, Justin Smith, Ahmad Brooks and Ray McDonald. After the 2010 season, the 49ers drafted Aldon Smith and signed Carlos…
SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh was interviewed in the 49ers’ auditorium Friday afternoon. Here is a transcript. Q: What happened to Blake Costanzo? How did he get injured? HARBAUGH: Something with the knee. Q: He was placed on I.R. Could he return at some point this season? HARBAUGH: I don’t think it’s a season-ending injury, but I hate to talk and then be wrong and then get criticized for not…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me during Monday afternoon’s padded practice in Levi’s Stadium. THE GOOD 1. Chris Cook. His biggest weakness is defending the deep pass and he picked off two of those today. First he picked off a deep pass intended for Devon Wylie (Josh Johnson threw it), and then Cook picked off a deep pass intended for Chuck Jacobs (Blaine Gabbert threw it). Cook…
SANTA CLARA — Here is what stood out to me at the 49ers’ non-padded practice Thursday afternoon. THE GOOD 1. Patrick Willis. Forced a fumble. Will Tukuafu caught a pass over the middle, turned and took two steps upfield when Willis punched the ball out of his hands. 2. Michael Wilhoite. Punched a ball out of Quinton Patton’s hands during a red zone drill. Patton hadn’t taken a step with…
SANTA CLARA — Vic Fangio was interviewed in the 49ers’ auditorium Friday morning. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers. You finally got to see DB Jimmie Ward on the field. Any reaction to seeing him out there running around a little bit? “He did fine. You know, he was also here last week where we had those three, they were altered practices, we didn’t have the full 22…
SANTA CLARA — Here’s what stood out to me at the 49ers’ first non-padded training camp practice of the year. THE GOOD 1. Jimmie Ward. Faced Stevie Johnson once during one-on-one drills. Johnson faked a move to the outside and quickly cut back to the inside but couldn’t shake Ward. Ward ran in front of Johnson and swatted the ball to the grass. Ward played with the second-team defense during…
Jim Harbaugh was interviewed Friday morning on KNBR. Here is a transcript. Q: What goes on in a late-May OTA? HARBAUGH: There are nine weeks that we can be with the players in the offseason. It is broken up into three phases. We are now in Phase 3, Week 5. Ending Week 5. There will be three more weeks after this. The phase that we’re in now, we can coach…
