SAN FRANCISCO – Blitz-pickup was the theme of the day for the 49ers 13th practice of training camp. But Harbaugh didn’t spend his personal teaching time at the beginning of practice on the offensive line. Instead, he corralled Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, Braylon Edwards, Joshua Morgan, and Vernon Davis – the skill players. He had them practice quick-slant plays. This is a standard drill in this year’s training camp, and…
SAN FRANCISCO – Although Jim Harbaugh has said a couple of times that there is no depth chart on the 49ers, just a rep chart, the head coach confirmed today that Alex Smith is No. 1 and Colin Kaepernick is No. 2, “for now.” That being said, Harbaugh admitted he wants to “kick the tires” on Daunte Culpepper, and the 49ers will soon give him a workout. Here’s what the…
Jim Harbaugh just dropped a bombshell in his 15-minute conference call with Bay Area writers. He had every opportunity to say that Alex Smith is his starting quarterback, hands down. He never took that opportunity. Instead he created a controversy all on his own. Here are two startling quotes about his quarterbacks. I wrote them as fast and accurately as I could with the phone on my ear. “We’re evaluating…
The 49ers just e-mailed me in-game quotes from Alex Smith, so I pass them along to you. On the team’s performance in the first quarter: “At this point, offensively, you know struggled, obviously didn’t get anything going early on. There was some miscommunication, missed balls on passes. It just wasn’t good. I didn’t feel that great about it. Obviously, it’s the first preseason game. A lot of us have only…
The Niners play the Saints in New Orleans tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. What are the top 5 things you’re looking for in the first preseason game? Here’s my list: Mistakes. The Niners have described themselves as “behind the eight ball” preparing for this season, because they needed to install brand-new systems on offense and defense, and the lockout hindered their ability to do that. Their opponent, the Saints,…
SANTA CLARA – Today was the lightest practice of training camp, and here’s what I mean by light. Harbaugh ended the practice at 4:55 today, 35 minutes earlier than usual because “the tempo was so good,” as he explained afterwards. At no point did the first-team offense play against the first-team defense in 11-on-11 drills. Alex Smith and the first-unit took a ton of red zone reps against the third-team…
On Monday Coach Harbaugh alluded to a “pitch count” for Alex Smith in the first preseason game against the New Orleans Saints on Friday, and Matt Maiocco reports he should play most of the 1st quarter, with Colin Kaepernick playing the second and third quarters. That means you’ll get to watch the rookie take around 40 snaps. Whatever pitch count Smith is on doesn’t factor for Kaepernick, who has a…
This is what Alex Smith had to say after his best practice of training camp. The transcript is courtesy of the 49ers. On Coach Harbaugh saying it was probably one of the best practices of camp and whether he felt so as well: “It’s definitely the best I felt like. We’re taking the necessary steps. I think that’s what’s important; continue to get better each day, it’s obviously early, but…
It’s too early to take stock of the quarterbacks, so I’ll just give an observation. The three top QBs on the training camp roster – Alex Smith, Colin Kaepernick, and Jeremiah Masoli – are all most comfortable throwing the ball from the shotgun. Each guy played strictly in shotgun or shotgun-like offenses in college. Smith ran the spread, Kaepernick ran the pistol, and Masoli ran the option. When you think…
SANTA CLARA – After warm-ups and drills, the real practice started with a 9-on-9 goal line scrimmage. It was the first team offense against the first team defense, but backup Anthony Dixon lined up at tailback instead of Frank Gore. Alex Smith hiked the ball and handed it off to Dixon, who chose to bounce his run outside to the left. This was a bad move. Patrick Willis caught him…
SANTA CLARA – Before I get to the good and not-so-good of the day, here’s a funny scene from the 49ers first practice in front of fans. During 11-on-11’s, Alex Smith threw one pass at Ted Ginn’s feet on a five-yard out. The fans didn’t boo, but they gave a collective “oooooo,” and the stands got uncomfortably quiet. Suddenly, a lady in the front row lost it. She yelled right…
Head Coach Jim Harbaugh was the first person to speak at the podium after practice. He was winded at the beginning of the interview and he was sweating. He spends a ton of energy coaching during practice. He participates in every drill he watches. It’s good to see a coach so actively involved. Here’s the complete transcript, courtesy of the 49ers, of his fascinating interview. Play close attention to what…
Alex Smith spoke to the media after his first day of real, live practice. He spoke about getting rid of the rust and the excitement of the competition with Colin Kaepernick. As always, he was the perfect gentleman. Read and enjoy. This is courtesy of the 49ers. On what it feels like to be back with Braylon Edwards again: “Yeah, as far as the same draft class. I got to…
SANTA CLARA – Practice was windy and cold in the Santa Clara dusk. Braylon Edwards lined up with the first and second-team offense today and looked good, considering he’d been on the team for about an hour. He caught a few short passes and hustled hard. Madieu Williams stood behind the defense with secondary coach Ed Donatell and took mental reps. Donatell seemed to be talking Williams through the plays….
ESPN’s Mike Sando just came out with an interesting article comparing the NFC West Quarterbacks by their Total Quarterback Rating – a new, highly subjective, supposedly more accurate metric for measuring quarterback performance. Sando explains it in detail in his article, but all you need to know is that a TBR of 50 is average, and a TBR of 65 is pro-bowl caliber. Last season, Alex Smith’s 82.1 quarterback rating…
SANTA CLARA – Matt Maiocco asked Vernon Davis after practice if there will be a quarterback competition in training camp this year. Here’s what Davis had to say. DAVIS: I can’t really jump into that because that’s not my deal. I leave that up to the coaches. I’ll let them decide that. I’m sure they strongly believe in Alex along with the rest of the teammates and myself, and we…
According to reports, Frank Gore ended his holdout and showed up at 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara this morning. How important is his return? He’s 28 years old, he’s got mileage, and he’s coming off a hip fracture. Those are the down sides to Gore. On the other hand, he’s the best player on Jim Harbaugh’s offense. Vernon Davis may be younger and bigger and faster, but Gore is more…
SANTA CLARA – The third practice of training camp started nearly an hour ago. Now that I’ve seen three, I’d like to share some trends I’ve noticed. The big activity to begin practice is special teams, and Ted Ginn has returned most of the kickoffs so far. Coach Jim Tomsula works with the defensive line in the back-left corner of the property, not technically on a playing field, just beyond…
In Matt Maiocco’s latest article he argues there are two main reasons the 49ers can’t sign an impact wide receiver like Plaxico Burress: No recent winning tradition. No proven quarterback. I agree with Matt, but here’s my question for you. Which reason plays a bigger factor in the 49ers striking out with Burress? I’m saying the second one, the one about the quarterback is the main reason. A good quarterback…
My dad wrote a short blog today from training camp and I’m linking to it here. In it he describes how Jim Harbaugh coaches the quarterbacks, meaning mostly Colin Kaepernick. I gave a little description yesterday, but I thought you’d like to read my dad’s take on Harbaugh. He also raises this question: Is it possible for Harbaugh to be too quarterback-oriented? Something to think about.
