Here are my week 5 grades for the 49ers. Quarterbacks: A. Here’s Alex Smith’s stat line: He completed 11 of 19 throws for 170 yards, 3 TDs and QB rating of 127.2. His first TD throw – the long one down the seam to Delanie Walker on the Niners first drive – was perfect. His screen pass to Joshua Morgan in the third quarter was perfect as well. He also…
SAN FRANCISCO — Here’s the transcript of Alex Smith’s postgame press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. Would you say this is the most complete team victory this season? “Probably this season. I think the best two halves of football we’ve put together for sure. I think the four games prior to this we’ve had good halves here, good halves there, and never really put a full game together. I think…
SAN FRANISCO – Here are a couple Delanie Walker postgame quotes, courtesy of the 49ers. Q: You’re give weeks into this and you have already adopted the personality of the Coach with no minicamp, nothing. How does that happen? WALKER: Well our training camp was pretty hard. We didn’t really get any days off and we worked hard. He (Head Coach Jim Harbaugh) tried to embed it in us, make…
SANTA CLARA – Here is the transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Friday Press Conference, courtesy of the 49ers. The first question doesn’t make sense unless you know that all the 49ers coaches wore their blue collar shirts to practice today, including Harbaugh. The players wore shorts ‘n shells and the coaches wore short-sleeve, blue collar button-up shirts with their first names embroidered onto little white patches, which were themselves embroidered above…
SANTA CLARA – Here’s the transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Wednesday press conference. Q: Do you see similarities between yourself and Tampa Bay the way they want to establish the run? HARBAUGH: That would be a compliment, to be a similar team to the Bucs. Outstanding football team. They do a very good job offensively, the balance. The ability to have a strong running game. The ability to have the quarterback make plays. Speed…
As you know, Jim Harbaugh said yesterday on his conference call that “it’s possible” Michael Crabtree could practice this week. I would like to discuss what I think he meant by “possible.” The way he said it on the phone, it sounded like he was giving a no comment. He was monotone and he clearly wanted to get past the question, so he said the vaguest, most non-committal response he could think of….
Here’s the complete transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s conference call. He sounded subdued on the phone, pausing for long lengths of times after questions. There was no energy behind the things he said. He stressed that improving the team is a process. He stressed that fact so much he used the word “process” nine times. Searching for something positive to add, he said he wasn’t completely discouraged by the defense, which…
SANTA CLARA – Jim Harbaugh spoke at the podium this morning at 11:00 a.m. He changed his mind for the second time in four days regarding how much his starters will play this Saturday versus the Houston Texans. Now he’s saying Alex Smith will only get a couple series to begin the game, and Colin Kaepernick will come in early to play with the first team. He says the focus…
Here’s the complete transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Tuesday afternoon press confrence, courtesy of the 49ers. You guys made a trade yesterday (sending S Taylor Mays to the Bengals), why was that deal a good trade for the 49ers? “Well I think it was, not just for us but for Taylor and it was a positive thing for Taylor. We’ve got a lot of respect for Taylor. I’ve been around him for about three or…
Jim Harbaugh just held a conference call, and here’s the full transcript. He addressed the Frank Gore trade rumors first, then he got into the rest of the team’s performance from last night. Q: Have you guys ended camp mode or are you back in that mode this week? HARBAUGH: We’re in training camp mode. Q: Will you be in that through the third game? HARBAUGH: We’re in getting better…
Jim Harbaugh gave a lengthy rundown of his team’s performance after their 17-3 win over the Raiders tonight. Here’s the complete transcript of that interview, courtesy of the 49ers. On whether he was pleased with tonight’s game: “I thought we had a really good week at practice and you always hope that that shows up in the game and results in a winning performance and this week I think it…
A talkative Jim Harbaugh assessed a good chunk of his roster after practice, giving more praise than he’d given all of training camp. Here’s the complete transcript, courtesy of the 49ers. On whether he has a snap count for his starting offense for Saturday’s game: “It will be fairly similar to last week.” On whether that includes QB Colin Kaepernick playing most of the game: “We’ll see, we’ll see. I…
SANTA CLARA – Josh McCown, the 49ers newest quarterback, spoke after practice. Here’s the complete transcript of that interview. Stay tuned for my notes from practice. Q: They certainly didn’t ease you into practice today, did they? McCOWN: Yeah, I jumped right in, it was fun. Why not? It’s indicative of the whole camp, I’m sure. They’re just learning on the fly, coming out of the CBA stuff, so it’s…
Here’s the full transcript of Harbaugh post-practice press conference, courtesy of the 49ers. He spoke at length about the team’s plans for a third quarterback, the greatness of Frank Gore, the talent of Kendall hunter, and his experience as an assistant coach with the Oakland Raiders. He told an Al Davis story which is particularly amusing, but I won’t spoil it for you. Enjoy. On how he will determine which…
SANTA CLARA – Practice ended with Colin Kaepernick leading the first team offense against the first team defense in a 2-minute drill. Kaepernick was 4-6 on the drive, but Aldon Smith sacked him on the last play, and the offense put up zero points. Over the last 90 minutes of practice, Kaepernick took 22 reps with the first team while Alex Smith took 20. This was the first time in…
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…
Some of my readers feel I’ve taken a leap to say there’s a quarterback controvery, and if so, I apologize. But please pay very close attention at the end, when a reporter, Eric Branch, asks if Harbaugh would still put his money on Alex Smith to be the starter when the regular season starts. Read closely Harbaugh’s response. Here’s the transcript. Q: What’s the current state of the quarterback situation?…
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 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 – Jim Harbaugh gave an impromptu interview next to the field after practice. He said he was only going to give us a little, but he gave us much more. Here’s the complete transcript. Q: How pleased are you with the last few practices? HARBAUGH: Very pleased. Not 100 percent perfect, not 100 percent right, and if you asked me I wouldn’t want it 100 percent right or perfect, because…
