SANTA CLARA — Vic Fangio was interviewed in the 49ers’ auditorium Tuesday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers. What did you like from what you saw out at practice? “Not as much as I had been seeing. We messed up too many things today, I think, and I need to go look at it and see exactly what it was. A couple of them, I’m not sure…
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…
To get you prepped for Tuesday’s OTA, here are the 49ers’ top-five position battles. 1. Chris Culliver (6-0, 199 pounds, 25 years old) vs. Chris Cook (6-2, 212, 27) vs. Dontae Johnson (6-2, 200, 22) for No.2 cornerback Culliver is the favorite – the 49ers spent a third-round pick on him in 2011. But he tore his ACL a year ago and does not seem to have fully recovered yet…
Last season, the 49ers had co-sack-leaders — Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks. Each finished the regular season with 8.5 sacks. Justin Smith had 6.5 sacks — third-most on the 49ers. NaVorro Bowman had 5 sacks — fourth-most on the team. Which player do you think will lead the 49ers in sacks in 2014? I think it will be Aldon Smith, even though he probably will be suspended for some games.
Here is my Wednesday column on Jim Harbaugh. Under no circumstances should the 49ers give Jim Harbaugh a contract extension this offseason. Let him play out the final two years of his deal. Or let him win a Super Bowl before giving him a raise. Apparently, Harbaugh wants to be the highest-paid head coach in the NFL. Hey, so do I, but I don’t deserve to be. Harbaugh doesn’t deserve…
This is my Thursday column. Dear player or coach for the San Francisco 49ers, This is your final report card for the 2013 season. Show this to your mother and make sure she signs her name at the bottom. COLIN KAEPERNICK: C+. I assumed you would improve, but you got worse. Somehow you became a less accurate passer, only occasionally hitting a receiver in stride. How did you get less accurate…
SEATTLE — At least four times in the first two quarters, Justin Smith has moved prior to the snap to the direction the Seahawks’ play is going to be run, and the Seahawks’ left guard, James Carpenter, had no chance to block or cut off Justin Smith’s pursuit angle. Justin Smith definitely has a key based on the Seahawks’ backfield set as to where Seattle is going to run the…
SAN FRANCISCO – Here are my grades for the 49ers. They almost blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead, but ended up beating the Falcons 34-24. KAEPERNICK: B. His passer rating was 108.6 and he ran for 51 yards and a touchdown against a terrible defense. He also completed just 13 passes, and only a few of his completions actually hit his intended receiver in stride. All night, receivers had to adjust…
SANTA CLARA — Vid Fangio spoke in the media tent Friday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Since you have all of the same guys in the same places as last year, what’s different about your defense this year as far as the way it’s executing your scheme and what it’s accomplished? I think you’re back up there right there at the top like…
SANTA CLARA — Vic Fangio spoke in the media tent Thursday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Do you sense any, I don’t know if let down is the right word, but is it tough for these guys to get back to work after a big win against Seattle? “No. I don’t think so. Like I told you last week, the last four games…
Here is my Thursday column on the 49ers’ upcoming game against the awful Jaguars. Beating the Jaguars is way down the list of important things the 49ers must accomplish this weekend. Beating the Jaguars isn’t even top-three. Beating the Jaguars is expected. Everyone beats the Jaguars. The Jaguars are the worst. The 49ers should treat this game like an exhibition or a scrimmage. There is no way the 49ers lose…
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Here are the grades for the 49ers’ 31-17 win over the Titans. KAEPERNICK: A-. He threw some extremely accurate passes and ran exceptionally well. His passer rating was 93.2 and his yards-per-carry average was 6.2 – the highest in the game. He gets an A- and not an A because he made two poor throws in the second quarter when the 49ers were up just 3-0. First,…
SAN FRANCISCO – Here are the grades for the 49ers’ 32-20 win over the Cardinals. KAEPERNICK: C-. He was 8-for-11 passing to Vernon Davis and 8-for-18 passing to everyone else. The Cardinals absolutely could not cover Davis and Kaepernick took advantage. Kaepernick also threw an interception in the red zone, fumbled the ball in the pocket and fumbled a snap which he recovered. He was 1-for-8 on third down until…
SANTA CLARA — Vic Fangio spoke in the media tent Thursday afternoon. Here’s a transcript courtesy of the 49ers. When you look at the Texans, what sort of jumps out at you about the challenge that they present to you guys? “Well, balance number one. These guys are committed to running the ball and they have a play-action passing game that works directly in conjunction with their running game….
Gary Kubiak spoke on a conference call with Bay Area reporters Wednesday morning. Here is a transcript. Q: Can you talk about the challenge that faces your staff and your team after such a disappointing loss on Sunday? KUBIAK: Yeah, that makes it tough. When you go out and play pretty darn well and you don’t finish the product at the end of the day, that’s pretty hard to swallow….
SAN FRANCISCO – Here are the grades for the 49ers’ 27-7 Week 3 loss to the Colts. KAEPERNICK: D-. His second horrendous game in a row. He completed just 13-of-27 passes for 150 yards. He also threw an interception and fumbled. Kaepernick is the kind of quarterback who wants to feed the ball to the receivers he trusts but he trusts just one receiver – Anquan Boldin. Kaepernick hardly looks…
Jim Harbaugh spoke in the 49ers’ media tent Friday afternoon. Here’s a transcript. Q: Can you fill us in on Aldon Smith’s status for Sunday? HARBAUGH: The task today was to go and have a great practice. The time spent Sunday will be for us to go get a win, beat the Colts. We’ll make those decisions. Q: Have you spoken to Aldon about the incident this morning? HARBAUGH: Yes….
SANTA CLARA – Vic Fangio spoke in the media tent Thursday afternoon. Here’s a transcript: Q: When did you find out that the Colts had added a running back (Trent Richardson)? FANGIO: Yesterday during practice. Q: What did you guys have to do as far as the preparations for this game? FANGIO: Obviously we went in and put a tape together of him running the ball for Cleveland for the…
SANTA CLARA – Aldon Smith spoke at his locker Tuesday afternoon. Here’s what he said. Q: What’s the advantage of playing you both on the right and left sides? ALDON SMITH: It gives me a chance to move around a little bit. Q: Does it give opponents to think about in a week, that you could be on either side? ALDON SMITH: Yeah, it gives them something to game plan…
Here is my Monday column. Enjoy. SANTA CLARA – Let’s focus on the good after the 49ers’ Week 1 win over the Packers, a very good team, probably not a great team. THE GOOD After just 11 starts, Colin Kaepernick probably is the best quarterback in the NFL. You could say he singlehandedly beat the Packers. His defense gave up 28 points, he had no rushing attack and still he…
