49ers announce signing of CB Shareece Wright

The 49ers just announced they have signed 27-year-old former San Diego Chargers cornerback Shareece Wright to a one-year contract. Wright replaces Perrish Cox, who signed a three-year, $15-million deal with the Tennessee Titans this afternoon, according to Ian Rapoport. Wright and Cox both are 5’11” and both run the 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds. During the final 10 regular season games of 2014, Wright gave up a quarterback rating of…

March 14, 2015
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49ers face key decisions in free agency

This is my Sunday column. Is it too early to predict which free agents the 49ers will re-sign this offseason? The 49ers still haven’t announced the hiring of Eric Mangini as the defensive coordinator or Geep Chryst as the offensive coordinator, and we still don’t know what schemes they plan on using. On defense will they use a Tampa-2 scheme or a single-high safety scheme, a three-man defensive front or…

February 7, 2015
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49ers 7, Seahawks 17: Grades

SEATTLE – Trent Baalke folded his arms and hung his head in shame. The 49ers’ season was over. The Niners and Seahawks were shaking hands at midfield and Baalke was staring at his desk in the press box. Bad look, Trent. Time to face the failure you created. KAEPERNICK: C. Played like Alex Smith. Didn’t turn the ball over – a first for Kaepernick against the Seahawks. Yes, he scored…

December 14, 2014
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49ers 3, Seahawks 19: Grades

SANTA CLARA – Jed York can’t blame Vic Fangio for this one — the 49ers’ defense gave up just one touchdown. It was the offense that failed to show up for the third game in a row. Here are the grades. KAEPERNICK: Z. Worst game of his career. His passes were inaccurate, his downfield vision was poor and he forced passes to covered receivers. Is there any doubt which team…

November 27, 2014
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Fangio: “When Wilson has the ball in his hand, he’s like defending Barry Sanders.”

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…

November 25, 2014
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49ers 27, Saints 24: Grades

They aren’t dead yet. The 49ers beat the Saints 27-24 in overtime Sunday afternoon, handed Sean Payton his first loss in the Superdome since 2010. Now the 49ers are 5-4. Here are their grades. KAEPERNICK: B+. It was fourth-and-10 from the Niners’ 22-yard line, one minute and 34 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Niners’ down by three. Kaepernick had to save the game. He rolled to his right. Nowhere…

November 9, 2014
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49ers 10, Rams 13: Grades

SANTA CLARA — The 49ers just gave away a game to the Rams, a dreadful team that was trying its best to lose. Here are the 49ers’ grades. KAEPERNICK: D+. Was that him? Didn’t look like it. Whoever was wearing the red No.7 jersey looked timid, tentative, not explosive at all. Averaged just 7.18 yards per pass and 2.8 yards per carry, converted 3-of-12 third down and scored no touchdowns…

November 2, 2014
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Grading 49ers at the break

This is my Sunday column. The 49ers just finished dead week. These are their midterm grades. COLIN KAEPERNICK Pocket proficiency: B. Was a C-minus last season. Completed just 57 percent of his passes and posted an 81 passer rating inside the pocket in 2013. Has completed 69 percent of his passes and posted a 90 rating inside the pocket this season. He’s finding the open receiver quickly and throwing the…

October 27, 2014
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49ers 17, Broncos 42: Grades

The Broncos eked out a 42-17 win over the 49ers Sunday night. Here are the Niners’ grades. KAEPERNICK: D. Carried the team in the first half. Posted a 140 passer rating in the second quarter. Would have been a 156 rating if Anquan Boldin hadn’t dropped a touchdown pass on third-and-goal from the 4 yard line. Kaepernick led a 7-play, 85-yard touchdown drive that took 2 minutes and 58 seconds…

October 19, 2014
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Vic Fangio says the Rams like to throw deep

SANTA CLARA — Here is the transcript of Vic Fangio’s Friday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. What have you seen from Rams QB Austin Davis? “I see a guy that’s playing very well. Since he’s come into the starting lineup, these guys have averaged 26 points a game and well over 400 yards a game. He’s thrown the ball extremely well with accuracy. He’s got a high…

October 10, 2014
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Jim Harbaugh on Alex Smith: “Always very happy for his success, almost all the time.”

SANTA CLARA — Jim Harbaugh was interviewed by Bay Area reporters Wednesday afternoon. Here’s a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Is this different, just the preparation in any way, facing somebody at the quarterback position that you know so well? “To some degree it is. I think about it. When we start talking about the scouting report and it’s [Chiefs QB] Alex [Smith]. So, yeah, in some ways…

October 1, 2014
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Harbaugh: “You tell me what you want me to tell you and I’ll help you out. We’ll save each other both time.”

SANTA CLARA — Here’s a transcript of Jim Harbaugh’s Friday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department. Where is CB Chris Culliver in the protocol? “Right on schedule. Should be good to go.”   Has he gone through the — “Final?”   Yeah. “[Nods].”   So, would CB Perrish Cox be the starter on the other side? “Well, no sense to say exactly what our next plan would be.”…

September 12, 2014
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49ers CEO’s comments hurting his own cause

This is my Wednesday column on Jed York. On second thought, Jed, don’t talk. Go ride a bike. Gardening is fine. There are so many things you can do. But, please, no more talking publicly. You’re making things worse with this Ray McDonald mess by making it all about you. You probably didn’t want to talk about the issue in the first place. I acknowledge that. You stayed silent for…

September 10, 2014
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Kenneth Acker picks off two passes, Devon Wylie beats Jimmie Ward three times in team drills

SANTA CLARA – Here’s what stood out to me during Wednesday afternoon’s padded practice. THE GOOD 1. Colin Kaepernick. Completed 22 of 32 pass attempts during team drills. He threw two touchdowns during an 11-on-11 goal line drill – one to Anquan Boldin and one to Asante Cleveland. Kaepernick also got intercepted on a deep pass in the end zone – Perrish Cox jumped and caught the ball over Quinton…

August 13, 2014
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Chris Cook intercepts two, Quinton Patton catches eight

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…

August 4, 2014
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Perrish Cox intercepts Colin Kaepernick twice, Stevie Johnson drops the ball three times

SANTA CLARA — Here is what stood out to me at the 49ers’ padded practice Wednesday afternoon. THE GOOD 1. Darryl Morris. Started off practice by beating Michael Crabrtee in a one-on-one drill. Crabtree tried to beat Morris with a move to the outside, but Crabrtee couldn’t shake him and Morris knocked away the pass. In team drills, he broke up two passes — one intended for Stevie Johnson, and…

July 30, 2014
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49ers’ top-5 position battles of the offseason

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…

June 1, 2014
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Harbaugh: “You didn’t think we were going to pull that out, did you?”

GREEN BAY – After the 49ers beat the Packers, Jim Harbaugh strode to the visiting team’s podium, locked eyes with me and said to me, “You didn’t think we were going to pull that out, did you?” Of course I did, I said. And I really did. Who didn’t? “It’s not our first time,” Harbaugh said. “We’ve got a lot of tough guys here and they generated a lot of…

January 5, 2014
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49ers’ weak pass rush gives Packers hope

Here is my Saturday column on the upcoming 49ers-Packers playoff game. GREEN BAY, Wis. — The 49ers can beat the Packers, have beaten the Packers, know how to beat the Packers, should beat the Packers and probably will beat the Packers on Sunday.But don’t count out the Packers just yet. A few factors work in their favor.The first factor is their quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. That’s an easy one. He’s still…

January 4, 2014
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Harbaugh says Carlos Rogers is getting an MRI on his hamstring

SANTA CLARA — Jim Harbaugh spoke in the defensive meeting room Monday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department.   Just, health-wise, how did you come out of yesterday’s game, specifically CB Carlos Rogers? “Carlos is getting an MRI.”   Will you have to sign anybody as an insurance policy? “We signed [CB] Perrish Cox.”   You did? And, what was the corresponding move? “We had…

December 30, 2013
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