His stance was too wide and he stood too upright.
And, as a result of Ricky Jean Francois’ sloppy technique, the 49ers defense was too soft when the second-year nose tackle replaced an injured Aubrayo Franklin in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 34-16 loss to the Packers.
After Francois entered, Green Bay went on a game-sealing, 17-play, 74-yard drive during which it collected 53 of its 136 rushing yards. The smash-mouth drive featured 13 runs and marked the first time the Packers were able to have sustained success on the ground.
Niners defensive coordinator Greg Manusky is rarely critical of a player
when speaking with the media. So his less-than-flattering assessment of
Francois’ performance was notable.
“He’s got to back up Aubrayo,” Manusky said, “and he’s got to a better job of doing that when we call upon him.”
It’s not clear how much the 49ers will need to call upon Francois on
Sunday against visiting the Seahawks, whose running attack has been
energized with the acquisition of Marshawn Lynch.
Franklin, who has a groin strain, said he plans to practice today for
the first time this week and expressed optimism that he could play
against Seattle. Manusky, though, indicated Franklin would be a
game-time decision.
Manusky also said the nose tackle is the most crucial position in the
3-4 defense. An effective nose tackle such as Franklin occupies
offensive linemen and helps protects linebackers such as Patrick Willis
and Takeo Spikes — allowing them to roam free.
And the dropoff when Francois replaced Franklin illustrated Manusky’s point.
Even Franklin, Francois’ mentor, couldn’t offer a ringing endorsement of his performance.
“He had a couple of bad plays,” Franklin said. “But that doesn’t make it a bad game.”
For his part, the 6-foot-3, 295-pound Francois said his stance was too
wide given the slippery surface at Lambeau Field. In addition, he was
too upright, particularly since he’s taller than a typical nose tackle.
He felt the Packers were targeting him once he entered the game. And, for obvious reasons, the bullseye never left his jersey.
“I felt that way. ‘Now that Aubrayo’s out, now the middle of the defense
is going to be open,'” Francois said. “I felt like they were just going
to keep coming at me. But, like I said before, not having my footing on
that kind of ground and them being really quick, it felt like for me it
was too late to sort of learn to be in the game. They kept driving the
ball.”
• RB Frank Gore said he plans to begin pool rehab in six weeks and will
begin running in eight weeks after suffering a fractured right hip on
Nov. 29 against Arizona. Gore plans to participate in the Niners entire
offseason program, assuming it is not affected by a lockout.
Gore said he sustained the injury on his third carry of the game when he
gained four yards. He was tackled by Joey Porter, but Cardinals
linebacker Paris Lenon fell on his back during the play and he went down
at an awkward angle.
Gore doesn’t plan to travel with the Niners for their final two regular-season road games.
• According to the play-by-play sheet, eight of Brian Westbrook’s nine
runs against the Packers went between the tackles, an inordinate amount
given that the 203-pound Westbrook is hardly a power back.
But don’t be fooled, offensive coordinator Mike Johnson said.
“A run that may look like an inside run to you has the ability to
bounce, so not all of the runs he gets are runs down the middle,”
Johnson said. “There are runs that are designed to draw a defense in and
maybe bounce if the look says so. So, there is a mixture of inside,
outside runs for both running backs. Depending on what they do
determines which cut they make.”
On Monday, Mike Singletary said the Niners wanted to avoid running
Westbrook inside as much as Gore due, in part, to Westbrook’s injury
history, “Westbrook, a guy that’s had issues with concussions or
whatever, we’re not going to run him the same way.”
Three days later, Johnson said this, “I’m not calling the game to
restrict Brian from certain runs because of his concussion history.”
• Singletary is a head coach who used to be an NFL middle linebacker.
Pete Carroll is a head coach who, evidently, wishes he was an NFL middle linebacker.
Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch relayed an amusing story this week
about his coach recently jumping in on defense during a non-padded
practice.
“He got in there at middle linebacker and I ran him over,” Lynch said with a laugh. “I haven’t seen a coach do that before.”
Asked if Carroll was pretending to be Patrick Willis, Lynch, who has
been in Seattle for two months, showed that he’s gained already some
insight into Carroll’s personality.
“I think he’s got too much pride to pretend that he’s somebody else,” he said.
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