After two stellar starts, no one is about to compare Troy Smith to Brett Favre.
But references to Favre have popped up in regards to Smith, who has shown some of the Old Gunslinger’s penchant for rolling out and chucking it downfield.
After Smith’s first start in London, Singletary invoked Favre when
discussing the quarterback’s on-the-run, 38-yard heave to tight end
Delanie Walker.
Today, offensive coordinator Mike Johnson said the Niners have run the Favre-inspired Ken Cote Drill.
Ken Cote? OK, some background.
When Steve Marucci was the quarterbacks coach at Green Bay in the
mid-90s, he got a letter from Ken Cote, a passionate fan who was fed up
with Favre’s reckless decision-making when forced from the pocket.
Maruicci, who was already working with Favre on those improvisational
plays, dubbed their routine the Ken Cote Drill, which teams such as the
49ers are using today.
Johnson mentioned the drill today when asked about his balancing act
with Smith: How to rein in his potentially destructive impulses without
stifling his playmaking ability.
“There are certain things that we do from a decision-making standpoint
when he’s out of the pocket and we make sure that we coach those
decisions that he’s allowed to make,” Johnson said. “That’s a drill that
we call ‘Ken Cote’ and he has a three-part decision-making process that
he makes when he’s outside of the pocket and it teaches ball security.”
Mike Singletary made a point of saying more than once after Sunday’s
game that Smith had plenty of room for improvement. When asked what
specifically Singletary was referring to, Johnson mentioned
decision-making, citing a throw-it-up-for-grabs pass Smith made in the
fourth quarter.
He’ll use Ken Cote to help correct that. But Johnson made it clear: He
wants Troy Smith to be Troy Smith, a quarterback who has a little Favre
in him.
“The one thing I want to do is encourage daring,” Johnson said. “I want
to encourage the stuff that he has inside and allow that to come out
without stifling that.”
Comments are closed.