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Head coach Mike Nolan expected his offense to be vastly improved this season after a significant investment in the draft and free agency on offensive players. He understood too his defense might be further away, but a day after a Chargers offense put up 48 points against the 49ers defense, Nolan said he’s preaching a new kind of patience.
“We talk about patience in trying to build something. Patience is active. It’s certainly not waiting around for something to change. Some people like to just endure difficult times like this, but I do not. And neither will this football team. We’ll continue to work through tough times and get back on track, particularly on defense. Patience is active, not passive, and that’s how we’ll continue to approach it.”
Nolan has left no stone unturned in terms of improving the unit, and that’s been an ongoing process. Everything from both a personnel and scheme standpoint has been discussed and examined closely over the last six games of play, and will continue to be the case as the 49ers enter their bye week.
Some of the problems are easier corrected than others. Nolan indicated the Antonio Gates touchdown play on the Chargers opening drive was a miscommunication from the sideline.
“We had a miscommunication between the group on the field and the call on the field,” said Nolan. “We ended up playing the incorrect defense with the wrong people on the field.”
Linebacker T.J. Slaughter missed a chance to get Gates down right after making the catch, but it was a play that Slaughter never should have been a part of and had not practiced during the week.
“Unfortunately, what bothered me about it, he made the best of the situation, and he missed the tackle,” said Nolan. “And then, two other guys missed the tackle as well. It wouldn’t have been a touchdown had we just tackled him at that point. Two guys had him and one guy jumped over him and missed him.”
Nolan also felt that perhaps too much cushion was given at times to San Diego receivers.
“Some of it was coming out of our breaks when we were high on our back pedals,” said Nolan. “Some of our technique issues compounded some of those problems. When the cushion is more generous, and you are not on your toes, it compounds the problem. There is some technique involved as much as there are some alignment problems.”
Technique is something Nolan said he’ll have the players working on this week. The team will practice three days starting on Tuesday before having the weekend off.
“We’ll get back to basics, the core things, and get back to techniques,” said Nolan of his plans for the bye.
When the team heads into Chicago, there could be different players taking more of an active role as well. Ron Fields had his first start against the Chargers at nose tackle after playing mostly as a swing end up until that point. He notched 5 tackles and caused the safety. Safety Mark Roman also got his first start this season, getting the nod over Tony Parrish and going on to play 2/3 of the snaps. Nolan said a greater role could also be given to linebackers Brandon Moore and Parys Haralson.
“I think it’s important to inspire players to play, especially back-ups who may not be getting many reps,” said Nolan. “To give them a role in the game is important, whether it’s to come in every other series or something like that. Sometimes it’s meant to create competition, as we’ve done with the safety spot, but it’s also important to inspire certain people. I’ll give an example, whether it’s DE Parys Haralson getting in the line-up a little bit – he has some pass rush ability on regular downs – or LB Brandon Moore is another guy. He’s played a lot of snaps, but he’s a guy that we need to continue to inspire to play well.”
One piece that won’t be part of the puzzle is veteran Pro Bowler Troy Vincent. The 49ers chances to sign him came to an end on Monday with news that the safety had signed on with the Washington Redskins. Although Nolan said he’d continue to work with VP of Player Personnel Scot McCloughan to find players, realistically teams aren’t going to be disposing any top players, not without a significant trade that could include giving up draft picks next year.
“It’s always something we talk about,” said Nolan. “We certainly are not like some teams, as far as being generous about giving those away. It gets back to that patience thing I talked about. It’s easy now to try to get a quick fix to get rid of some of the hurt and the pain that goes with a loss. But I know when we started this thing what our intentions were, and what it was going to take to get there. So, rather than being patient, I’d certainly like to get a quick fix right now, and give up a first day pick for example, for some guy that may be a second day guy, when we could get a better player in the draft? I’m not willing to go there right now. It’s not easy, but it’s sure tempting.”
Injury Updates: Nolan said he would be disappointed if Walt Harris was not available for the Chicago game. He also expects to have Jonas Jennings and Larry Allen back, but said that Vernon Davis might be a little longer.
Head coach Mike Nolan expected his offense to be vastly improved this season after a significant investment in the draft and free agency on offensive players. He understood too his defense might be further away, but a day after a Chargers offense put up 48 points against the 49ers defense, Nolan said he’s preaching a new kind of patience.
“We talk about patience in trying to build something. Patience is active. It’s certainly not waiting around for something to change. Some people like to just endure difficult times like this, but I do not. And neither will this football team. We’ll continue to work through tough times and get back on track, particularly on defense. Patience is active, not passive, and that’s how we’ll continue to approach it.”
Nolan has left no stone unturned in terms of improving the unit, and that’s been an ongoing process. Everything from both a personnel and scheme standpoint has been discussed and examined closely over the last six games of play, and will continue to be the case as the 49ers enter their bye week.
Some of the problems are easier corrected than others. Nolan indicated the Antonio Gates touchdown play on the Chargers opening drive was a miscommunication from the sideline.
“We had a miscommunication between the group on the field and the call on the field,” said Nolan. “We ended up playing the incorrect defense with the wrong people on the field.”
Linebacker T.J. Slaughter missed a chance to get Gates down right after making the catch, but it was a play that Slaughter never should have been a part of and had not practiced during the week.
“Unfortunately, what bothered me about it, he made the best of the situation, and he missed the tackle,” said Nolan. “And then, two other guys missed the tackle as well. It wouldn’t have been a touchdown had we just tackled him at that point. Two guys had him and one guy jumped over him and missed him.”
Nolan also felt that perhaps too much cushion was given at times to San Diego receivers.
“Some of it was coming out of our breaks when we were high on our back pedals,” said Nolan. “Some of our technique issues compounded some of those problems. When the cushion is more generous, and you are not on your toes, it compounds the problem. There is some technique involved as much as there are some alignment problems.”
Technique is something Nolan said he’ll have the players working on this week. The team will practice three days starting on Tuesday before having the weekend off.
“We’ll get back to basics, the core things, and get back to techniques,” said Nolan of his plans for the bye.
When the team heads into Chicago, there could be different players taking more of an active role as well. Ron Fields had his first start against the Chargers at nose tackle after playing mostly as a swing end up until that point. He notched 5 tackles and caused the safety. Safety Mark Roman also got his first start this season, getting the nod over Tony Parrish and going on to play 2/3 of the snaps. Nolan said a greater role could also be given to linebackers Brandon Moore and Parys Haralson.
“I think it’s important to inspire players to play, especially back-ups who may not be getting many reps,” said Nolan. “To give them a role in the game is important, whether it’s to come in every other series or something like that. Sometimes it’s meant to create competition, as we’ve done with the safety spot, but it’s also important to inspire certain people. I’ll give an example, whether it’s DE Parys Haralson getting in the line-up a little bit – he has some pass rush ability on regular downs – or LB Brandon Moore is another guy. He’s played a lot of snaps, but he’s a guy that we need to continue to inspire to play well.”
One piece that won’t be part of the puzzle is veteran Pro Bowler Troy Vincent. The 49ers chances to sign him came to an end on Monday with news that the safety had signed on with the Washington Redskins. Although Nolan said he’d continue to work with VP of Player Personnel Scot McCloughan to find players, realistically teams aren’t going to be disposing any top players, not without a significant trade that could include giving up draft picks next year.
“It’s always something we talk about,” said Nolan. “We certainly are not like some teams, as far as being generous about giving those away. It gets back to that patience thing I talked about. It’s easy now to try to get a quick fix to get rid of some of the hurt and the pain that goes with a loss. But I know when we started this thing what our intentions were, and what it was going to take to get there. So, rather than being patient, I’d certainly like to get a quick fix right now, and give up a first day pick for example, for some guy that may be a second day guy, when we could get a better player in the draft? I’m not willing to go there right now. It’s not easy, but it’s sure tempting.”
Injury Updates: Nolan said he would be disappointed if Walt Harris was not available for the Chicago game. He also expects to have Jonas Jennings and Larry Allen back, but said that Vernon Davis might be a little longer.