Davis playing his way off the team?
Scott Ostler,David White, Chronicle Staff Writers
San Francisco Chronicle August 22, 2010 10:42 PM Copyright San Francisco Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
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Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle
49ers #7 Nate Davis is seen after practice at training camp in Santa Clara, Calif. on Thursday August 19, 2010.
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49ers #7 Nate Davis is seen after practice at training ca...49ers #17 Dominique Zeigler (right) runs with the footbal...49ers #17 Dominique Zeigler catches the football during p... View Larger Images
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(08-22) 22:42 PDT -- You 49ers fans hoping to see Nate Davis take over the quarterback controls, you might want to check out the Omaha Nighthawks.
Wait, the Nighthawks signed Jeff Garcia.
Davis might eventually lead a football team, but after Sunday night, chances are dimmer that the team will be the 49ers.
Davis played the second half against the Vikings and thoroughly failed to impress coach Mike Singletary.
The third-year reserve, considered by many fans to be the 49ers' future field general, looked more like a basic trainee.
Third string (behind David Carr) never looked so far from the starting job.
Davis' stats were unimpressive - 7-for-16, 114 yards, with a 60-yard bomb - but they weren't as unimpressive as the impression he left with Singletary.
"I just think (he was) inconsistent," Singletary said, warming up. "I think he's a guy that's got a lot of flash, he's got a big arm, like a lot of kids, but you have to learn to play the position, you have to learn to command the huddle ... (and) have a presence about you. I just feel that he's still learning how to do that. I don't know how long it's going to take, I don't know how much time we have.
"I just think right now he's competing against himself, I really do.
"I really like the kid, there's a lot to like about him, but there's a work ethic that's involved, in terms of being a quarterback in the NFL."
Work ethic?
Davis is dyslexic, which makes it difficult for him to master the playbook, but makes Davis even more of a lovable underdog with fans. But based on what Singletary said Sunday, it's not a learning disability that has slowed Davis' progress, it's something more basic.
"Right now, Nate Davis is working his tail off to try and learn the system," Singletary said. "But in the offseason, that's when you take the time to get that done. And I'm not sure how hard he worked this offseason to get that done.
"You just can't turn it on and turn it off, now that we're in training camp. You know what? The offseason, when we're in OTAs, in the mini-camps, that's when you have to get that done, that's when you have to stay up and drive the coaches crazy, and look at film, and ask all the questions you possibly can, and I'm not sure that he did that.
"Right now there's a lot it's a lot that he has to get, in a short amount of time. Hopefully he will do that. We'll see."
Davis, informed of Singletary's remarks, said, "Yes, I did work hard in the summer, but it showed that I should have worked harder. Yes, I am playing a little catch-up right now, but I'm still working hard every day, and I'll keep on working. ... I feel OK with where I am, but I do have a lot of improving to do."
Singletary was fuming over a play with 2:52 left in the game, 3rd-and-6 at the 49ers' 11. Davis scrambled around right end and went down, without being hit, one yard short of the first down.
"You've got to know where the first down marker is," Singletary said, "you don't just fall."
Sunday Davis just fell.
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