Niner News Thread
- Thread starter Chree
- Start date
I say pass on Al Harris. The way the niners are playing they can get a shut down corner early in next years draft to play opposite of Clements. Patrick Peterson and Prince Amukamara are playing like NFL-ready Corners.
I know its too early to talk about next years draft, but there's some really good prospects coming out that fit the niners important needs: QB & CB. My philosophy is pick up Peterson/Amukamara in the 1st and Iowa's QB Ricky Stanzi in the 2nd.
I know its too early to talk about next years draft, but there's some really good prospects coming out that fit the niners important needs: QB & CB. My philosophy is pick up Peterson/Amukamara in the 1st and Iowa's QB Ricky Stanzi in the 2nd.
49ers tension: Alex Smith/Singletary relationship is going down a familiar path
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawaka...akami-merc+(Talking+Points+with+Tim+Kawakami)
A month ago, I was convinced that the Alex Smith-Mike Singletary relationship was finished, for all intents and purposes, except the formalities of finishing the season and the gnashing attempts at explaining what went wrong.
Now we’re definitely in the “gnashing attempts” stages.
It’s all going down a familiar path for a coach and former top pick/savior, well-worn by Mike Nolan with Smith in 2007-2008, and just last year with Tom Cable and JaMarcus Russell.
This coach-QB tension/exasperation/exhaustion rendition was set up by Singletary last week bluntly praising Troy Smith for his leadership abilities and, in the process, not-so-subtly suggesting that those are not qualities so far provided by Alex Smith.
(Is there any question that Singletary will pick Troy Smith to start this week in a relatively big division match-up with St. Louis, even if Alex Smith is healthy enough to give it a go? No question for me.)
Singletary has been around Alex Smith for six seasons. Around Troy Smith for about eight weeks. Hmm.
Today, Alex Smith answered back, saying that he’s the same guy he was last year, when he came in, played well, won back the job and won praise from Singletary.
And he added that a QB sees the leadership issue differently than an old MLB.
“He and I have different views on leadership,” Smith said (via Barrows blog). “And I think that even goes back to the core of offense and defense — very different things. You know, being a middle linebacker and what leadership is and being a quarterback are different things.”
That is strong stuff, considering it comes from Smith, who isn’t exactly known for fiery retorts, except when things get very serious between himself and the coach.
As they did with Nolan, back in 2007–when Smith, like now, also was suffering through shoulder problems (that one was much more serious and on his throwing shoulder).
This is probably only going to get more uncomfortable between these two. I’ll repeat: When you have a high-profile QB who isn’t playing well, and a head coach who doesn’t know a thing about QBs, you are bound to have problems.
The coach can’t fix the problems, because he doesn’t know what to do with a QB. The QB can’t go to the coach for heart-to-heart conversations, because what the hell can the coach tell him about offense?
The coach is going to blame the QB for the troubles. It’s inherent, and usually fairly accurate, since Smith hasn’t been good enough from Day One here, except for a few months of 2006.
The QB is going to blame the coach. It’s natural, and in this case, definitely accurate, since Singletary provided Smith with Jimmy Raye and a failed offensive strategy.
They have let each other down. Neither is good for the other.
And I wonder: At what point does Singletary outright suggest that this team would be easy division winners if not for Alex Smith’s bad play?
Believe me, this is headed that way.
Last year, when Cable said that his team would’ve been a sure-fire playoff contender with better play from the QB, I thought he was mostly right and also slighly exaggerating, but you subtract Russell and suddenly the Raiders are pretty good this year.
Isn’t Troy Smith a version of Bruce Gradkowski from last year?
The 49ers are in a very different situation than the Raiders were last year (mainly because I think the Yorks will be desperate to find a new coach for a PR victory, where Al hesitated on Cable because he doesn’t have the energy to keep coach-searching)…
But the tension and the passive-aggressive conversation is very similar. All too similar.
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawaka...akami-merc+(Talking+Points+with+Tim+Kawakami)
A month ago, I was convinced that the Alex Smith-Mike Singletary relationship was finished, for all intents and purposes, except the formalities of finishing the season and the gnashing attempts at explaining what went wrong.
Now we’re definitely in the “gnashing attempts” stages.
It’s all going down a familiar path for a coach and former top pick/savior, well-worn by Mike Nolan with Smith in 2007-2008, and just last year with Tom Cable and JaMarcus Russell.
This coach-QB tension/exasperation/exhaustion rendition was set up by Singletary last week bluntly praising Troy Smith for his leadership abilities and, in the process, not-so-subtly suggesting that those are not qualities so far provided by Alex Smith.
(Is there any question that Singletary will pick Troy Smith to start this week in a relatively big division match-up with St. Louis, even if Alex Smith is healthy enough to give it a go? No question for me.)
Singletary has been around Alex Smith for six seasons. Around Troy Smith for about eight weeks. Hmm.
Today, Alex Smith answered back, saying that he’s the same guy he was last year, when he came in, played well, won back the job and won praise from Singletary.
And he added that a QB sees the leadership issue differently than an old MLB.
“He and I have different views on leadership,” Smith said (via Barrows blog). “And I think that even goes back to the core of offense and defense — very different things. You know, being a middle linebacker and what leadership is and being a quarterback are different things.”
That is strong stuff, considering it comes from Smith, who isn’t exactly known for fiery retorts, except when things get very serious between himself and the coach.
As they did with Nolan, back in 2007–when Smith, like now, also was suffering through shoulder problems (that one was much more serious and on his throwing shoulder).
This is probably only going to get more uncomfortable between these two. I’ll repeat: When you have a high-profile QB who isn’t playing well, and a head coach who doesn’t know a thing about QBs, you are bound to have problems.
The coach can’t fix the problems, because he doesn’t know what to do with a QB. The QB can’t go to the coach for heart-to-heart conversations, because what the hell can the coach tell him about offense?
The coach is going to blame the QB for the troubles. It’s inherent, and usually fairly accurate, since Smith hasn’t been good enough from Day One here, except for a few months of 2006.
The QB is going to blame the coach. It’s natural, and in this case, definitely accurate, since Singletary provided Smith with Jimmy Raye and a failed offensive strategy.
They have let each other down. Neither is good for the other.
And I wonder: At what point does Singletary outright suggest that this team would be easy division winners if not for Alex Smith’s bad play?
Believe me, this is headed that way.
Last year, when Cable said that his team would’ve been a sure-fire playoff contender with better play from the QB, I thought he was mostly right and also slighly exaggerating, but you subtract Russell and suddenly the Raiders are pretty good this year.
Isn’t Troy Smith a version of Bruce Gradkowski from last year?
The 49ers are in a very different situation than the Raiders were last year (mainly because I think the Yorks will be desperate to find a new coach for a PR victory, where Al hesitated on Cable because he doesn’t have the energy to keep coach-searching)…
But the tension and the passive-aggressive conversation is very similar. All too similar.
Singletary is a fucking idiot. I can't believe he still hasn't named Troy the starter? And he says Alex is a great quarterback and would do it all over again with him??
Did you guys listen to Brent Jones on KNBR Murph n Mac this morning? He sounded disgusted with what was going on. Saying shit like this would of never went down with Bill Walsh and how their was a certain level of championship football that was associated with the 49ers that's been lost for a long time now. Fucking disgusting what has happened with this team. Good thing we are a baseball town now(a world champion one at that).
Did you guys listen to Brent Jones on KNBR Murph n Mac this morning? He sounded disgusted with what was going on. Saying shit like this would of never went down with Bill Walsh and how their was a certain level of championship football that was associated with the 49ers that's been lost for a long time now. Fucking disgusting what has happened with this team. Good thing we are a baseball town now(a world champion one at that).
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ninerinsider/detail?entry_id=76654
Singletary backs Alex, kind of
Niners coach Mike Singletary gave his first interview in a week Tuesday when he did his weekly radio show on KNBR's Murph and Mac Show. He used the time to say all the right things about Alex Smith, without actually saying Smith would get his starting job back when healthy.
"Alex knows exactly where I stand with him on leadership," Singletary said. "He knows exactly how I feel about him at quarterback. He knows that at the end of the day, who's going to be the quarterback? The guy who gives us the best chance to win. And that's as simple as that."
Singletary said his comments about leadership before the Denver game were "misconstrued," and that it wasn't intended to be a shot at Smith. He spoke with Smith about it after Smith defended his leadership style to reporters Monday, the team's first day back from a week off.
"Alex Smith is a guy who comes in, he's going to lead by example. That's his idea of leadership. He's not going to be a guy that tells someone to do something, asks someone to do something. He's going to watch film, he's going to invite the receivers, the linemen, he's going to invite everybody, he's going to do that so who wouldn't want that in a quarterback? The guy is courageous, he's fearless, he competes. But his style of leadership, he leads by example. That's who Alex Smith is.
So where does this leave Troy Smith, who is taking the starter's snaps as Alex rehabs his separated non-throwing left shoulder?
"As I do with all of my players, I do my homework. I called Jim Tressel I called Ray Lewis, I called anybody that had anything to do with the kid. The first word they said was leadership. The kid's a leader, he'll get in your face, he'll take charge, he'll do all those things. When you look at our offense, when you have a Vernon Davis, you have a Michael Crabtree, and you have guys that want the ball, that's what a receiver does. I wanted to make sure that there was somebody in the huddle that could police that, someone that could handle themselves, someone that had the poise and composure and could go out there and play a football game and give us a chance to win. That's the bottom line."
Ultimately, that's what will decide which Smith starts. Singletary has an "idea" about Alex's chances of being healthy for Sunday's game against the visiting Rams. He stands by his decision "hand's down" to make Alex his starter when the season started, saying there is "no question about it" despite the 0-5 start. But, he'll give no timetable for a decision on who will start once Alex is healthy enough to play.
Just don't call this quarterback controversy, because Singletary said this isn't a quarterback controversy.
"You know what? Let's just say this: Right now, the thing that I really, really want to focus on, what we do not have here is a quarterback controversy. What we have is a team that's 2-6, that's competing for the division. What we have is a team team coming in, St. Louis coming in Sunday, that's where the focus is. When Alex Smith and Troy Smith and all this about leadership, at the end of the day, who's going to help this team win? Who's going to give us the best opportunity to win? As far as who that quarterback is going to be, we want to win, Alex wants to win, we all want to win, but the bottom line is its going to come down to who's going to give us the chance to win?"
On a final note, here is what Singletary said when asked if he thought the defense played well enough in the first half of the season:
"When you're 2-6, there's a lot of things you don't want. I think we have to work through it just like anybody else. I think we've earned that 2-6. When we look at the film, we understand exactly what it is that we have to do. We understand the things we need to do to get better. We understand the mistakes, everything that we've done in the first eight games is correctable. That's the exciting part for me. I think we have the pieces, I think we have the people, I think we have the players, I think we have the attitude and I think we have the time. So I'm excited about all of that. I'm excited about getting out on the field as a team on Sunday and trying to win a football game."
Singletary backs Alex, kind of
Niners coach Mike Singletary gave his first interview in a week Tuesday when he did his weekly radio show on KNBR's Murph and Mac Show. He used the time to say all the right things about Alex Smith, without actually saying Smith would get his starting job back when healthy.
"Alex knows exactly where I stand with him on leadership," Singletary said. "He knows exactly how I feel about him at quarterback. He knows that at the end of the day, who's going to be the quarterback? The guy who gives us the best chance to win. And that's as simple as that."
Singletary said his comments about leadership before the Denver game were "misconstrued," and that it wasn't intended to be a shot at Smith. He spoke with Smith about it after Smith defended his leadership style to reporters Monday, the team's first day back from a week off.
"Alex Smith is a guy who comes in, he's going to lead by example. That's his idea of leadership. He's not going to be a guy that tells someone to do something, asks someone to do something. He's going to watch film, he's going to invite the receivers, the linemen, he's going to invite everybody, he's going to do that so who wouldn't want that in a quarterback? The guy is courageous, he's fearless, he competes. But his style of leadership, he leads by example. That's who Alex Smith is.
So where does this leave Troy Smith, who is taking the starter's snaps as Alex rehabs his separated non-throwing left shoulder?
"As I do with all of my players, I do my homework. I called Jim Tressel I called Ray Lewis, I called anybody that had anything to do with the kid. The first word they said was leadership. The kid's a leader, he'll get in your face, he'll take charge, he'll do all those things. When you look at our offense, when you have a Vernon Davis, you have a Michael Crabtree, and you have guys that want the ball, that's what a receiver does. I wanted to make sure that there was somebody in the huddle that could police that, someone that could handle themselves, someone that had the poise and composure and could go out there and play a football game and give us a chance to win. That's the bottom line."
Ultimately, that's what will decide which Smith starts. Singletary has an "idea" about Alex's chances of being healthy for Sunday's game against the visiting Rams. He stands by his decision "hand's down" to make Alex his starter when the season started, saying there is "no question about it" despite the 0-5 start. But, he'll give no timetable for a decision on who will start once Alex is healthy enough to play.
Just don't call this quarterback controversy, because Singletary said this isn't a quarterback controversy.
"You know what? Let's just say this: Right now, the thing that I really, really want to focus on, what we do not have here is a quarterback controversy. What we have is a team that's 2-6, that's competing for the division. What we have is a team team coming in, St. Louis coming in Sunday, that's where the focus is. When Alex Smith and Troy Smith and all this about leadership, at the end of the day, who's going to help this team win? Who's going to give us the best opportunity to win? As far as who that quarterback is going to be, we want to win, Alex wants to win, we all want to win, but the bottom line is its going to come down to who's going to give us the chance to win?"
On a final note, here is what Singletary said when asked if he thought the defense played well enough in the first half of the season:
"When you're 2-6, there's a lot of things you don't want. I think we have to work through it just like anybody else. I think we've earned that 2-6. When we look at the film, we understand exactly what it is that we have to do. We understand the things we need to do to get better. We understand the mistakes, everything that we've done in the first eight games is correctable. That's the exciting part for me. I think we have the pieces, I think we have the people, I think we have the players, I think we have the attitude and I think we have the time. So I'm excited about all of that. I'm excited about getting out on the field as a team on Sunday and trying to win a football game."
So it looks like Reggie Smith may get more playing time over Mays
http://www.csnbayarea.com/11/10/10/49ers-Notebook-OU-Teammates-Foes-Again/landing_maiocco_v3.html?blockID=349910&feedID=5936
Mays also plays special teams, so he'll get some rest.
http://www.csnbayarea.com/11/10/10/49ers-Notebook-OU-Teammates-Foes-Again/landing_maiocco_v3.html?blockID=349910&feedID=5936
Mays also plays special teams, so he'll get some rest.