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PoLLo LoC831

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49ers Sign TE; Waive FB
http://49ers.com/blog49/?p=215
The 49ers signed TE Sean Ryan on Monday, and waived FB David Kirtman.
Kirtman was signed just a few weeks back when the 49ers placed FB Zak Keasey on injured reserve. He was active for the 49ers game against Seattle, but played primarily on special teams.

Ryan came into the league as a fifth-round pick by the Cowboys in 2004 out of Boston College. He has spent time with Dallas, the Jets, the Dolphins and most recently New Orleans.

The team will return today from the bye weekend for meetings only. Coach Singletary will hold his first practice of the week on Tuesday. We’ll have news from the coach later today as he plans to speak with the media via conference call at 3pm today.
 

PoLLo LoC831

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http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/49ers/archives/016679.html
November 3, 2008
Alex Smith had surgery during bye week

Alex Smith had surgery in Birmingham, Ala. on Thursday to remove a small piece of bone from his throwing shoulder that broke just before the start of the regular season. Dr. James Andrews, who operated on Smith's separated shoulder in December, performed the latest procedure. The bone fragment was located at the tip of Smith's coracoid process, which itself is a small bone that is part of the shoulder. Andrews also removed a piece of the wire suture that was inserted during the original operation. The procedure was considered relatively minor and is not expected to affect the mechanics of Smith's right arm. Smith was placed on injured reserve in September.

According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Smith visited Andrews on Wednesday. Images taken of the shoulder showed that the fracture was not healing properly and Andrews decided to perform surgery the next day. Smith flew back to California on Friday.

Smith orginally injured the shoulder on Sept. 30, 2007 when he suffered a Grade 3 separation after being driven into the ground by Seattle defensive tackle Rocky Bernard. The hit stretched and tore the ligaments that connect the shoulder and collarbone. Smith had surgery in December to stabilize the area.

The former No. 1 overall pick in the draft nearly had returned to form when he felt a sharp pain in the shoulder at the end of practice on Sept. 5. An MRI revealed the fracture, which was in the vicinity of a wire suture Andrews had used to stabilize the shoulder. The speculation is that the suture caused tension on the bone whenever Smith threw. Part of that suture was removed Thursday. The rest had been absorbed into the scar tissue.

Smith is scheduled to earn just under $10 million in base salary next season and GM Scot McCloughan said in September that that's too big a price tag for a back-up quarterback. Things have changed since then, however. For one, Mike Nolan - with whom Smith clashed last season - is no longer the head coach. His presence in 2009 certainly would have sent Smith seeking another team next season.

Second, the player who beat out Smith for the starting job, J.T. O'Sullivan, has been demoted. O'Sullivan was the favorite of offensive coordinator Mike Martz, whose high-risk, high-reward offense doesn't seem as appealing as it did in early September. With Shaun Hill at quarterback, the 49ers are turning to a more measured approach on offense during the second half of the season.
 

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Singletary's Notebook: November 3
http://www.49ers.com/pressbox/news_detail.php?PRKey=4845&section=PR%20News
RE: You made a transaction today? Why add a fourth tight end to the roster at this point?
“After talking to Coach [Mike] Martz, he needed a tight end that he felt was a physical guy that could be a tight end/fullback. We talked about running the ball and being able to have Frank Gore do some of the things he needed to do. He needed that kind of guy. Scot McCloughan and myself talked about it and tried to find that guy and felt that we did, and so we brought him in.”

RE: Is this in any way a reflection on Vernon Davis?
“Absolutely not. This was a decision that was made way before then, something that we had talked about much prior to then. The thing I want you to understand about Vernon Davis; he and I talked again today, I want you to understand that Vernon is not a bad guy. OK? Vernon is one of my favorite people, one of my favorite players. He’s just misconstrued. I’m very excited about Vernon and I’m excited about the things he can bring to this team. Just understand that what happened on the field, that’s it. That’s all it was. It’s over.”

RE: Do you envision Sean Ryan lining up as a fullback in the offense?
“That I’m going to leave up to Mike Martz in whichever way he chooses to use him. I just feel that it will help Frank Gore and whatever we needed to do in order to get somebody that could lead and run an effective lead play, a power play. Whatever that is then, hopefully, he’s the answer for that.”

RE: Did you guys need this bye week to regroup?
“It certainly came at a great time. I will say that it was very welcome. I’m very thankful to have had that first week prior to the bye week to give me something to have and be able to reflect upon and be able to look at throughout the rest of the season as I thought about different things that we needed going forward. I’m very thankful that I had the first week.”

RE: You’ve been on the job for two weeks now and it’s been eventful to say the least. What have you learned so far about being an NFL head coach?
“I learned that being an NFL head coach, you certainly have your share of media time. Definitely learned that. I’ve learned that anything in the organization as it pertains to the players, and this is not something I learned; I knew, it’s just that the players, their issues that they might have or questions that they may have, that’s something that I really welcome in terms of helping them work through some of the things that helps make them better, so that, in turn, we can be better as a team.”

RE: Did some of the players bring questions to you during the week?
“All week. All good. All good. In terms of looking at where we have to go, what our goals are going forward and just striving to be the best football team that we can possibly be in the second half of the season.”

RE: You’ve gotten more than your share of media attention this week. Are you concerned at all that the constant replaying of the Vernon Davis incident or the section about what you did at halftime to be a distraction for your team?
“No because I’m not going to let it be. The most important thing for us is we have to focus on the things we have to focus on as a football team, and that is getting better and winning football games. And all of the other things, they may continue to go on outside of us, but here, we’re going to continue to focus on the task at hand.”

RE: Are you surprised that it’s taken on such a life of its own and kind of become one of the dominant stories in the NFL?
“I guess there’s not a whole lot going on elsewhere in the NFL. I’m pretty amazed that it is but I guess if you take a step back and look at it, it’s just one of those things. It happened and the attention came and everything else, but for me I’m really excited and looking forward to the second half of the season and what this team is all about, and going forward with that.”

RE: You had mentioned in a radio interview in Chicago that you planned to find out who the ‘leak’ was. Is that still a priority for you?
“Even in the interviews that I said, ‘I’m going to find out who it was,’ that’s simply because we as an organization felt that this is something that shouldn’t have happened. We need to find out who it was and be able to deal with it so that going forward there is no more sabotaging, or whatever. But I think for me the best thing is to just let it go. I’m not going to really look at, ‘Who did it? Who said it?’ Because it’s kind of like someone that…something happened and you’re never really going to know why. You’re never really going to know exactly… It’s not going to be one person so it really doesn’t matter because I know that the most important thing right now is not to try and find that person. Because if it wasn’t the locker room, it would have been somewhere else. If it’s not this, it’s going to be that. It’s the nature of the job. The most important thing for me is to make sure that I focus on this football team and that’s why I was so excited to get back because that’s what I’m here for. I’m not here for anything else other than helping this football team be the best football team that we can be the second half of the season. And whoever did it, I’m a firm believer that whatever happens in life…whoever did it I feel bad for them because it’ll always come back on the person that did it. I really believe that anything that happens to me it’ll be for the better.”

RE: You used the word ‘sabotage’. Are you concerned that it was something that was sabotaging or undermining you personally or just that it might have been random gossip going around the league?
“I don’t know. I don’t know. Hopefully it was random gossip, which wouldn’t surprise me at all. But hopefully that’s what it is. Or that’s what it was.”

RE: Are you concerned at all with how this played, or is going to play, with the ownership?
“I am not. Absolutely not.”

RE: And why is that?
“Because I know what the intent was. I know when it was done. How it was done. And any player could tell you the context it happened in and whatever. But right now, that’s not something that I’m thinking about. The biggest thing, I kid you not, the biggest thing that I’m thinking about is Arizona right now on Monday night.”

RE: Coach Nolan had what he called his shop captains which allowed him to kind of keep breadst of the concerns within the locker room. Do you sort of have the same thing? How are you gauging what your players are thinking, that sort of thing?
“Well, for me it is not only the captains, but I just kind of catch guys point blank and kind of ask them what they are thinking. I’ve got a relationship with several of the guys and I just believe in, ‘Hey, how are you doing, what’s going on? How are you feeling? What do you think about this, what do you think about that?’ I believe in communication, I believe in open and honest communication and that is something I’ve done since I’ve been here.”

RE: You mentioned the players that have come by your office in the past week and stopped by for a conversation. Are they coming by to ask questions or to make suggestions or a little of both?
“Actually, they came by because I asked them too, most of them. Any player that I’ve had come by. It’s like I always do, ‘Hey, I want to talk to you or I need to talk to you.’ Whatever it was and there are a few players that hey, want to come by and just talk about…’Well coach, what do you think about this, coach what do you think about that.’ There are some guys that I meet with that I just mentor and have been since I’ve been here. So that’s really what that is.”

RE: Is there going to be an attempt Mike, during the second half of the season to involve more players on the roster than have been used in the first half of this season? Is that something we can expect to see?
“You talking about younger players or different players?”

RE: Anybody, anybody that is on the roster. Is that possible?
“I want to make sure I understand. You are talking about bringing more people on the roster or changing around the current roster.”

RE: No, no, the current roster. Players that maybe haven’t been used:
“Yeah, I think going forward, one of the things that you always want to do is make sure that you…first of all understand who’s on your roster. You understand what the potential is and then going forward, if they certainly can help build into what you are trying to do, obviously win, then yes, we want to give people an opportunity that we feel that they’ve been growing and making the most of opportunities, they’ve been showing different things in practice, progress. So when the opportunity presents itself, yes you want to give them an opportunity.”

RE: Mike, do you have an idea heading into this game which players you won’t have available to you due to injuries?
“As of right now, Dashon Goldson is the only one, right now that is currently out of the picture that will not be available.”

RE: He has the knee injury?
“Yes, sir.”

RE: Is there a ligament issue there?
“Yes, sir.”

RE: Is it a long-term issue?
“No, I think it’s a matter of weeks from what I understand.”

RE: Do you expect Jonas Jennings to be ready to play?
“Yes sir, I do.”

RE: What plans do you have for him once he is able to play?
“Well, it just depends on how healthy he really is and only he can judge that. Once he gets out on the field, we’ll see how much he can do and that is something he’s eager to find out, so it’s a wait and see situation. How strong is the shoulder? How strong is the joint and be ready to go?”

RE: Do you envision him starting at any point in the second half of the season?
“Well, obviously Jonas is an important part of the football team and as we go forward and as he continues to get stronger, if he feels like, ‘You know what, this is working well.’ If the trainer and the doctor are feeling the same thing as we go forward, then obviously at some point in time that could be a strong possibility.”

RE: Do you envision him starting at any point in the second half of the season?
“Jonas [Jennings] is an important part of the football team and as we go forward, as he continues to get stronger, if he feels like ‘you know what, this is working well’. If the trainer and doctor feel the same thing as we go forward, then, obviously at some point in time, that could be a strong possibility.”

RE: I was wondering how you spent your Sunday since you didn’t have a game to play.
“Well, I was in Waco [Texas] with my family. My daughter, my son are at Baylor [University] and so my wife and I and our children, we all went to Waco [Texas] and just enjoyed the weekend. It was homecoming and so it was a good time for the family to be together.”

RE: Heartbreaking loss?
“Yeah, it was a tough loss for them. They were fighting for their lives and came up a little short.”

RE: Coach, you had mentioned last week about Ahmad Brooks getting a look at him as a pass rusher on third down situations. Where does that stand?
“We won’t know until we get into practices and have a chance to see how he moves with the rush game and things like that with the other linemen and see if what we’ve seen in practice and by him being on the practice squad now if he has an opportunity to be on the 53 or the 45 man active roster. It’s just a matter of ‘okay, let’s see if he can do this against our No. 1s, let’s see if he can do this on a constant basis, let’s see if he can do this when it really counts’. And so we’ll put him in situations we’ll really have a chance to see just how much he can help us as a rush end.”

RE: I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to watch the film from yesterday, but how have the Arizona Cardinals changed from the first week of the season when you guys faced them?
“To me, I can say one word, it’s just confidence. They’re playing with confidence. I think Kurt Warner is doing a good job finding receivers. The wideouts have always been a challenge. They’ve got a great receiving core, and I just think that when I look at them that’s the one word that I would use that they’re playing with confidence. They won some big games and the momentum is in their favor. Everything seems to be going right for them. That’s what I see when I look at them.”

RE: You mention the word confidence, how confident are you in your defense to hold up to what is expected to be quite an offensive show for the Cardinals?
“I think our defense will do just fine. I think our team will do just fine. I think that obviously the Cardinals are clicking right now both offensively and defensively and special teams. I think they’re really doing a good job, but I don’t expect us to go out there and be overwhelmed by anything. I think that we’ll go out there and we’ll do a good job and I think that we’ll compete and we’ll see where the chips fall.”
 

PoLLo LoC831

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http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/49ers/
November 6, 2008
Battle, Sims, Goldson out for Monday

With a Monday night game following a bye week, the 49ers had as much rest as they possibly could have had. Still, they will have more players out - three - than any game this season. At right tackle Barry Sims will miss the game because of an ankle injury. The hope is that Jonas Jennings will be healthy enough to regain his starting spot. If not, Adam Snyder would play. Chilo Rachal would be an emergency back-up. Jennings and defensive lineman Ray McDonald (knee) will be limited in today's practice.

Arnaz Battle, the team's No. 3 receiver, also is out with a foot injury. It's unclear who will fill in. Battle has more receptions this year than any of the team's wideouts and he has played in 42 consective games dating back to 2005. Who will replace him? The team's top three receivers are Isaac Bruce, Josh Morgan and Bryant Johnson, but Jason Hill normally plays behind Battle.

Also, safety Dashon Goldson will miss his second straight game with a knee injury. Keith Lewis has been filling in in Goldson's absence. The knee injury is not considered long term.

*********
More evidence that there are no long-term issues between Mike Singletary and Vernon Davis; Singletary was asked whether Davis would continue to start at tight end. "Oh, yeah. Heck yeah," the interim coach said with amused bewilderment. "We do want to win."

-- Matt Barrows
 

PoLLo LoC831

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Singletary's Notebook: Nov. 6
http://www.49ers.com/pressbox/news_detail.php?PRKey=4854&section=PR%20News
RE: You had mentioned after the first week, you wanted to get things in line for national television Monday Night Football. Is that a big deal for you how this team comes off? How it looks to the nation?
“It is important how they look to the nation but really even more so important is how it looks to them. How it feels to them. I think from this point on it’s not a matter of one week is going to be more special than the other. In my mind, we’re fighting for a place, a spot somewhere toward the end to be playing for something and that’s what my thinking is.”

RE: What kind of strategic things have you been able to do with all this time off? Can you change your schemes? Can you do anything [with a] big picture like that?
“Changing schemes, the players have been doing that since training camp and OTA’s all those things are not really [to] change the scheme. Maybe a little personnel change here or there, but not the scheme so much. Other than that it’s making sure that the guys understand what we’re striving to do going forward [with] attitude, the way we practice and just doing the things that we do better.”

RE: I guess a more different emphasis?
“Exactly.”

RE: You’ve talked about smashmouth [football]. Is that the main one, the physicalness that you’re trying to implement on the team?
“The physicality is definitely something that we want to have more of going forward. I think whether it’s on offense or defense, and it starts with the offensive and defensive line, and to me that’s what football is anyways. That’s what football is all about. I think that the guys are excited about that. I’m excited to see how they respond but when I look at it, as well as the staff, I think that’s what it’s going to take in the second half of the season going forward.”

RE: Do you feel that was something that was clearly lacking in the first eight games?
“I’m not going to say that it was lacking. Maybe not an emphasis, maybe trying to get other things right, I really don’t know. I just know that going forward that’s really an emphasis as a staff that we stress.”

RE: Who’s going to be your right tackle?
“As of right now, we get Jonas [Jennings] back and we’ll see what Jonas can do today. [Adam] Snyder – we’re going to continue to look at him. He had a great experience against Seattle. Coming back, I’m really excited about him, just really looking at a spot to play and just concentrating on that spot. He and Jonas will kind of nail that down. I think Chilo [Rachal] will work there a little bit but mostly at guard. So that’s what we’re looking [at] there.”

RE: So Snyder wouldn’t be moving around?
“No. I think right now we really want to find him a home. We know he can do it. He knows he can do it. It’s just a matter of ‘let me concentrate on being the best I can be right here. Let me find a home somewhere.’ So that’s where the focus is right now.”

RE: Martz’s offense certainly isn’t known for physicality. Does this have to be tinkered around with to fit what you would like it to be?
“I know Mike Martz and I have talked in depth about this and I think when I looked at Mike Martz’s offense and ideally what he would like it to be when he and [Dick] Vermeil were together doing great things together. They had a physicality about their offense. They could run the ball. Marshall Faulk could run the ball. Their offensive lines could come downhill. They could run between the tackles. So I think that’s something that Mike Martz would welcome. It’s just a matter of making sure that the focus is there overall and the intention is there, and that this is how we’re going to do it.”

RE: How much are you going to be involved in those game plan sessions during the week?
“I just spend as much time as I can with Mike to really make sure that we’re all on the same page. Really understand what his thoughts are and just kind of inject thoughts here or there. But it’s… He is the coordinator and I’m going to let him do what he does best, but at the same time, we have to work together on this thing and make sure that we’re on the same page. We just continue to meet and continue to talk, and it just gets better each time.”

RE: Can you imagine ever putting a headset on during a game and saying ‘We’re going to do this play?’
“To me, I don’t ever really want to do that. It could happen. Coach Martz and I have talked about that. Greg [Manusky] and I have talked about that. It’s not something as the head coach that I want to impose my will so strongly: ‘Hey, we’re going to do it this way.’ Those guys are looking at so much film and they’re working their tails off, and I’m in meetings with them in and out. Really just trying to make sure, ‘Okay, Greg, make sure you remember this part. Mike, remember that we want to do this.’ It could happen in a game. I really don’t want it to happen because everything we do I want it to be out of respect. But it could happen.”

RE: Back to the offensive line is Barry Sims out of the picture at right tackle?
“For this week, yes.”

RE: Just for this week? Going beyond that?
“This week and we’ll see how he feels going forward. But for right now, this Monday night, he will not be there.”

RE: We’ve talked about the 3-4, 4-3. Is it still both?
“It’s still there. Once again it just depends on what offense comes out. I think Arizona they are running 10 personnel, 11 personnel, 21, 22, so they are all over the place, and I think for us they come out and try and figure out what we are doing. It’s just a cat and mouse situation. We’ll play the 34, we’ll play over and under and we’ll see what fits.”

RE: Is it wrong to say that in the past, this defense has played best when it has played strictly 34, or mostly 34?
“Well, it really kind of is a mixture of some of what San Diego did in basically, a 34 or a little bit under and what Baltimore has done prior to that. So you just bring it together. I know that Greg, he likes some of the overs and unders in combination with the 34, and we have the personnel to kind of go back and forth and not get locked up into one thing. So I think it works to our advantage with our personnel.”

RE: Does it ever get confusing?
“No, no, not at all. As long as it’s not confusing to the players it’s not going to be confusing to us. I think they have a good grasp of what’s happening on each and every defense, and they’re playing fast and as long as they are playing fast and they are on the same page, then we know what they are doing is going in the right direction.”

RE: In the Baltimore thing, is Justin [Smith] a Terrell Suggs? Is that his role?
“Not really Terrell Suggs. I think as far as that’s concerned, it’s one of those situations where Manny Lawson sometimes will be a Terrell Suggs or Manny Lawson will be Adalius Thomas when he was there. Justin, we are just trying to get him because he’s such a good player, we are trying to get him in mismatches, as much as we can at different spots and figure out which is the best ones and go from there.”

RE: Which is his best spot now?
“Well, from week to week it depends on the team. He could be a pure defensive end at a five technique. He could stand over the guard. It just depends on what they are trying to do with the different defenses that we have and the different fronts. We are just trying to find the best matchup for him where we can get the most out of him.”

RE: I don’t think anyone doubts that Vernon [Davis] has a lot of potential, but through eight games, he’s been kept in to block a lot, hasn’t seen a lot of passes come his way. Is it a priority for you to try and get the ball in his hands more than the team has been able to do through the first eight games?
“More so than anything else with Vernon it’s just a continuation of really learning the flexibility that the tight end has in this offense. I think going forward Vernon will be used more as he gains more confidence in running his routes and the things that he needs to do. The quarterback gains trust in Vernon being where he needs to be, and I think Vernon shows a lot of promise going forward for the duration of the season. And I’m excited to see what he does in the second half.”

RE: After that game, someone asked, ‘Is he still your starter?' Is he still your starter?
“Oh, yeah. Heck yeah. We do want to win.”

RE: I understand you had a conversation with Mike Ditka recently:
“Yes.”

RE: Beyond the interview portion of it, did you ask him questions or get any advice from him?
“Strangely enough, all of my former coaches, whether it be Mike Ditka, Buddy Ryan, Coach [Grant] Taft [at Baylor], they all run from me now. I constantly ask them questions. I ask them questions a lot more. So it was just great to see him. But I talk to them constantly about even before I was coaching, ‘What do you do? What do you do in this situation? Remember you made that decision? Why did you do that?’ So, trust me – they’re all running from me. We talk a lot.”
 

PoLLo LoC831

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http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers/2008/11/mccloughans-latest-thoughts-on-smiths-future.html
Remember when GM Scot McCloughan said Alex Smith would not return to the 49ers in 2009 if he did not head into the offseason as the starter?

OK, whether you remember or not, here's the refresher from Sept. 3:



Q: If, knowing what a big hit he would be on your salary cap next year, would you conceivably bring him back if he were not your starter?

McCloughan: "You can't. You can't. That's something (that's true) at any position. The amount of money we're going to invest in him, he'd have to be proven that he is the guy - that when we get to the offseason, he's our guy for next year."



* * *

Well, McCloughan was not as definitive about Smith's future when I spoke with him today. He said if Smith were willing to take a dramatic pay cut from his scheduled $9.625 million salary the discussions would be "wide open, no doubt about it."



As for Smith's thoughts on the subject . . . he has declined interview requests since the beginning of the season when he was placed on injured reserve.



Here's a Q&A with the 49ers main man McCloughan:



Q: What do you hope to see from the team in the second half of the season?

McCloughan: "It's important to see positives. (Such as) a group of guys playing together and having success together; acting like it's not just a job but it's a sport and they're having fun at it. The key thing is we can't shoot ourselves in the foot. We can't be undisciplined and have excess turnovers because that means we're not building momentum. As soon as we do something, we do something negative and we can't build on it. As bad as the first half feels at 2-6, we got eight games left and we can flip the momentum, but it has to start with the guys having success together and building off it each week."



Q: Everything about the organization will be on display Monday night. Is this is big game just for how the nation will perceive the 49ers?

McCloughan: "It is, but even if it's not a Monday night, the first half we did not have the kind of success we wanted. No matter who we're playing or when it is, we have to play the kind of football we're capable of playing and build off the successes we've had and not make the negatives even worse."



Q: Where do things stand as far as the future of the 49ers' quarterback situation?

McCloughan: "It's very vital and it's proven out around the league for many years that you have to have consistency at the quarterback position, especially if you have some youth on offense. It's so important to have consistency from whoever's calling the plays to whoever's running the plays. That's important, whether your play-caller is the head coach or offensive coordinator. And the most important guy running the plays is the quarterback. We need to keep re-evaluating the position, as we always do and make sure we do what's best not just for the short term but the long term so we have that consistency at the quarterback position."



Q: What's Alex's future?

McCloughan: "He can't come back for the money he's at. We know that. It's just common sense. It's too bad that he hasn't been able to do it on the field, so we can say, 'Yes, he can,' or 'No, he can't.' It's taken some injuries to knock him out of his play time. The different systems he's been in have held him back, and held the offense back, from being as productive as they can be over a four-year span. I still believe Alex is going to be a good quarterback in this league."



Q Can it be here?

McCloughan: "It could be here, certainly."



Q: Have you had those contract talks yet?

McCloughan: "We really haven't. It's something we're going to need to address as we get through this. Right now, I'm worried more about what's happening on the field today because we do have a lot of football left. But as we get closer to the end of the season, I'll start looking to the future. There will be some discussions to take place."



Q: Is it a good sign that he wanted to remain here throughout the entire season?

McCloughan: "I don't know that. His personality and the kind of guy he is, he feels like he's part of this. That's one thing you respect about Alex. He came in with a lot of these guys as rookies and he feels an obligation to be out here and support them. That's the one thing coach (Mike) Nolan built in the locker room was a family atmosphere that we're in this together. You can ask Alex and he'll tell you with a smile on his face that he's here to help these guys win football games. And anything he can do to help out, he'll do that."



Q: Whomever is the head coach next season, will that person have a large say in what's done?

McCloughan: "It all depends which route we take at the end of the season. Right now, coach (Mike) Singletary is head coach for the rest of the season and Mike Martz is offensive coordinator, and he's under contract through next year. We want success. We want to finish the season with success and go from there. Coach Martz and I have spoken many times about what he's looking for at certain positions on offense. With each coordinator you bring there, there are always different qualities they're looking for in players at certain positions. I've been picking his brain as we go through this. Even for the rest of the year, we'll try to get guys who fit what he likes to do to make the offense more successful."



Q: And what's the feeling about how Alex fits?

McCloughan: "The way coach Martz speaks about him to this day, it's too bad he's not healthy. He'd be playing him now. He sees a lot of positives. With the youth of Alex, it means there's still a lot to develop and work on. And with Alex, he's eager to work on it. He wants to soak it in and get better. I know Alex likes the system and likes working with coach Martz."



Q: With the consistency of the play-calling that you mentioned, isn't it imperative that you hire an offensive head coach:

McCloughan: "You can look at it that way. Also, there are coordinators who have been with head coaches for a long time. Tony Dungy (and Tom Moore) is a good example, and he's a defensive coach. It's getting in a situation where everything comes together and stays together."



Q: You said at the press conference a couple weeks ago that all the blame does not fall on Nolan's shoulders. Do you take responsibility for what has happened, too?

McCloughan: "Oh, yeah. No doubt about it. I'm part of building this roster and bringing players here, through the draft or free agency or re-signing guys and letting guys go. I'm a big part of it. It's hard to go through these stretches because it affects you. The head coach, it falls on his shoulders because he signs on and if it's not successful, it's the head coaches fault. But it's not all his fault. It's the fault of everybody who touches this team on a daily basis that we're not as good as we can be. We all have to do what we can do to get better."



Q: Personally, what can you do to get better?

McCloughan: "I think just keep going through our roster and find out if we have made mistakes, how come? Why weren't they successful? I'll keep picking coach Martz's brain and coach (Greg) Manusky's brain to see what they think they need to have success in their systems."
 
Mar 4, 2007
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^^ really u want to keep alex smith i unno about that he went from 1st pick in a draft to really suckin i mean i dont know what it is but either he needs to get good or there lettin him go jus like they did nolan..i dont think smith will be gettin any playin time so much unless JT and Hill go down..

hopefully they got themselves together in the bye week to at least keep it a close game with arizona
 
May 3, 2002
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I wouldn't mind keeping Alex....I like the fact that he is at every game, still going to meetings and shit. He could just be like fuck it and stay home.... He knows his ass is on the line so thats the least he can do.
 

PoLLo LoC831

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http://49ers.com/blog49/
More on Finale from Martz
November 11th, 2008

Offensive coordinator Mike Martz said he messed up after Jason Hill had made his catch at the 1-yardline. Martz intended to have Shaun Hill spike the ball and then send in his bigger personnel, but in the excitement, he sent the personnel change as Hill was trying to get the ball spiked. The confusion caused about 23 extra seconds to run off the clock.



Martz said he left the stadium highly upset that his play call for Michael Robinson up the gut didn’t get the less than a yard needed to reach the end zone. But as he found out this morning when former head coach Mike Nolan called, it wasn’t inside the one.



Instead the ball was placed back somewhere beyond the two and a half yardline, something officials did announce but that Martz couldn’t hear along the sidelines.



“Officials always come over and explain to you what is going to happen based on the replay, but for whatever reason, they neglected to do that. That’s a courtesy that is always afforded.”



Martz said that Shaun Hill did make a mistake with a bad throw on his first interception, but that the shovel pass to Adrian Wilson was actually because the receiver (Frank Gore) didn’t angle out as he is coached to do once the quarterback starts to sramble.

Posted in Quick Hits
Tuesday’s Press Conference
November 11th, 2008

Head coach Mike Singletary is talking to the media right now in his post-game wrap up.



Most of the questions have been about the poor time management in the final minute of the game.



In terms of the 23 seconds that were lost after Jason Hill caught a pass at the 1-yardline, Singletary said that ultimately falls on him as the head coach.



“Certainly, the first part of that whole 23 seconds that dissipated from the clock is on us. That’s on me as the head coach. That’s on us. There are no excuses for that. We have to do a better job.”



The final two plays however also included some communication problems with the officials.



On the first play, Frank Gore headed out to his left and lost his balance after making a cut. Chike Okeafor got a hand on him, Gore fell to the ground and crawled towards the end zone. Officials initially spotted the ball at the half-yardline, Shaun Hill got the players to the line and spiked the ball with four seconds left. Officials reviewed the play, and made an announcement from the middle of the field. Singletary said he absolutely could not hear what was said, which apparently included the fact that the ball was moved back to the two and a half yardline.



“It would be great if there was better communication on each sideline so that the coordinator now can make an intelligent decision,” said Singletary. “That is a major issue in this game.”



Had Mike Martz known the ball would have been backed up, Singletary said the play call likely would have been changed.



In addition to the ball spot, Singletary felt that there would have been 12 seconds left on the clock, since that is what was left when Gore was down and the play went to booth review. There was also different information that was given regarding when the clock would start. The 49ers believed the ball would start on the snap, but it actually began just as the official backed away from placing the ball at the two and a half.



“I was just trying to get the information, which we were not getting clearly, and if we were, it was not the correct information. That was the most frustrating thing about the last minute.”



Singletary said his staff will continue to work in rookie Chilo Rachal, who saw about two series on offense going forward.



He was also excited about the way that receivers Jason Hill and Dominique Zeigler played.



“I thought they definitely took a step in the right direction. They are doing some things we are asking them to do. I’ve had conversations with everyone of them about what the expectations are and what they need to do. We don’t have any rookies right now. We just have receivers, and hopefully good ones. They responded very well. I’m very excited about what they did. They took advantage of the opportunity.”



Singletary also discussed his hug for Vernon Davis after his touchdown reception when the tight end was flagged for taking his helmet off in celebration.



“His reaction was totally different,” said Singletary in comparison to Davis’ reaction in the Seattle game to an unsportsmanlike penalty. “We have an understanding. I was proud of him, the way he responded, the way he’s practiced. He’s taken it up a notch.”



Wide receiver Josh Morgan will be looked at this week after suffering a groin injury in the game. Otherwise, Singletary thinks the 49ers are in good shape.
 

PoLLo LoC831

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Singletary said referees failed to communicate
http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2008/11/11/singletary-said-referees-failed-to-communicate/
Things didn’t exactly settle overnight for Mike Singletary and the 49ers. The coach arrived at his Tuesday press conference still frustrated and confused about how things went down in the final seconds of the Monday night loss to the Arizona Cardinals.

Singletary added a new wrinkle to the saga by expressing frustration with the way the officials handled the fateful final play.

The coach said officials failed to communicate that there would be only 4 seconds on the clock. The 49ers thought there should have been 12.

The 49ers also thought the ball would be placed at the half-yard line. Instead, it wound up a little beyond the 2.

Singletary said he couldn’t hear the announcement from referee Tony Corrente because of the crowd noise.

“We have no clue as to what’s going on,’’ Singletary said.

So why not spike the ball and settle things down? The coach wasn’t sure the 49ers could pull that off in time considering the chaotic circumstances.

Instead, they had to stick with the fullback dive called when coordinator Mike Martz thought the ball would be closer to the goal line.

“He would have changed the call knowing that the ball would be moved,’’ Singletary said.

Compounding matters is that Frank Gore was supposed to go in motion on the play, drifting from the backfield to split wide left. But because there was too little time, Gore lined up wide left at the start.

“You don’t have time to do all that,’’ Singletary said.

Of course, the 49ers would have had plenty of time had they not bungled the spike sequence before that. More than 20 seconds slipped needlessly off the clock as the 49ers tried to swap in a new personnel group.

UPDATE: Mike Martz just spoke to the media. He echoed Singletary’s assessment of the officials but took total blame for the bumbled spike. I’m going to transcribe that interview now and post it in its entirety.
 

PoLLo LoC831

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Singletary's Notebook: Nov. 11
http://www.49ers.com/pressbox/news_detail.php?PRKey=4872&section=PR%20News
RE: Opening statement:
“Good morning, or almost afternoon.”

RE: How active were you in that game management part in the final minute?
“The last, I’ll put it this way: the thing that I was trying to do most of all was to get all of the information, which was very difficult to do, and try and get that information to Coach [Mike] Martz so that we can make the best decision possible. It was very difficult getting the information that we needed. I was on the field constantly talking to a couple of the officials about where the ball would be spotted and how much time we needed to get back on the clock. I thought we needed 12 seconds to be back on the clock. They gave us four and then the ball was moved as I left those two guys going back to the sideline. They moved the ball back to the two-and-a-half yard-line, or something like that. Meanwhile, Mike Martz gets the information that the ball will be – the clock will start on the whistle, rather than the snap because, to me that is the rule. It should be that the ball – the clock starts on the snap of the ball and not on the whistle. It was – what I was trying to do was just get the information, which we were not getting clearly, and if we were, it was not the correct information. That was the most frustrating thing about the last minute.”

RE: Why at that point, with four seconds left, why didn’t you just spike the ball there and then have one play where you have a full 40 seconds to gather yourselves?
“You’re asking me a question now that – I guess at that time, and I’m still a little bit unclear on it, at that time, because the clock was starting when the ref said that the clock was starting on the whistle, it happened so fast. The ref was over the ball. To me, what’s supposed to happen is the guy standing over the ball, he backs up, and then that starts. He’s over the ball and as he is moving back simultaneously the clock is moving. So, it’s very difficult to try and get something going with four seconds left if that’s the scenario. To me, it was not the correct protocol in order to try and get the spike and go from there.”

RE: Did you get any answers from the league office this morning?
“I’ve got to be very honest with you. I’ve been told that I should probably go ahead and call the league, but it’s the last thing I want to do right now. I don’t need to hear that, ‘Well that’s on us.’ I don’t really need to hear that. In my mind, because they’re not going to change anything, the game’s still gone. So in my mind, I’m going to let it go. Just make sure that as we go forward that we make sure out here that we cover the things that we need to get covered and make sure we have the right protocols. The only thing I would like to have happen during this game, after this game, as a result, all over the league is for the officials – one official should go to the other sideline and one official should come to our sideline and say, ‘This is the scenario. This is what’s happening.’ We have no idea. We have no clue what’s going on and the referee stands out in the middle of the field and calls it, says whatever he’s saying, but you can’t hear it. You can’t hear it on the sideline. It would be great if there was better communication on each sideline. Not just ours, but on each sideline about what the heck just transpired so that, now, the coordinator can make an intelligent decision. To me, that is a major issue in this game, and I’m sure others as well. But, for us, it’s just very frustrating as you look back on it because Mike Martz made a call. He would have changed that call had he known that that ball was going to be moved. So the ball is being moved, but you’re thinking it’s still at the half-yard line.”

RE: So, Mike Martz made that call on the belief:
“From the half-yard line. No one came to our sideline to say the ball was going to be moved. Someone should do that. There should be some people – we shouldn’t have to stand over there and see the ball is being moved and while everything is going on, because we’re trying to make the correct call. There were two things going on. I’m trying to see why can’t we get 12 seconds back on the clock. Mike Martz is trying to figure out, ‘OK, that’s an issue there, hopefully we get that.’ But at the same time, what is the best play to run here. In that particular situation, we had a guy that was going to go in motion, and then we were going to run the play. Because there were four seconds left, the guy just went ahead and aligned out there already because you don’t have time for the motion. Then you get the other information that says the ball – the clock is going to start on the whistle, rather than the snap of the ball, that changes the dynamics of things. Then, the last part is when the guy is standing over the ball and as he is simultaneously moving back the clock is starting, you don’t have time to do all that. There’s just too much going on. In my mind, certainly, the first part of that – that whole 23 seconds that dissipated from the clock, that’s on us. That’s on me as the head coach. That’s on us, and I will take that. There are no excuses for that. We just have to do a better job at that. But the other thing to me, the rest of that is communication. The responsibility of the officials to communicate with the head coaches on the sideline, the coordinators, to make sure that we’re on the same page.”

RE: It was still third down; did you think about spiking the ball?
“We were thinking about spiking the ball. But as I’m saying now, in my mind, I’m trying to figure out – I’m not sure we had the time to do that because of the motion away from the ball and the clock starting simultaneously. It is not the correct protocol.”

RE: So there’s no way Martz could change the call through the headset?
“The only thing I can say is maybe he had the chance to change the call, or something like that, but I’m thinking with everything going on and with all the things that are going on on the field, I don’t know. I won’t get into saying, ‘Well, definitely he couldn’t have changed the call or he could have changed the call.’ And there’s only so much time when the headset is on and when it is off. It doesn’t stay on the whole time. It’s on for a few seconds, and that’s all you got [then] it’s off.”

RE: Was the man that was going to go in motion but wasn’t able to, was that supposed to mimic last year’s last-second win over the Cardinals, making them think that it could have been another end around?
“I’m not going to go there because I’m not sure that that was why it was called, so I don’t want to go back to – so I don’t want to hallucinate or come up with a theory or whatever. I don’t want to do that.”

RE: You mentioned the 23 seconds – that’s on you. What happened there?
“We just changed personnel. We changed personnel. We’re trying to get a call in. Shaun [Hill’s] going to spike the ball, but if he spikes the ball without seven – at least seven guys – being on the line of scrimmage, then you’re going to have to move the ball back because we’re going to be penalized.”

RE: Why would you change personnel if all you were going to do is spike the ball?
“I don’t know that. I think it was one of those situations where you’re thinking that it’s going to go smoothly, a lot smoother than it did. It did not. We have to make sure – because our team is some of those substitutions it’s not as easy as saying, ‘OK, give me the big guys. Give me the little guys.’ It’s a little different than that. You’ve got a certain play that you’re going to run when you move people in or move people out. I’m not sure why, but I know that Mike [Martz] knew what he wanted and he knew the people that he wanted to get in. It should have maybe taken ten seconds at the most, but, obviously, it did not.”

RE: Is this something that will be covered this week in practice?
“It will be something because as we go forward we’re just going to continue to get better. We have seven more games to play. We’re going to have some good teams that we’re playing week in and week out, and some of those games are going to be close. We just have to make sure that we’re better on the back end of that thing coming down to the wire. We have to do a better job of managing it.”

RE: Were you and Mike Martz in agreement on the general philosophy of play calling in the last couple of minutes?
“Yes.”

RE: There was no incompatibility on that?
“No, no problem at all. We talked about those things even before things kind of begin to happen. We had an idea of when we were going to spike the ball, what play we were going to run, that kind of thing. So, it’s not I’m trying to tell him what to run, or no we’re not going to – it wasn’t anything like that. We’re on the same page; it was trying to make sure we were on the right page.”

RE: There was some interaction after you decided to kick a field goal on fourth down and short. What happened there, and is that something where you would expect your offensive coordinator to want to go for it?
“The offensive coordinator always wants to go for it. I learned that fairly quickly, and Mike [Martz] is an aggressive guy, and you love him for that. I knew, and Mike knew, that we were going to kick the field goal. We had an opportunity to get points; we were going to take the points.”

RE: Mike, back to another point with Vernon Davis. What was maybe the difference between this 15-yard penalty and the last 15-yard penalty?
“I’ll tell you the biggest difference. The biggest difference was this. As I approached Vernon he saw me coming and he says, ‘Coach, I know, I know. I have got to be smarter. I’m going to be smarter. I didn’t want to do that. It just happened. I won’t do that, you’re right. I’m going to be smarter,’ and I say, ‘Hey, look I’m just coming to tell you great play, be smart.’ But his reaction was not ‘Wait, wait, wait, why are you doing [this]?’ It was totally different. and we have an understanding and I was just proud of him. I’ve been proud of him, they way he responded, the way he’s practiced. I mean he’s just taken it up a notch and I’m really excited about him and what he’s been able to do this week, and I’m really excited as we go through the rest of the season. But that was the biggest difference.”
RE: Do you know what play Mike Martz wanted to call had he known the ball was on the two-and-a half [yard line] instead of inside the one [yard line]?
“Do I? No, because we never had an idea it was on the two-and-a-half yard line. We were thinking it was on the half-yard line and no one informed us of anything different.”

RE: Wasn’t there a booth review in which the ball was:
“In a situation like that someone should come to the sideline and inform us ‘Hey, this is what the scenario is, this happened.’ No one did that. That is the responsibility of the ref.”

RE: And you could not hear the announcement?
“No, absolutely not. Absolutely not.”

RE: Even though it might not change the outcome, don’t you think you need to talk to the league office to get that part straightened out?
“That’s the way I feel right now. Maybe I’ll have somebody else call because I really don’t want…in all honesty I’m really trying to move to St. Louis. I know what the result’s going to be. They are not going to change it. It’s going to be something explaining it, and I really don’t want to hear that. I just…just let me go on to the next game. We’ve got another game to play Sunday, and we want to go get that game and that’s what I want to be thinking about.”

RE: Watching the game at home, the team looked quite different than it had maybe for at least a year-and-a-half, maybe longer. How do you quantify what the difference was last night?
“I think it was one of the things I was talking about last week. I think these guys are hungry. I know they want to win. Sometimes given certain parameters where you have a vision in place where they can see it, they can feel it and in a strange way they can taste it. It’s coming. If we do this, then this will be the result and I think that holds true for us. That is our formula. If we can do this, this will be the result and for me all of my life, I don’t need you to tell me ‘Here’s the solution over here and you find a way to get there on your own.’ I always need someone to tell me ‘Here’s the solution over here and this is the plan as to how you get here.’ That is the thing that I think that we have in place and the guys believe in it, and they are just going to continue to work and they’re just going to continue to get better. So I’m excited about that for them.”

RE: Given the chaotic nature of the last seconds and you’ve had a little bit of time to look at it, how did you like Shaun Hill’s composure? He’s taken some criticism by some fans out there that he should’ve just spiked it immediately when in fact he had to wait until things were set or else it would’ve been a penalty. How do you like how he handled those last wild and frantic seconds?
“Obviously you’d like to say that you’d like to see him handle it better, and I’m sure that he would say that he would like to see us handle it better. Then we would probably say that we’d like to see that we would to see the officials handle it better. But to stop the whole rat race of the thing, I will put that on. That’s on me. That is my job to make sure that whatever is wrong that it gets done. And it gets done in the right fashion. That’s my job. So, I will put on a jacket for that. I will wear it, we will fix it and we will go from there.”

RE: You have to feel pretty good about the way your young receivers played even [Dominique] Zeigler on one of the last drives there…Jason Hill, the most we’ve seen from him. How do you feel about [Jason] Hill, [Josh] Morgan and [Dominique] Zeigler?
“I thought they definitely took a step in the right direction and they’re doing some things that we asked them to do. I’ve had conversations with every one of them about what the expectations are and what they need to do, and where we’re looking for them to be. We don’t have any more rookies right now. We just have receivers and hopefully good receivers. So, they responded and responded very well. I’m very excited about what they did. They took advantage of the opportunity.”

RE: Along the same lines, what about Chilo Rachal. He had a couple of brief moments there:
“As time goes on, we’re going to try and make that happen more – give these guys a chance to get in and to me I think that’s the only way a player can get better. You can have him in practice and have him go through things and look at him out there and say ‘Hey, that’s great.’ But in a game situation as much as you can when the opportunity presents itself put him in and let him play, let him get an opportunity to grow and get better. So that experience factor is huge going down the stretch. I’m excited for all of those guys. Every one of them responded in a positive way.”

RE: In three weeks you’ve been through more stuff: off the field, game management type stuff than some coaches might experience in three years. How did the game last night affect you? How does that help you?
“It is so exciting to me. It is very exciting, very exhilarating to be in the middle of that. At the same time it’s frustrating, but it’s what I need. I don’t want what I want, I want what I need and that’s what I need. My goal is be one of the greatest coaches of all-time one of these days. I need all the help I can get. I need all the fire I can get, and I’m getting it and that’s okay with me.”

RE: Any notable injuries coming out of this game?
“Right now, we’ve got to look at Josh Morgan. He has a little bit of a groin [injury] right now. We have to look at that and see what that is and how serous that is and kind nurse that along. Other than that, I think we’re in pretty decent shape. We’ve got a little bang here and a little bang there, but that’s football.”

RE: Jason Hill, is he fine?
“I think he’s fine. I’m pretty sure he’s fine.

RE: Was Frank Gore on the field on that last run by Michael Robinson. Was he the one that was spread out?
“Yes.”
 

PoLLo LoC831

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Mar 20, 2005
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http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers/2008/11/martzs-turn-he-takes-blame-for-pre-spike-confusion.html

Offensive coordinator Mike Martz took a brief break from his game-planning to face the Rams this week to explain what happened in the final hectic minute.

He discussed the confusion in the final minute and how he really didn't learn what had actually occurred until he spoke on the phone this morning with former 49ers coach Mike Nolan.

* * *

"There was a lot of confusion there at the time. The other thing that I wish had happened," Martz said, "is that officials always come over and explain to you what's going to happen based on what they saw on the replay. And for whatever reason they neglected to do that. That's a courtesy that's always afforded. Why they didn't do that, I don't know.

"We did not know the ball was going to be on the 3 1/2 (actually, the 2 1/2) or obviously we never would've called that play. We thought we were going to be given back time on the clock, and somewhere around the 1-yard line. The play gained two yards, so it's a moot point whether it was the the 1 or 1 1/2. He would've scored."

Q: Why did you think it was at the half-yard line? (The ball was spotted after Frank Gore's run at the 1 1/2.)

Martz: That's what I could see out there. From where I was standing . . . then they walked it off at the last second and said it's going to start at the official's whistle. I thought the quarterback did a great job because the back (Gore) was supposed to motion out on the play. And he wouldn't have had time to motion out. He told him just to go ahead and line up out there.

"If they'd moved it back to the 10-yard line, we wouldn't have had time to change the play. It wouldn't have mattered. We had to run that play. So I thought that was unfortunate. We were trying to spike the ball. Had we been allowed to spike the ball, none of that would've happened. The clock was stopped and we could've gotten in the personnel we wanted. You can do a play you want."

Q: Why not spike the ball with four seconds left?

Martz: I didn't know it was the 3 1/2 until this morning. I didn't know. I left the stadium thinking we didn't make it from the 1 1/2 or 1 yard line. I couldn't believe we couldn't punch it in from the 1-yard line. I was upset with that. I couldn't see from where I was.

Q: Shouldn't the guys in the booth be feeding you that information?

Martz: "When they spot the ball (and wind the clock) and say, 'You got to spike it, you got to spike it.' There's no headset on. With 15 seconds you can't talk to the quarterback. What are you going to do."

Q: At what point are you watching the film and realize where the ball really was?

Martz: "I got a call from Mike Nolan this morning and he knew exactly what happened. He's the only one smart enough to look at the TV and he knew immediately. He's the only one who really knows football well to know exactly what happened."

Q: What did he say?

Martz: "He said, 'You got victimized by the replay.' Which is basically what happened. Because if we'd been allowed to get that spike . . . Just angry and frustrated with the way that whole thing developed. Nobody really to blame, other than a lack of communication."

Q: Before that when Jason Hill was stopped at the 1-yard line. What happened there?

Martz: "That was chaos that I created on the sideline. I did a bad job there. We were trying to spike it and I called a personnel change. And the personnel change went in when we were trying to spike it. There was a lot of confusion. I just went too fast with everything and created too much confusion. That's my fault, more than anything else. And then poor Shaun (Hill) is standing there waiting for everybody to get off the field. It was just a bad job of coaching on my part. I knew what we wanted to do. I called out two different things at the same time and it all happened at the same time.

"I wanted to spike it and (then) get the personnel group in." (The 49ers were trying to get their "tank" group on the field, which they use in goal-line situations.)

"I was excited. I knew we were going to score. I wanted to get the personnel group in quickly and we got this thing rolling. I screwed it up, basically."

Q: Were you impressed with how Shaun Hill calmed things down?

Martz: "I love his demeanor in the game. I don't like his mistakes. The one interception was just a very poor decision. The other interception he got fooled a little by the receiver. He was going one way and when he threw it, he took off going another way."

The underhand shovel pass that was intercepted was Gore's fault, Martz said. Gore broke a rule that Martz has when a quarterback is scrambling. Gore should have continued to run the direction he was going instead of going upfield.

Q: After the replay review, why did you think you'd get 12 seconds put back on the clock instead of :04?

Martz: "That's what we were told over the headset from upstairs. We have some experts up there who are affiliated with that. And not to go any further about it, (we were told) you should be getting 12 seconds back on the clock and we didn't get. Why we thought that, I don't know."
 
Mar 26, 2006
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thanks for the posts Pollo.

On Alex Smith, I say keep him, so much money was spent on him we might as well keep him and give him a few more years, instead of getting a 1st round QB, get a WR.