49ers preseason to date: Man, we talkin about practice!
by David Fucillo on Aug 24, 2009 8:00 AM PDT
in San Francisco 49ers News
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PrintThe 49ers currently sit at 2-0 in the preseason. They've beaten the Denver Broncos and the Oakland Raiders by a combined 2 points. Normally I'd say a win is a win is a win, but this is the preseason and not the regular season. It's certainly nice to win, but more importantly you want to see the team make progress and hopefully have your #1s looking good against the opposing team #1s.
At this point, halfway through the preseason, it's still hard to really assess the 49ers team as a whole (or maybe we'd prefer to ignore the warning signs?). One of the biggest problems that I see is based on the team's preseason schedule and how practice has developed for the 49ers. In terms of the schedule, the first two games were at home against the Broncos and Raiders. Neither team is expected to be all that good this year. Notably, the Raiders rush defense remains atrocious so we have to take the Coffee/Robinson/Sheets railroad with a bit of a grain of salt.
However, the 49ers practice habits have raised a bit of a question mark in my head. Mike Singletary clearly doesn't take any crap and has been running some tough practices. Heck, the nutcracker alone knocked out David Baas and Patrick Willis, among others. One might argue this is an old school coach with old school attitude. My query is how that intense practice affects the team now versus how it might affect the team later.
The 49ers-Raiders mixed practices seemed to bring out a lot more intensity from the 49ers than the Raiders. The 49ers were making plays all over the field and talking some serious smack about it. One thing to keep in mind with all that was the fact that the 49ers had been practicing in full pads a lot sooner than the Raiders. While the 49ers are probably better than the Raiders, one can imagine the extra time in pads probably helped out in these early practices.
I'm curious if the intensity will wear out the team down the road come November and December? If the team is playing well up to that point it would certainly be a kick in the junk for the team to run out of gas and limp to the finish line. Of course, one might counter that this intensity will build the team up to be ready for the rigors of a potential playoff run. So, what camp do you fall in? Or do you fall somewhere in between?
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I think it will help them e stronger forthe playoff push
As long as they’re not getting too banged up during the preseason, the extra work should only help them from wearing out down the line.
by Brendan Scolari on Aug 24, 2009 8:11 AM PDT reply actions
Foundation
This is my theory on the practices. You start with a good foundation or philosphy that this is how we are going to play football. Last season the Niners were bullied on both sides of the ball. So you start by making the weak stronger and the stronger better. It is showing little by little. Players get hurt but that why you have backups. OUR coach want winners and the players WANT to win. They see a Hall of Famer with a championship ring teaching them his method for them to be successful. They tried every other way and it has failed. Starting from the ground (Gore and Coffee, maybe Sheets) and working our way up with a foundation for physical play should make the Niners an elite team
Cream
I agree that this is about building a foundation. It’s also important to differentiate a tough training camp from wearing guys down by practicing in pads all season. That’s what Mora used to do with his Saints teams and Marty did in K.C. Those teams wore down in December/January. A guy like Parcells had a physical training camp but let up later in the season unless his team began to play poorly, then he’d go back to the pads.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
The Long View
I love the intensity. Singletary is creating a culture that will last much longer than this year and I think he is going about it the right way.
We as fans are lucky that the Niners play in a weak division and therefore have a great shot at making the playoffs this year. That being said, the Niners just don’t have the across the field talent and winning momentum that the top NFC teams have (Philly, NY, MIN, even ATL).
The talent is improving (O-Line!) but this year it’s about winning 10 games, making the playoffs and creating a winning culture. The super physical practices this year begin to set the table for the next five years when the Niners will be a top NFC team again and Crabtree will be an all-pro.
Sorry, had to throw in the Crabtree comment for all the haters. The guy is a beast and will deliver though it’ll take a few years with or without training camp this year.
Tinman
chuck this one on the "I'm giving Singletary the benefit of the doubt" pile
Singletary’s been in the NFL long enough to know what does and doesn’t wear out a team of professional football players for a season.
so we’re good
unless modern day football players are pussies compared to football players in Singletary’s day, which … could be true. But I think Singletary can change that.
"Those boos really motivate me to make something happen." - Bonds
I Tired of You Writers Crying About Tough Practices
These are MEN, this is FOOTBALL not pattycakes. We’ve been soft since Muffy (Mooch) took over as head coach. I’m very happy to see Singletary toughening up the team. Now we just have to wait and see if the team runs down near the end of the season and OR stays strong from the intense conditioning.
There are serious camp injuries every year (i.e. CB Harris) even when they are not in “contact” mode so your crying about the injuries during the nutcracker is nonsense.
GO NINERS!!!
by SanFranAddict on Aug 24, 2009 8:34 AM PDT reply actions 1 recs
I agree about your Mooch comment. I don’t believe Belichick went easy on his Pats when he started there. They’ve won 3 titles this decade with Pittsbugh winning 2 under different coaches but the same approach. Neither of those teams is known for being finesse in training camp or games. When the Pats became less physical they lost the Super Bowl.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
Your talking about practice
not a game, but practice. Your talking about practice.
Just kidding, but I don’t thing it will have a negative affect on the niners.
also
Everyone in the military knows there’s a line where tough training and conditioning toughens and hardens guys, and where it starts exhausting and breaking them down.
and that’s where soldiers’ actual value is easily replaceable
When the assets you are training to toughen up are each worth million-dollar contracts, it’s easier not to cross that line.
The 49ers have me worried about a number of different things this season, but this isn’t one of them.
"Those boos really motivate me to make something happen." - Bonds
1+
My superiors use to tell me that when everything is all said and done, if you still plenty of energy left over, you didn’t try very hard. I want these guys to get pushed further than they ever thought they could. That will hopefully carry over into the playoffs.
I like what he doing
He’s setting this team up to suceed.They know what it’s going to take for 16 games. And even though it’s Preseason, that’s where you start. The regular season will be to late. Sing will know when to ease off when the players had a tough game but the players will be in better shape to handle the late season. One thing about Sing, He doesn’t want quiters on this team !!! Overall, I think this team is better than in the past.
Everything will be fine
tough practices are exactly what the niners needed. Hopefully some guys will realize that they have more potential than they realized going into camp. I’m also hoping that the tough practices make the 4th quarter on gamedays not so tough.
My only concern
I thought this post was a great question by Fooch. I am concerned that although he Niners seem to be building, rebuilding themselves into a a ’F’hysical team that will compete with discipline and passion, if they do not jump out and get a few early wins all this grind might feel like it was a big waste of time and ice bags. I know Coach Sing knows the pulse of players like no other, I am just concerned his vision might be wasted after a few bad breaks. Thoughts?
Sing will do Okay.
Last year they were 2/5 when Sing took over. He lifted the team up. So if they do lose or catch a couple of bad breaks, I doubt that he will let them fail. His presences is to big for them.
by LASVEGASNINER on Aug 24, 2009 11:09 AM PDT up reply actions
wins
Actually, if they jump out with a few wins I think the team would not feel like it’s a waste of time because they’re seeing it pay dividends in terms of wins. I’m more concerned about late in the season where the team could be worn down after the intensity of preseason and through the season.
by David Fucillo on Aug 24, 2009 12:47 PM PDT up reply actions
Hard Play
You cannot asses talents and definitely see the absolute potential of any player without making them play hard. Players need not worry about injuries or they will not play to their potential. Conditioning and good strong practices of the fundimentals will generate confidence and bring the team to the level the need to be at to competitve level.
I think it’s critical to take the long-term view. This isn’t just about 2009. Coach Sing is building a physical and disciplined team for this year and beyond. The Walsh teams went lighter later in the year and I hope Sing does the same, but it’s important to note that Walsh and Seifert went lighter with players that were established and had won something. Until these guys prove they can win games, make the playoffs and have annual success they should not be treated with kids gloves. It’s been since 2002 since we’ve tasted genuine success.
You gotta bring ass to get ass.
In his first full season as head coach, I think Singletary really wanted to make a statement to everyone… the players, the assistants, the fans, the organization as a whole, etc. He’s done that. He’s made it hard on the players, but I think he’s backed off in certain areas, such as the star players, like Gore being held out of most of the preseason so far.
I think he really wanted to see who was going to go all out and see who would show him who really wanted to play. It also is something that is necessary to get better in the long run. If you’re a bad team, the one thing you can do to get better is to practice… but if you want to get ahead of the other teams, you’re going to have to work harder than them.
I also think that more than anything, it just seems that these practices are so intense, because we are comparing them to the Raiders, and also to what we’ve seen in recent 49ers camps with Mike Nolan, who seemed to be kinda… i don’t know what the word is… lazy? Maybe “vanilla” is a better word. I think that term had been thrown around during Nolan’s tenure.
Only time is going to tell. If the 49ers can steal a few wins against some of the harder teams early in the season, and beat the teams in their division, they can maybe take a comfortable lead when the playoffs come. If they do that, then they can start resting the starters for the last game or two.
I don’t like seeing the players getting hurt, but I do think that the team needed a good ass kicking.
Taking in to consideration how long Willis and other players have sat out with injuries
It’s not the get back out there and play hurt approach like other coaches, he’s at least letting trainers say when a guy is ready physically. He’s got this under control, go Sing, Go niners……….Let’s get ’em
AKA.............Optimist Prime
"Me, I want what's coming to me" And what's that? "The world Chico, and everything in it"
Practice
Winning is the key. If they play like they have the last number of years I’m sure “hard practice” will be a good excuse. If they are on a roll in Nov-Dec, who will be talking about practice In August
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