After last week's short week, we return to a fairly normal practice report (instead of Monday being the Wednesday injury report). The biggest non-practice info for the Packers is that defensive end Cullen Jenkins sat out practice today. He played last week and I think it's safe to say he's getting some veteran's rest. Other than that, the Packers had some limited guys, but most of those folks usually end up playing.
The 49ers get Demetric Evans and Glen Coffee back this week, but neither has been quite the impact player some folks might hope for. Other than that, nothing out of the ordinary. After the jump, I've posted both coordinators' post-practice transcripts.
49ers
Out (Definitely Will Not Play)
CB Nate Clements (shoulder)
OT Joe Staley (knee)
Did not Participate in Practice
DT Aubrayo Franklin (not injury related)
LB Takeo Spikes (shoulder)
Limited Participation in Practice
DE Justin Smith (back)
Full Participation in Practice
WR Isaac Bruce (ankle, elbow)
RB Glen Coffee (concussion)
WR Michael Crabtree (knee)
DT Demetric Evans (shoulder)
S Mark Roman (knee)
OT Adam Snyder (shoulder)
Packers
Did not Participate in Practice
LB Desmond Bishop (ankle)
DE Cullen Jenkins (ankle)
LB Brady Poppinga (quadricep)
Limited Participation in Practice
LB Brad Jones (concussion)
LB Clay Matthews (jaw)
CB Charles Woodson (hip)
Full Participation in Practice
LB Brandon Chillar (hand)
TE Jermichael Finley (knee)
LB Aaron Kampman (concussion)
RB John Kuhn (hand)
OT Mark Tauscher (knee)
After the jump we've got Greg Manusky and Jimmy Raye's post-practice transcripts...
Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky
Post-Walk Thru November 18, 2009
San Francisco 49ers
On the Packers offense:
"They have a good running back who makes some yards. He is a hard runner. They have good wide receivers and a quarterback that is very capable of making throws across the field. That's what I see."
On whether the defense is excited to go against an offensive line that has allowed so many sacks:
"Just going into the matchups all the time, we are trying to get the best matchups we have for the guys who are rushing. So, we'll see how the game goes on Sunday."
On whether there is extra pressure on the secondary this week:
"Yeah, from the quarterback position, he does a good job of reading coverages and throwing the ball where it needs to be thrown. He is having a good year throwing the ball. We need to cover the guys up on the back end and make sure we pressure him as much as we can."
On stopping Green Bay's receivers from gaining yards after the catch:
"I think the most important thing is tackling. For the YAC yardage they do accumulate, we need to make sure we do tackle in the open field. They are strong catching the ball, but they are also strong getting away from guys and we need to make sure we tackle well in the open field."
On whether the low sack numbers are a concern:
"I always say, ‘Do you want interceptions? Do you want sacks? What do you really want from a defense?' Last week we had opportunities to hit [QB Jay] Cutler, which we did. He released the ball and we made some good plays on it. I think it is give and take. I'd like to have five sacks and five interceptions, but sometimes you just get one or the other and that is just as good. The guys are competing hard and playing hard and doing the things we need them to do. Where do we want to be for the sack total is for the end of the year. I think you figure out that more than you do during the season. You address that each and every week, but we are just looking for victories and wins when it comes to Sunday."
On the difficulty of playing at Lambeau field:
"I was at Minnesota for a couple of years playing them. It is a great crowd up there. The weather sometimes changes around now and it is a good thing we have a chilly day today, at least that will get us in that chilly mode a little bit. Great fans, a great organization. They are doing everything they can to get a win and we are trying to do the same."
On the play of Tarell Brown:
"He is playing pretty good right now, consistent and up to the challenge each and every week. It is good to see that he is picking up his game. We assumed that when he was in training camp, but he got hurt early and kind of got knocked off. Right now he is picking up his game and he is doing a great job."
On whether consistency is the biggest concern with starting young players:
"Sometimes it is. I think with T. Brown, he has been in enough game experiences, so when we went into the game it was fine and I had no concerns with it. He is a confident player who goes out there and makes plays, which he did last week as well."
On the extra work LB Matt Wilhelm is doing this week for a potential start on Sunday:
"If TK [LB Takeo Spikes] can't go then Matt will be the starter. He is a pro. He has been in some big games himself and he will do well. If TK can get ready to go, I know he is studying film and doing the most he can to get ready for the game and we're expecting him to be ready."
On why LB Scott McKillop played immediately after Spikes was injured then Wilhelm played instead of McKillop in the second half:
"Matt has been in a lot of situations in San Diego and has played a lot of games and was a starter. We just felt comfortable with Matt being in there at the time. That's why we made the transition. Nothing against Scott, it is just that right now we felt Matt had a better feel for the game and we were confident in his ability to play."
On Wilhelm's play in the second half of the Chicago game:
"He played pretty well, which we expected. That's what backup players are in this league, and you are looking at one. When you get your opportunity, you have to go in there and make the most of it. That's what we expected him to do and he did it so it was great."
On whether the cornerbacks will match up against certain receivers or just play a side of the field:
"In that game and going into this game, it is going to be very similar. We are matching up against the guys we need to match up on. He is a good quarterback and they are good receivers, so we have to make sure we have our best guys on their best guys."
On whether he is satisfied with the quarterback pressures even though the sack total is low:
"Yeah, definitely. The pressure we have been maintaining on quarterbacks is pretty good. Even though the quarterback is not sacked, we are looking at that all the time. We want to get as much pressure on him as possible and sometimes those are just as good as a sack because sometimes he throws it not in the right spot, which is great for us."
Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye
Post-Walk Thru - November 18, 2009
San Francisco 49ers
On the objectives facing Green Bay's defense:
"I think the No. 1 objective is to make sure you take care of the football. They are plus-13 in the giveaway/takeaway ratio. They lead the NFL in takeaways and turnovers. So, the No. 1 thing you have to do is make sure you take care of the football, and you've got to account for [CB] Charles Woodson as a secondary blitzer, along with [LB] Nick Barnett. They do a lot of different things off of the stem of their 34 defense, which I think is where they're based. They'll game plan specific teams, so we'll have to see what their defensive plan will be for us."
On how a defense accounts for Woodson:
"It depends because they do it out of a couple of different packages. We'll have to scan with the back. The quarterback will have to ID him. We'll handle him with a visual break and we'll try to block him in the scheme of our protections based on what we have called when it comes up."
On whether the corner blitz is a staple of their defense:
"That shows up quite a bit in the games that we have. It depends on how they defend us, whether they use him as a safety or whether they use him as a corner in their nickel package. So, it's a couple of different looks that they have. When he plays safety, he adds on as a rusher. In the nickel package, he plays the position where he's inside as a safety. So, he becomes a fifth rusher in a lot of the things that they do."
On the play of LT Barry Sims:
"I think I said early on, back two or three weeks ago - whenever that happened - that the history that I've had with Barry from the past, I anticipated that he would be a pro and do a good job. And, to date, he has played well, solid back up in the role that he is playing, and we're very fortunate to have him play and be playing to the level that he's playing. It's helped us."
On whether facing the team's own 3-4 defense in training camp helps at all in preparing for the 3-4 defense this Sunday:
"Somewhat. It's been so long since we've played an odd front. It's a 34 defense. It's been so long since training camp because we've been playing so many over-front teams. They actually don't play 3-4. They give you the mirror image of that. It's what they want to do. And, they use [No.] 74, the defensive end, as a big, stand-up outside backer. But, then they have all the derivatives of that defense. They play over. They play under. They play Bear. So, the amount of 34 defense you get is small in comparison to all of the other gimmick - I wouldn't say gimmick - but all of the other variations that they have off of it because of the flexibility they have with No. 74, who is a true defensive lineman playing outside linebacker. So, they're able to get to a four-down version of what they do, over and under, and then jam the front and play Bear, and then get into their nickel package without substituting. It's a little bit of a hybrid of 34. If it was just 34 like we saw in the summer against our team, it would be a little bit easier transition."
On whether No. 74, Aaron Kampman, is miscast in that role:
"They don't think so. He's a matchup problem, obviously, for a back in your protections if he's the Sam linebacker or the base-side backer. They create a mismatch over there on that side with a back trying to block a defensive lineman off of a two-point stance. They do a good job of scheming up what they ask of him to do. He's mostly the rusher, so he's not dropping into pass coverage a lot, which makes it easier for the transition for him. But, as I've said before, they have a lot of variations off of it, and most of them involve him as a rusher as a defensive end."
On whether he began preparing for this game last week given the extra time following the Bears game:
"Yes, because we played on Thursday evening, I think it was. It's run together, but I think we started Friday. So, we had two extra days and started a direction with the tape that we had, and then all of a sudden, Sunday rolls around. They play Dallas and they look like a totally different team. From looking at it on the TV copy, they were borderline dominant in that game. I think it was way deep into the game before the Cowboys even had a first down in the game. So, as we started, then we had to include how they played Dallas in the game plan that was specific for Dallas and how they played that. So, we had to make some adjustments as we went along."
On whether they were different schematically against Dallas:
"Yes. They've been different against everybody they've played. Against the Rams, they only played with three defensive backs and five linebackers. They game plan every team that they're going to play, based on the strengths and weaknesses of that offense. Tampa Bay was different than Dallas. Minnesota, obviously with [QB Brett] Favre, was different than [QB Tony] Romo with Dallas. The Rams were different than all of those. Because of, as I've said before, the flexibility of the things they are able to do with their front seven people, you see a different style of defense based on the game plan they have in place. So, we'll have to see how they plan to treat - I would think they would start with us with stopping [RB] Frank Gore and [TE] Vernon Davis would be the two people that they would target because we're a little more throw than run with [QB] Alex Smith. We'll see a little bit different style of defense."
On whether that's part of the cat and mouse game, trying to figure out what adjustments they're going to make:
"It will be once the game starts, but we're going to go do what we do best after how many ever weeks this has been, eight weeks or nine weeks, and see how they adjust to stop what we do, what they're plan is personnel wise defensively. And, we'll make the adjustments as the game unfolds."
On where he was watching the Cowboys and Packers game last Sunday:
"I was at home watching it on the - I've got the biggest screen HDTV I could get. I was at home watching it on the TV and listening to the commentary. It's interesting to listen to the commentary."
On what about the commentary was interesting:
"Some of the comments of the people doing the game and the perception they have of the teams they were broadcasting. How they impose their vision on the teams and personnel that they don't know very much about."
On whether he has any good Lambeau Field stories:
"I've only been - I haven't been there very much. I was there with Steve Young, and they made a commercial out of that one. It snowed about 28 inches during the game. It snowed so deep, and that was when I had a broken leg. I had to be carried off of the field because I couldn't lift my foot high enough to walk in the snow. And Steve Young was playing for us at Tampa, and [Packers QB Lynn] Dickey was playing for them. It was a record snow fall during the game, so much that the tractors couldn't clean the field to play. And, the other time with the Jets, we played them up there two or three years ago. My only two times there. So, no, I don't have a whole lot of history with the place."
On why the team was successful running the ball out of the shotgun:
"I guess because they expected us to pass. I don't think it was any magic deal. We were in a situation in that game where we were using 11 personnel in the gun, and they were playing a defensive front that when we two-for-one the play, the run/pass to be announced at the line of scrimmage, they were giving us some opportunities to run, and Alex took advantage of those and Frank made some good runs."