The only significant change today was that Jevon Kearse did not practice. He's been banged up and relatively ineffective this season (minus a sack in the opener), so we'll see if we see him on Sunday.
After the jump we've got the Thursday transcripts from Greg Manusky and Jimmy Raye.
49ers
Out (Definitely Will Not Play)
CB Nate Clements (shoulder)
DE Demetric Evans (shoulder)
OT Joe Staley (knee)
Did not Participate in Practice
DT Aubrayo Franklin (not injury related)
LB Takeo Spikes (shoulder)
Full Participation in Practice
SS Reggie Smith (groin)
Titans
Did not Participate in Practice
OT Mike Otto (knee)
RB Javon Ringer (back)
DE Jevon Kearse (knee)
Limited Participation in Practice
S Vincent Fuller (groin)
CB Nicholas Harper (forearm)
OT David Stewart (hamstring)
LB David Thornton (hip)
After the jump we've got post-practice transcripts for both coordinators.
Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky
Post-Walk-Thru November 5, 2009
San Francisco 49ers
On what worked well against the Colts:
"I think it was the d-line and the linebackers and secondary working together. They were pretty focused all week on the calls we had, even in the no-huddle situation and the muddle-huddle. We repped that in practice pretty much the whole week and they were concentrating and they did a good job."
On whether he can use aspects of the Indianapolis game plan in the future:
"I think every time you play a different opponent, you take it for what it is worth. If you can pull some things from one team, then yeah. If you can't, then that is what is it is usually from week to week."
On the communication in Indianapolis:
"[QB] Peyton [Manning] got us one time substituting in there, and we kind of knew that going into the game - that he has chances to get the guys running off the field and running on. He got us one time but we're always trying to get the communication down the best we can from week to week from the coaches to the players and then the players to the other players. But it worked out OK last week."
On why they have done so well defending the run:
"I think it is mostly the d-line guys and the linebackers working together, spending the extra time in the meeting rooms and going through the stuff, along with [defensive line coach] Jim Tomsula and [outside linebackers coach] Jason Tarver and [inside linebackers coach] Vantz Singletary working hard to get those guys ready to play each and every week."
On Titans RB Chris Johnson:
"A talented back, he has great speed, he has great vision. He sees the things and can react fast. He breaks a lot of tackles. He is a very good back, he is explosive. He sees the hole and he can strike and run."
On Johnson's assets:
"Body-frame wise, he is an elite back that has a lot of capabilities to break tackles and hit it fast. We have to bottle him up as much as we can. I doesn't matter if it is first, second or third down because he is an explosive player."
On whether Johnson is like Vikings RB Adrian Peterson:
"Yeah, I think he has great sight lines and good vision. He can plant, stick and drive. He takes it and sees the hole. He is an elite back in the league."
On whether the team is aware that Johnson said he wants to rush for 2,000 yards this season:
"I don't want him to get 2,000 yards against us."
On whether the good performance of the secondary last week was set up by stopping the run:
"We knew going in that he was going to get yardage. It's not like you are going to go into Indy and stop Peyton cold. We knew we were going to give up some of the plays that we did, but we kept on rallying. We stuck to it and the plan seemed to work pretty well. We could have defended some other things a little bit better, but that is what we tried to do."
On preparing for a mobile quarterback like Vince Young:
"He has a very good arm and he can also run the ball. You have to get around him, you have to swarm him, and you have to plaster your receivers on the backend. It is just a different threat. It is another threat when he has the ball in his hands, so we have to take him away as well."
On whether LB Patrick Willis will spend time matched up on Young:
"Yeah, you try to get your best athletes out on the field and have them matched up on certain guys. That is what you kind of want to do."
On whether he has looked at Young's game film from 2007:
"You look a little bit at it and see things that he has done in the past, of course, just like any player that is new. You try to take a look at him and see what he does."
On whether he plans to mix DTs Kentwan Balmer and Ricky Jean Francois into the rotation:
"Ricky and Kentwan, or probably Ricky, will be up. Kentwan will be getting a little more reps. We just want to rotate the best we can inside to keep the guys fresh. That is what Jim Tomsula and myself are trying to do each and every week."
On the play of Balmer:
"Doing well, he is doing well. He is progressing. He keeps on getting better and better each week and we are trying to get him more and more playing time and as many snaps as we can."
On whether Balmer isn't playing much because the starters are playing so well:
"Yeah, I think it is a great competition up front. I think when you always have that competition it is the best thing going into a season."
On CB Tarell Brown's game against the Colts:
"T. Brown played pretty good. It was his first start of the year and he performed well. I'm expecting big things from him now that [CB] Nate [Clements] is down right now. He will pick up his performance each and every week and get better at it."
On how Brown is different than Clements:
"I'm not going to compare guys, but T. Brown has the nod now and I expect big things from him."
On why LB Parys Haralson's sack total is down this year:
"I think the quality of quarterbacks we have played the last couple of weeks and the quick release of the quarterback, getting the ball out, is also a factor. But from our standpoint, I don't know any numbers from any other outside linebackers in the league, Parys is consistently doing what we ask him to do. At times, other guys get chances to get sacks because of what he is doing, so that is a good thing."
Offensive Coordinator Jimmy Raye
Post-Walk-Thru - November 5, 2009
San Francisco 49ers
On the amount of confidence that he has in T Barry Sims being inserted into the starting lineup:
"I better have a lot. Barry is a pro, we've had previous history together over across the other side of the bay. I'm confident that he'll go in and give us his best effort and I think that his best effort will be good enough for us to do what we need to do."
On the progression of the teams run blocking:
"It's coming along, but as we start to make progress then we get another hiccup, and there is no way to anticipate or expect on the first play of the game that you lose your starting left tackle, so the continuity thing has been slow. So, we're managing and it's slowly getting better because if we can get the guy that we've got to the second level, he can go home with the ball. It's encouraging. It hasn't been as fast as we'd like, but it's getting better."
On whether the offense leaves a defender unblocked too many times:
"I don't think so. I think that it's hard to judge when you only have 18 rushing attempts. I wouldn't evaluate the running game on unblocked guys, on 18 rushing attempts when our lead ball carrier got 13 rushes in the game. What happened last Sunday, I was fine with. I thought that we ran for 118 yards or so, but one of those was a break out of 64 yards which [RB Frank Gore] is capable of doing. I wouldn't put a negative on it based on the number of rushing attempts that they had and the opportunities to get in the game."
On whether he's seen a running back with a disparity of yards gained and attempts like RB Frank Gore throughout his career:
"No, I haven't really. The only two other guys that I recall having a bunch long runs had different styles. [RB] Earl Campbell was a ricochet runner who made long runs, but his yards after contact, where most guys would go down, he made more yards on runs that would've been two or three yard runs because of his size. [RB] Eric Dickerson was a homerun hitting guy, but very seldom did he have negative runs on one of the best lines in Ram history. When those two guys come to mind, and Earl because of his ability to gain yards after the contact, he didn't have as many negatives but a normal guy would have, along with the long ones that he had."
On whether he feels comfortable with the offensive personnel going into shotgun and spread formations in a game through the latter part of this season:
"No, not at all. We're the same bunch that four weeks ago, were talking about how we were going to play. We haven't changed that. If that was in fact true that we were going to take this deal and flip it 360, and all of a sudden become a shotgun and wide open, and throw the ball 48 or 52 times a game, then we would have to do an awful lot of changing. We could mix that, which we have and intend to do. But as a steady diet of that, I think that the confusion that people look at the extremities of what they perceive to be the talent at the extremities and make a judgment that is not founded or even grounded at all. The quarterback has played six quarters to date and people are now starting to refer to his history and his offense in college which is five years removed. Right now, I don't delight in that prospect. Going forward, if it manifests itself into something that will help us, we will gravitate toward that. But as of now the answer to that question would be no."
On whether the additions of QB Alex Smith and WR Michael Crabtree to the starting lineup leads him to look at the options of using elements of a spread offense:
"Yes, we would think of that a little bit more. It is difficult because we're still into certain things - trying to get him to line up in the right place. There are more elements to it than just the physical body of the people that we have. There are a lot things that go into that before we say, ‘okay, we're going to switch gears and go in another direction.' We can gravitate toward that in a plan and make due because of what we see out his natural ability. But, nuances and the fine tuning of all that still takes some time in the process and then there is the exposure of the offensive line. When you take away the run threat and you're trying to block [DE] Dwight Freeney every down and your left tackle is hurt on the first play, you've got to reevaluate what you're trying to do."
On whether WR Brandon Jones is part of the evolution of his offensive scheme and will see more playing time as the season goes on:
"I don't know what evolution that you're referring to, but Brandon is in the mix of guys, from a perimeter standpoint, that we would like to get snaps. As we go forward with the four or five guys that we have, if he brings an added dimension that would help us, if that's what you're referring to from the evolution standpoint, then he would be considered in the mix."
On whether it is easier for the team to run out of 11 or 12 personnel:
"The element of the 12 personnel and the 11 personnel, it doesn't lock the box in some cases. But there aren't many defensive coaches we face, where if we eliminate the lead blocker, where we have seven they have eight, so if we go to six they have seven. So you still have the same problem. They are not going to let you outnumber them in the box. They know full-well also, if you go to a spread deal and eliminate the fullback and go to a wide receiver to try to get them into a box-count you can block with the five you have and turn somebody loose. If you go to an empty or spread look, they are going to add one on. So the numbers are the same, except you don't have a lead blocker and you are in a two-for-one situation where if you don't have enough hats to account for the people in the box, if you run back and you have five blockers and the ball carrier, they are going to have six. Or if you have seven, they are going to have eight. We are not a stretch zone team, that's not what our guy does. We are not an outside stretch zone team and run away from the overhang of the last player. We would have to make another transformation in order to do what perceptively everybody thinks we should be doing."
On whether the offense is executing the way he wants it to:
"In some areas, yes. Basically offensively, what we would like to do is we try to strive and achieve balance to be able to score points. We haven't done that in any abundance. We have been efficient in certain areas of it. We do a very good job with the stuff we have in the red zone. We haven't had the consistency in the run or the pass that we would like, but the pass part of it has appeared to be better with the change and the addition of the people we have. So, I guess the answer would be yes and no. But there are some things we do pretty well."
On what needs to improve in the run game:
"The efficiency of four-yard runs on first down. That coupled with the fact that we get an overloaded box, as was mentioned before, when we are in a 21 personnel group, we see more gap control and more eight-man fronts than we would normally like to see. When we started back then, we were more interested in the quantity of runs rather than quality because we were trying to control the clock and put it together and win in the fourth quarter. Somewhere along the way in the last two and a half weeks, that has kind of gotten lost."
On the lack of consistency on first down:
"If you want to go back chronologically, part of it, we changed the right side of the line. Part of it, we lose the back for a while. There are all kinds of symptoms as to why it is. The basic answer would be the lack of continuity and familiarity and a consistent approach with the same people who are getting comfortable playing with each other, more than anything I think."
On whether the pieces are still there to execute his offense:
"It's not the same pieces, but we have people in place. We lost [T] Tony Pashos, and then we turn around a week later and lose [T] Joe Staley, so there are some differences. I'm not using an alibi or making excuses, but this is different than what we started with over in Arizona six, seven weeks ago."
On what needs to be changed for the offense to run like he wants:
"I don't think you can talk to any, maybe other than [Saints coach] Sean Payton, any offensive coach in the league, but you never really hit that mark that you are looking for and become a juggernaut. What we need to do is continue to improve in the areas that we are lacking in the run and the pass and the pass protection. Hopefully, we can get to the place where when we possess the ball, we have a minimum of seven plays every drive. So, you get a first down every time you get the ball before you have to punt the ball. Then, the better you are on third down, the more opportunities you give yourself and the run quantity increases because you have more opportunities. But when you only have 56 snaps in the game, like we did last week, it is kind of difficult."