The two biggest things that I see in today's injury report are first, that Joe Staley is no longer "definitely out." He's not expected to play this week, but maybe he'll get some time in practice tomorrow or Friday. Second, Julius Jones is a full participant in practice. Justin Forsett has been playing really well, so maybe getting Jones back in the mix can help slow down the Seahawks rushing attack. Just a thought...
I've posted Mike Singletary and Alex Smith's post-practice press transcripts after the jump.
49ers
Out (Definitely Will Not Play)
CB Nate Clements (shoulder)
Did not Participate in Practice
DT Kentwan Balmer (shoulder)
WR Isaac Bruce (ankle)
S Michael Lewis (quadricep)
S Mark Roman (not injury related)
DT Justin Smith (not injury related)
LB Takeo Spikes (hamstring)
T Joe Staley (knee)
Limited Participation in Practice
CB Marcus Hudson (back)
RB Michael Robinson (shoulder)
Full Participation in Practice
WR Arnaz Battle (ankle)
WR Brandon Jones (thumb)
DT Ray McDonald (shoulder)
T Adam Snyder (shoulder)
Seahawks
Did not Participate in Practice
DE Lawrence Jackson (groin)
LB D.D. Lewis (knee)
DE Cory Redding (concussion)
Full Participation in Practice
RB Julius Jones (chest)
C Chris Spencer (thumb)
Coach Singletary's press conference transcript after the jump...
Head Coach Mike Singletary
Post-Walk Thru - December 2, 2009
San Francisco 49ers
Opening statements:
"Good morning. Just a couple of the injuries: [LB Parys] Haralson, thumb contusion; [DT Kentwan] Balmer, shoulder sprain; [WR Josh] Morgan, hip contusion; [WR Arnaz] Battle, leg strain; [RB Michael] Robinson, stinger; [WR Isaac] Bruce, ankle. We're getting excited about this week. We've got to have another great week of preparation to get ready to go up to Seattle and try and win a football game against a very good football team."
On whether FB Brit Miller's call-up is an indication that Robinson and Battle are iffy to play:
"No, I just think with [S] Curtis [Taylor] having his injury and going down, we just thought it would be a good move to bring him up. Brit has been working his tail off. We have an award for the special teams player of the week, whether it's offense, defense or special teams. And, he's the guy who has won them all. You could name him every week. So, I just think he's a guy who could really help us on special teams going forward."
On whether the noise of Qwest Field will impact the difficult of calling the snap in the shotgun:
"No, I don't think so. But, you can still run the spread and get him under center, however it works out. But, as far as the noise is concerned, that's just something that we have to continue to work on. Everybody that goes in there has to do the same thing. Thankfully, this isn't the first game that we've been in a situation like that. We just have to do a good job of managing it this week."
On how he can improve his team's tackling:
"It's just something that's an ongoing thing. We just have to get enough guys to the ball. Guys on the back end have to understand that we have to tackle. We just have to tackle. It's not that you've got a guy - I think I said before - like [S Dashon] Goldson. It's not a matter of him not wanting to tackle. It's a good problem. He wants to come up and knock everybody out, but he has to come up and settle down and tackle a guy. Going forward, it's just something that throughout the rest of the year, we just have to continue to focus on."
On whether the team still practices with pads:
"No."
On when that ended:
"A couple of weeks ago."
On whether that was because at this point in the season it's unnecessary:
"Negotiating with a couple of players. That's all that was."
On whether not practicing with pads has anything to do with the tackling issues:
"No. No, not at all."
On whether the players approached him or he approached the players:
"Both. I think one of the most important things in anything you do is relationships and communicating. I'm constantly looking for any type of hindrances or anything that can keep us from getting where we need to go, anything that might come up trying to head them off. I'm all about being proactive. I don't want to ever hear, ‘Well, coach, at that particular time, this was happening. You just didn't know it.' I don't want to hear that. I want to make sure that I'm asking, and, at the same time, I'm inviting them to talk to me, not that I'm going to agree with everything, not that I'm going to concede to everything. It's just a matter of, if that makes sense, then let's look at it. If not, then we won't do it."
On how he hears from players' grumbling and how he adjusts to make sure that everyone's voice is heard:
"I think, first of all, I'm always around the players. I'm always talking to the players. I think, when you have captains on the team, when you have leaders on the team, I talk to everybody, whether they're practice squad guys or not. Like I said, it really is all about seeing. Just opening your eyes and opening your ears and trying to see things and really reading body language. That's a huge thing. I just try to be proactive that way."
On whether cutting back on the padded practices was a discussion about wear and tear on the players' bodies:
"Yes. I think when guys come out here and they have the pads on, it's more of a psychological thing than anything else. The pads, how much to they weigh? They weigh a couple of pounds, but the fact that you have them on brings on the fact that you might hit. So, if the guy has sore shoulders, it's just a matter of when you don't have those things, you have the shells on, you just feel a lot better mentally. So, it's more psychological than anything else."
On whether any of the running backs have approached him about their concern of having lesser role in a spread offense:
"Absolutely. I think any great player, any great player that I've been around, whether it's Walter Payton, whether it's a great receiver, Jerry Rice - whoever it might be. When they're not getting the ball, they feel like they're not contributing. They feel like they're not a part of it. I've talked to all of our guys and had them understand that we need to understand that, going forward, everybody will have their part in the success. Everybody will have their part. It's really important that we're for one another. It's really important that we might as well, if we really want to win, If we really want to do this right, we need to be happy about the other guy. When somebody else has the ball, instead of me being upset about me not having the ball, go find a block and help free him up. So, whatever the situation, it's just important that at this particular time of year, not everybody is going to be happy. Once again, we talk about a family. I don't know one family anywhere in America or in the world for that matter where everybody is happy. I just think that it's all about being a team player. It's all about doing your best when you have the opportunity. But, I think everybody needs to know that the common denominator must be to win. It must be that. If it's not that, than we're thinking the wrong thing. We're going in the wrong direction. I think everybody understands that, but it doesn't take away the fact that I don't feel totally great if I don't feel like I'm making a contribution."
On whether RB Frank Gore has expressed with concerned:
"I've met with all of our guys. I've met with all of our offensive guys, just had some open dialogue about it going forward. Everybody is on the same page, including Frank, and I understand full-well when that happens. It's like when I was playing. If I didn't get 10 tackles, I'm sitting there and I'm thinking, ‘Daggumit. Man.' Somebody else got two or three picks, another linebacker, thinking, ‘I'm glad we won, but I've got to do a better job. How do I get another pick?' He's excited about it. I want to be excited about it. I can be excited about it for him, but at some point in time, I'm going to think about, ‘Wow, I need to do a better job to contribute more.' So, to me, that's what that is."
On whether Gore is more concerned with winning or his statistics:
"Frank is a team guy. But, it's like anything else. I don't know if you've ever been in a situation where it may be a family member, it may be a team member and somebody else does something great. You want to be happy for them, but it's a natural thing. You can't take away from the fact that you want to do well too. You want to make sure that you're doing everything that you can to make sure that you're a part of that. I don't think it's any more than that, but to ask someone not to be natural, to ask someone not to be human, I just think it's just a matter of everybody understanding where we're striving to go. It has to be family. It has to be team, knowing that not everybody is going to happy all of the time."
On whether the competition from wanting to do more is helping or hindering the offense:
"No, I think there's nothing like competition. You want a situation where guys are saying, ‘Man, I've got to do more. I want the ball.' If I've got receivers that don't want the ball, then something is wrong. If I've got a running back who doesn't want the ball, then something's wrong. But, I think there's a limit to it. There's a point to being competitive and wanting to contribute and being selfish. There's a thin line there somewhere, and everybody has to find that for themselves. But, I just think it's important that we all understand that in order for us to get where we need to go, everybody has to be on board. I do know that, and I think they understand that. Frank is not going to lose his mind if he doesn't get 100 yards because I think, at the end of the day, it's all about winning. He may be upset at the moment, but I know he's going to come back the next day and say, ‘Hey, you know what? I'm glad we won. I know I did contribute.' The thing I want them to understand is, if you're a running back and you've got wide outs that are making plays, that makes it easier. That makes your job easier. If you're a wide out or you're a quarterback, that makes your job easier. Everybody needs to understand that I don't care about that game. If you didn't shine that game, you're number is going to be called, but just understand that everybody makes everybody else's job better. So, to me, that's really the bottom line that they understand that."
On Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck:
"I'm sorry, who's this now?"
On whether Hasselbeck looks different on film since the last they faced him:
"No, he is still throwing the ball on the money. He is still doing a good job throwing the ball. The timing has been great. Hasselbeck is Hasselbeck. He sits back there and if he has time, he is going to get the ball out and he is going to hurt you. I don't see anything different."
On whether the offense will change week-to-week based on the opponent:
"Obviously, I would like to see more carry-over. But, where we are right now, I think the most important thing is you want to go into every game just like every other offense. You are going to go into the game thinking that you want to be balanced. You have a game plan, but if you are running the ball better, then maybe you are going to run 60-40; if you are throwing the ball better, maybe you are going to throw 60-40. I think you have a tendency, coordinators, they can't help it. You don't want to outsmart yourself. If your team is doing something well against that particular defense, then you want to try to do it."
QB Alex Smith
Post-Walk-Thru - December 2, 2009
San Francisco 49ers
On whether he is concerned that everyone on offense is happy:
"No, absolutely not. I am kind of a firm believer that you have to do whatever it takes to win the game. A lot is made out of stats in the NFL, with all the stuff that goes along with it and fantasy and things. Sometimes it can be easy to get sucked into that, but winning is winning. That's it."
On whether he has talked to RB Frank Gore about his comfort in the shotgun:
"I haven't talked to him specifically about that. My opinion of him is a guy who can do virtually everything out there. He is a guy who can run through the tackles in I-formation, can do a lot, can run out of one-back stuff, is a great receiver out of the backfield. Some of the great things about Frank is that he can do everything, very versatile."
On dealing with the crowd noise in Seattle:
"It kind of takes an extra level of focus, it does. You have to work with it through the week. You can't just dismiss it, but at the same time you have to deal with crowd noise everywhere you go. It is loud there, but I think it is just something you have to take into note, deal with it all week in practice then be sharp on game day."
On how he developed his quarterback voice:
"I guess you just kind of imitate it. You certainly don't want to go up there with a high-pitch voice or anything, so you try to lower it down as much as you can. I think it is something you kind of develop. You get practice in high school and especially when you go off to college. It is something you change as you go along. In different systems you have different cadences and different ways of using them, so it is something you have to switch to and be in tune to."
On whether he worked on calling plays louder when he entered the NFL:
"A little bit. Hopefully you aren't dealing with too much crowd noise in the huddle, the play hasn't even began and it gets louder as you approach the line. Even playing in really loud places in college, I can remember a lot of times playing in loud places and playing out of the shotgun and still using cadence, not going silent count very much. Now I get into some places, playing indoors in the NFL a lot, and all of a sudden, even under center, you have to use a silent count. To me, that seemed pretty bizarre when I first got to the NFL."
On what works best to simulate crowd noise throughout the week:
"In my opinion, I kind of just think pumping the noise out there works best. It is the most similar to the game situation - the guys really can't hear, it is loud, you have to focus without your ears. I think that simulates the game-time scenario the best."
On what he remembers about the last time he played in Seattle:
"I remember it has always been loud up there. I think it is similar to most places you go, especially indoor-type places. If you are in the gun, you are obviously going to be in silent count a lot. Under center, I think usually you can get away with it in times of big situations that might be difficult. If you are down in an end zone type, or a big short yardage situation, it can be difficult under center sometimes with things like that. I know last year I didn't make the trip and we had some problems up there with the crowd noise. I wasn't there, so I was kind of unfamiliar with that."
On how comfortable is he with the offense pertaining to his style of play:
"I don't know, I guess I have no idea. I take pride in making good decisions, throwing the ball accurately, and keeping us in good situations. Those are the things that I try to do and hopefully that shows up on film."
On how much the film on Seattle is useful being that QB Shaun Hill started that last game and that the offense now uses a spread formation:
"It's still very useful, they are a divisional opponent. The first game is always important. You see the different things they did to try to take away the first time, their opinion of you the first go-round, things that they had success in, things that they didn't, and things that might influence the second time. So, that's still definitely something important to look at."
On what TE Delanie Walker adds to the offense:
"Yeah, he's another playmaker and I think that he can be a challenge sometimes personnel-wise on how you treat him. To come in as the second tight end, you can treat him as a receiver, as a tight end, we can do a lot of blocking stuff with him as well, so I think that he's kind of a personnel match-up problem for a lot of teams as to how they view him."
On how Walker compares to TE Vernon Davis in terms of straight line speed:
"I'll let them answer that. I would be stirring up something if I said something there. They are both really fast, each would probably claim that they would win the race, but I don't know. I'll leave that one alone."
On how opposing defenses try to match-up against Delanie Walker:
"Teams have done different things. Some teams have treated Delanie in base when we brought him on and some teams don't match up as well in base and they bring a corner on and played nickel, so we've seen both for him."
On whether he would expect Seattle to defend the spread offense as they did against Indianapolis:
"I don't know, I guess we'll find out. We've got some good stuff on film with different looks. I guess a little bit of it is going to be just wait and see. We have to prepare for everything and just wait and see how they're going to defend us because the first game, I forget what we rushed for, we rushed for quite a bit against them and did a lot of good things in the run game. I still think that it's there to think about and that we've done some different things the last couple of weeks personnel-wise and formation-wise. But, I think that they will have a lot to think about."