Over the first couple weeks and first two preseason games I've focused much more on the offense than the defense. I've wanted to see who would win the QB battle, even if the offense is running through Frank Gore. Now that we've got that figured out, game three seems as good a time as any to focus on the defense, and particularly the pass rush. Greg Manusky spoke after practice yesterday and had plenty to discuss about the defense.
On what he wants to see from the pass rush:
"I think we just have to keep doing what we keep on teaching and preaching, which is turnovers, of course, sacks, want to try to get the ball out as much as possible, always. We’ve been very successful in having turnovers the last couple of weeks, and sometimes, some of those pressures lead to those turnovers. So, I’m expecting the guys to roll off and start getting a good push up the middle."
This is certainly the $10,000 question. Turnovers are not the easiest statistic to predict. Just look at Takeo Spikes last season. He had three interceptions in three games and I'm pretty sure nobody could have predicted that. Rather, it's about the pressure you're getting on the defense. When asked about how much scheming is involved in the third preseason game, he said specifically about the pass rush:
I think in the preseason, you want to see – especially the younger guys and even some of the older veterans . . . one-on-one’s in the pass rush for our defensive lineman and outside linebackers. Across the board you want to see the one-on-one matchups and for those guys, can they win? Or, do they still have it? You don’t really scheme it too much. You do to a little bit of an extent in regards to what personnel we put in the game, but you’ve got to run what you run and see if these guys can compete at a high level and make your evaluations afterwards.
In week two they mixed in some blitzing, but have we really been seeing a simplified system to date? If that's the case, does anybody actually think the pass rush will be better than what we've seen? Should we assume the pass rush remains non-existent and just hope it'll appear week 1?
The final question I have, at this point, heading into tomorrow's game at Dallas is the battle for the right cornerback position. Dre Bly has received just about all the first team time there due to Tarell Brown's toe injury, and yet Manusky had the following to say:
On whether he’s made a decision on the starting right cornerback:
"No. There’s good competition between [CB Tarell] Brown, [CB] Dre Bly and [CB] Shawntae Spencer. I think any time you have competition that’s the best thing about football. That brings out the best in each one of them, and right now it’s a good thing to have that competition with three guys. There’s not a final decision that has been made yet. We’ve still got two more preseason games to go, so they’re still getting their reps and rotations in there to see what they can do from week-in and week-out."
On whether anyone is ahead in the competition:
"I don’t think anybody is ahead. I think they’re all on the same playing surface. And it will be exciting to see what they will do this week."
If I'm looking at how things have gone down the last few weeks, do I now assume that Dre Bly has been particularly bad and can't lock down a job when Brown has been out so long? Or do I assume Manusky is BS'ing me? Anybody have an answer for that one?
After the jump we've got an assortment of transcripts from Coach Manusky, Patrick Willis and Shaun Hill...
Defensive Coordinator Greg Manusky
Post-Practice - 08-27-09
On who the starting quarterback will be on Saturday:
"I don’t make those decisions. That’s coach [Mike Singletary]’s job."
On who the starting inside linebacker will be:
"It will be [LB Takeo Spikes] and [LB] Patrick Willis rolling this week. It’s good that we have Pat back. So, looking, I’m looking forward to it and he’s looking forward to it as well."
On whether he wants to give his guys more playing time in the third preseason game than in any of the other preseason contests:
"That’s the way it usually is around the league. The third preseason game is where the majority of the starters start to jell and mesh together as a unit. They’ll probably be playing two quarters, some guys less, some guys more and usually come into the third quarter and play a little bit of the third quarter as well to get their air and their wings and start rolling with it."
On whether the starters will play into the third quarter:
"Right now, we haven’t discussed it totally. But, when we get to – they’ll be playing into the second quarter, and some will be playing a little bit into the third as well."
On what he wants to see out of Willis in his first preseason game:
"I think this first go around will be his first preseason game this year. As long as he gets the calls and rotates and just gets his air underneath him more than anything, get his lungs back into shape because it’s totally different when you’re practicing compared to playing the game. So, I’m expecting him to get his lungs back and then start rolling with it."
On what he wants to see from the pass rush:
"I think we just have to keep doing what we keep on teaching and preaching, which is turnovers, of course, sacks, want to try to get the ball out as much as possible, always. We’ve been very successful in having turnovers the last couple of weeks, and sometimes, some of those pressures lead to those turnovers. So, I’m expecting the guys to roll off and start getting a good push up the middle."
On how much scheming is involved in the third preseason game:
"I think in the preseason, you want to see – especially the younger guys and even some of the older veterans – man-to-man skills for the DBs, one-on-one’s in the pass rush for our defensive lineman and outside linebackers. Across the board you want to see the one-on-one matchups and for those guys, can they win? Or, do they still have it? You don’t really scheme it too much. You do to a little bit of an extent in regards to what personnel we put in the game, but you’ve got to run what you run and see if these guys can compete at a high level and make your evaluations afterwards."
On how guys have been doing in the one-on-one matchups:
"I think sometimes good. It depends. Some teams have their starters in for two quarters, or maybe even three, and then we have a second-round guy who has shown some success. It’s good for him going against a starter who’s in the National Football League. So, it’s always good to see some of our younger guys – our second-year guys, our third-year guys – going up against their starters."
On whether he’s made a decision on the starting right cornerback:
"No. There’s good competition between [CB Tarell] Brown, [CB] Dre Bly and [CB] Shawntae Spencer. I think any time you have competition that’s the best thing about football. That brings out the best in each one of them, and right now it’s a good thing to have that competition with three guys. There’s not a final decision that has been made yet. We’ve still got two more preseason games to go, so they’re still getting their reps and rotations in there to see what they can do from week-in and week-out."
On whether anyone is ahead in the competition:
"I don’t think anybody is ahead. I think they’re all on the same playing surface. And it will be exciting to see what they will do this week."
On who will start on Saturday:
"Dre Bly will be starting."
On where CB Eric Green fits into the defense:
"I remember back in Free Agency we had him in and spoke to him a little bit, then he went down to Miami. He was a fine football player for Arizona. We liked what he did there at Arizona and we brought him in and he chose to go to Miami. It’s a situation where you throw the guy in the mix and see what he can do and see how he can perform. It’s somewhat of a little bit of a similarity between Arizona’s defense and ours, not a lot of calls, but at least he has some type of base to him. So, it was good to have him added to the roster."
On whether he will play on Saturday:
"Yes."
On where he will be playing:
"He will be playing corner right, right side. Yes."
On where CB Shawntae Spencer has played during training camp:
"He’s played on the right side."
On what he’s seen from S Curtis Taylor:
"Curtis has been playing quite well. I think for a rookie DB with all the calls and adjustments, he’s still got to pick up his game in that regard, but from a physical standpoint he’s doing pretty good. He’s a good athlete, can run. He’s doing quite well."
On whether he finds out more about the younger guys in the first road game:
"I think so. Going on the road, even from the first preseason game when a lot of the younger guys are out there for the first time, it’s kind of tough for them, a little bit wide-eyed. Especially going on the road, going to Dallas, we want to see if they can play in that type of competition as well with the pressure that goes along with it."
On how he views the nickel back and the dime back and the competition at those positions:
"It usually depends on personnel, but usually the dime [back]is a linebacker or a safety. And, flipping between [S] Michael Lewis and [LB] Jeff Ulbrich at times and Takeo Spikes and [CB] Hudson, Marcus Hudson, flipping between those guys. And, the same thing with the nickel back position, a cornerback type guy – that is very important in the National Football League. So, the more guys you have playing nickel, the better off you’re going to be."
On where S Mark Roman fits into those extra defensive back situations:
"In situations when people run ‘10 personnel,’ put him as a dime. Roll him down as a dime because he is a safety still covering wide receivers."
On what "10 personnel" means:
"Four wide receivers."
On whether he needs to see anything from S Michael Lewis:
"I think we know what we have from him, but I think it’s very important going into the third preseason game that those guys get reps together as a unit, the starting unit. And, it’s good that everybody is pretty much healthy right now, and we’re going into it with every guy ready to roll. [DE] Justin [Smith] and now getting [DE] Ray McDonald back, and we’ll see. Haven’t talked about his playing time, but looking forward to getting him out in a practice and getting him out in a game. So, we’ll discuss that here today."
On whether McDonald will play:
"We’ll discuss that today."
On whether Lewis will be back in the starting lineup:
"Yes. Michael will."
On whether CB Eric Green is the fourth right cornerback on the depth chart:
"To me, they’re just corners. You know what I’m saying? I wouldn’t say he’s the fourth right corner. A lot of times, in nickel situations, we’ve got to bring [Tarell] Brown in, or we’ve got to bring Dre [Bly] in. He’s going to get playing time as a corner in the third and fourth quarter."
On whether it is a factor to have LB Patrick Willis practice getting the play-call on the helmet radio in preseason:
"I think it does, a little bit. Going into a preseason game, and he hasn’t done it for a couple of months, so it’s good for him to take control of the huddle and get the calls, and sometimes it’s not the greatest sound. Sometimes you guys should put it on, see how it sounds. But, as long as he can get the calls and relay it to the DBs and the defensive line, it will be a good little practice for him and work."
On the quality of the sound on the radio:
"It’s a little bit crackly. A lot of fans are yelling. I’m not saying it’s real bad. You can hear them. Sometimes you say,’What?’"
QB Shaun Hill
Post-practice – 08-27-09
San Francisco 49ers
On the status of his back:
"It felt good today. Everything felt good. It was nice to get out there and be able to practice."
On whether his injury was worse than anticipated:
"No, if anything, in my mind, it wasn’t as bad as everyone else thought. That’s for sure."
On whether he is planning to play against the Cowboys:
"Yes, as far as I know. Absolutely."
On when he first felt the injury:
"It was just a couple of days ago. It was kind of a freak thing, but I I knew that there wasn’t a whole lot to it."
On the precaution of sitting out of Wednesday’s practice:
"It was probably just smarter to let things settle down a little bit than to push through it at this time of the year. That’s all it was."
On whether his back strain had anything to do with his back injury in 2007:
"No, definitely not. I knew that it had nothing to do with that."
On describing the soreness of his back injury:
"It’s calmed down quite a bit. Obviously, it will just continue to get better from here on, but yeah, it’s calmed down quite a bit without a doubt."
On whether his back strain was deep tissue:
"They really haven’t told me exactly. Because, like I said, it’s not really that big of a deal as everybody thought it was, so we really haven’t even gone into details like that. It was basically ‘you know what, let’s have a day of rest and everything will be better,’ and it was."
On whether or not he could imagine the concern from people on his status as the team’s starting quarterback:
"Yeah, I guess. I don’t know about all of that stuff. It’s a little new to me. You guys are just going to have to forgive me. I’m a little naïve about all of that stuff. If it was anything pressing, my mother and father would have known without reading [about] it. They would’ve known from me instead of reading it. So, everything is fine."
On the importance of this upcoming game for the back ups trying to make this team:
"Well obviously, those guys that are on the edge every game is very important, every snap is. That doesn’t just go for them, that goes for everybody. It’s a very important game for everyone on this team. For the guys that are going to be starting, establish a tempo, do some good things, andget some confidence. Next week, some of that is kind of relieved a little bit as far as the game goes. Obviously, we’ll be going in practice, so it will be important for the starters to go out and get some good work in. As far as the back ups and everything go, this is a huge opportunity for them to get on somebody’s radar."
On whether he’s had an opportunity to set a tempo with the offense:
"Yes, we have. We’ve had some long drives. I know that we haven’t necessarily thrown the rock a whole lot, but we have offensively established some tempo. A lot of us have been [concentrating] on the running game, but we were able to get in there and get the rhythm going, get in and out of the huddle, breaking the huddle fast, getting to the line of scrimmage; those types of things that only come in games, we’ve been able to do in the first two games. So now, we just have to continue to do that in this one and then we will have an extended period of time when we’ll be able to do that."
On the importance of playing time and establishing an offensive tempo:
"Every opportunity to play is important no matter how long it is. Like I said, my goal is no matter how many series I’m out there, is to come away with touchdowns on those series. Unfortunately, we’ve had field goals in a couple of those. That doesn’t change however long I’m playing."
On playing the entire first half:
"I’m not sure to be honest with you. I haven’t heard a thing about any of that stuff. I play when they say play and come out when they say come out."
On whether he needs to create a better chemistry with the receivers:
"This week has been great for that. Obviously, it’s a process that needs to continue, but we are definitely starting to get there. Today, I felt [like] it was wonderful. The guys didn’t have the pads on, they felt light on their feet and they felt fast. So, it was great to kind of feel their speed as if they kind of had their legs back a little bit. And [with] those things, all of that stuff is going to start to come back now. It is a process, but I feel as if this week has been great."
On how he felt about the red zone offense starting to jell together:
"I felt like we did have things moving pretty well there, but not just there. Even in just the routes that were there, and even the individual routes, the timing and the rhythm is definitely starting to come."
LB Patrick Willis
Post-Practice - 08-27-09
San Francisco 49ers
On how he feels:
"I feel good."
On whether he’s looking forward to playing:
"I am. It’s the Cowboys. I always grew up a big Cowboys fan. Last year was my first time playing against them, and every play I was just excited to be out there. This year, playing them, I believe I won’t be so excited and I’ll be able to calm down and actually make a play or two."
On how big of a Cowboys fan he was:
"That was my team. I was big on Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin, and then was it Darryl Jackson? Darryl Johnston. Man, that’s what it was for me, and it’s funny that I say this now, but I couldn’t’ stand the 49ers. My cousin was a big 49ers fan. Every time he would say Jerry Rice or Joe Montana, we would fight. That’s how serious it was. So, to be playing for the 49ers and actually going back there to play against them, my heart’s here. It is what it is."
On why he was a fan of those offensive players:
"When I was growing up that’s all you – even still today, when you see highlights, how many times do you see a defensive player getting a sack or tackle? Most of the time, you have to score a touchdown in order to get some sort of highlight on TV. So, all I was seeing was the highlights they showed, and that was mostly just offensive guys."
On whether he liked watching Dat Nguyen:
"I do know who that is. He was actually a good linebacker. I was fortunate enough to meet him when I took a visit to the Cowboys through the whole draft process. I think he was the linebacker coach there, or he was just interning or something like that. I was fortunate enough to meet him and that was a great honor."
On the importance of this game for the backups in terms of trying to make a team:
"I think it’s very big. Like I said, to go out there and have a good game against a good-caliber team like the Cowboys, it means a lot across the board from the ones to the twos. Coach [Mike Singletary] will say all the time, ‘We don’t have backups. We have guys who come in and when they’re in there, they’re starters at that point in time.’ So, it’s going to be really big across the board."
On whether he’s looking forward to hitting and tackling:
"Of course it’s going to be different because I haven’t done any. But, out here, being able to practice again, I’ve had to calm myself down a couple of times. I have to make sure I get myself in the right position and kind of get a thud in here and there without going against how we work and how we practice. It’s going to be different, but it’s going to be fun to be able to hit again and tackle live."
On whether he feels he’s still catching up to full speed:
"I don’t know. I feel like, now, after having my third practice or fourth practice, it is. I feel like I’m kind of up to speed. I can’t say I’m up to game speed because I haven’t played in a game yet, but as far as getting my eyes right and feeling things and understand the field and how things are rolling again, I feel pretty good for the most part. Game time is something different, in a sense."
On where he sees the defense:
"Obviously, I never think we’re where we should be. I mean, the fans and people say we’ve done some things well. The guys on the back-end, the front, across the board have played alright, but we haven’t played to the kind of caliber that we have to play with at all times in order to win those games that we have to win – any game for that matter. But, I think we’re getting there. We still have a lot of work to do, but I think we’re just right around the corner. Coach talks about it all the time; it’s consistency. When we can get that down and play each defense fundamentally sound and do the things right that we’re supposed to do, then it won’t matter who we play."
On his physical condition:
"I feel good. My body feels good. I know the other day we were doing two-minute and I got a little winded when I just came back in it. What helped me get back through that, being a little bit winded, was I thought about my other teammates and thought about what they’ve been through this training camp, and I was like, ‘You know what? I haven’t been out here as long as they have, so I can push through what I’m going through because I know that they’re hurting worse. So, if they can go, I can go even harder.’ So you just kind of play off of each other."
On what he needs to do Saturday to get ready for the regular season:
"I don’t know. I feel like I can go out here and practice and get that same readiness that I need because the way I practice is the way I play in the game. I don’t do anything different that I don’t do in practice on game day, besides just taking them to the ground. I mean, obviously, playing in a game is going to be good because it’s game time and it’s live. That’s about the only difference."
On how much he thinks he should play:
"I don’t know, whatever the coaches say. Of course, once I get to going, I want to go. But, at the same time, I understand that it is preseason and not only is it time for the starters to get evaluated, but it’s also a time to find other guys to fill the roster and things like that. But, I’ll play for as long as the coaches will have me out there."
On the status of his ankle and Achilles:
"I feel good. I can run and cut and go again. As long as I can do that full speed then I’m OK."
On whether he anticipates blitzing to more this season:
"I don’t know. I feel like we’ve – being our third year in the defense – we are able to do some more than we have done in the past. But, the scheme is what it is, and whatever is best for our defense at that point in time for the game, then that’s what we’ll run."