The 49ers have been in training camp for a little over a week now but the dog days appear to have set in at this point. The team has had the injuries, some of the veterans are getting more and more days off, and as Barrows wrote today, Alex Smith had a bit of an up and down practice this morning. The team has a special teams practice this afternoon so there won't be quite as much going on (except for the obviously important punt/kick return battle).
We'll have Jimmy Raye's transcript for you later this afternoon, but in the meantime, it sounds like he spent a good deal of time discussing Smith. Raye mentioned that this is the point where the QBs' arms get a bit tired. In regards to Smith, Barrows mentioned a few comments
Raye said Smith has looked as competent and as confident as he's ever seen him. But Raye also warned that that has to translate to games. "Like I told him upstairs the other day, the perception that people have of you - how you look, and how you play and how you throw - really the only criteria you're going to be judged by is if we win. How you look has no bearing on the outcome. If we win, he'll be the best-looking guy we've ever seen."
For Smith, today continued what has now been two days of, for lack of a better word, turmoil on the offensive side of the ball. Based on the various twitter feeds (Barrows, Maiocco, Barber), the center/QB exchanges have been less than spectacular. Of course, it's such a new relationship between David Baas and Smith that it's not surprising to see some growing pains. I only mention Baas because based on what's being tweeted and written by the beat writers, it sounds like Baas has the inside track to start the season at center. It's certainly fitting seeing as they were the first two draft choices of the 49ers 2005 draft.
I'd imagine that with game action starting on Sunday, the fairly repetitive and dull nature of practice will soon be alleviated for a couple weeks. That last week of training camp could see more of the same as players get antsy to start the season. In the meantime, let's hope the team can battle through these dog days of training camp.