SI.com has been sending their writers to each of the 32 training camps this month, and providing a postcard from each camp. Jim Trotter recently visited 49ers camp and broke down what he saw and his thoughts on the team. He focused less on the specifics of what happened on the practice field, and more on some of the general themes he noticed. For example, he felt it was quite obvious this team is as focused as they need to be:
1. There is a businesslike attitude surrounding this team. No false enthusiasm or contrived emotion.
...End Justin Smith, perhaps the club's best player and without question one of its most respected, set the tone in the offseason when he reminded teammates that the window of opportunity doesn't stay open for long in the NFL...
...Running back Frank Gore, who says it took months for him to get past the loss in the conference championship, recently spoke with great passion during a team meeting, exhorting his teammates to take the next step. Focus will not be an issue this year.
When a team comes so close there is often concern about a bit of a hangover. That might be one reason we see Super Bowl runner-ups sometimes struggle the following season. For the 49ers, hopefully the business-like approach will allow them to move past that and take care of business. While it's nice to have a fun-loving team that knows how to have a good time, there is something to be said for going in and taking care of business. There is only one goal for this team and that's a Super Bowl.
Trotter got into a bit of speculation in the article when he started talking about Randy Moss. It appeared to be opinion when he stated, "The 49ers likely will limit him to 20-25 plays a game to keep him fresh." I suggest it's an opinion because I would be rather shocked if Greg Roman or Jim Harbaugh or WR coach John Morton were telling Jim Trotter their plans with Randy Moss.
That's what makes this preseason intriguing. Or maybe it's what will make the regular season intriguing and this preseason a bit more ho-hum. The 49ers used a sizable mix of personnel groupings on Friday night, but for that first drive it was still relatively vanilla in the play-calling.
On that initial drive, Randy Moss got four snaps in a drive that featured 12 plays. For comparison's sake, the 49ers quarterbacks ran 74 plays on Friday. It does make sense that the 49ers would not want to burn through too many snaps with Randy Moss. Whether that means 20-25 snaps or more than that remains to be seen. In reality, we won't know anything for certain until week one against Green Bay. In the meantime, we're left to speculate.