Blogs

Blog: Pro Bowl Practice Kicks Off

The AFC and NFC squads hit the field at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in South Florida on Wednesday for their first practices of the 2010 Pro Bowl.  The Cowboys and Chargers coaching staffs ran the drills for their respective conferences.

The NFC’s practice was a little longer than what I expected for a Pro Bowl session.  Players don’t go full speed during the drills, focusing more on mental reps and learning the offensive and defensive schemes.  The schemes are usually pretty basic so all of the players can pick things up during the week. (Click here to view a 49ers.com photo gallery of Wednesday’s practice).

Donovan McNabb was easily the most vocal player on the field, laughing and joking with teammates.  Every time McNabb would throw a pass to Cowboys receiver Miles Austin, Austin would bat it down, refusing to catch anything from McNabb.  The two kept laughing at each other for most of the morning.

He also joked with Vernon Davis.  McNabb seemed shocked to see Davis’ short hair.

“He told me he was glad I shaved of my six dreads,” Davis told reporters after practice.

Justin Smith was the only 49ers Pro Bowler not present at practice.  He learned that he would replace the Vikings’ Kevin Williams yesterday so he should be arriving by tomorrow.

It’s an especially meaningful week for running back Frank Gore, who hasn’t played in his hometown of Miami since his days at “The U.”

“It’s a great opportunity to play in front of my family,” Gore said.  “That’s the best part about this.  My family hasn’t been able to see me play since I’ve been in the NFL so that makes this week really special.  I wasn’t able to play last year when we came out to play the Dolphins so this is great!”

One of the family members Gore is most excited to play in front of is his son, Frank Jr., who is becoming quite a good football player himself.

“He’s really excited to see me play,” Gore said.  “He’s taking after his dad so far.  I’m proud of him because he’s continued working really hard.”

Gore grew up in Coral Gables and attended Coral Gables High School so it seemed weird to him to be practicing on the field of his former rival school, St. Thomas Aquinas.

Some of the high school students were allowed to take some time away from class to come out and watch the practice.  It also made the practices more lively the students would cheer after good plays and yell encouragement for their favorite players.

“It’s a good opportunity for them to see a lot of NFL guys, especially players who made the Pro Bowl who are supposed to be the best at their position,” Gore said.

Gore said he’s really looking forward to see how his teammate and good friend Vernon Davis plays with the best players in the business.

“I want to see how Vernon does.  I think he’s going to play fast like he always does and turn some heads.”

Gore admitted he probably wasn’t playing as fast as he normally does during the first session of the practice.  During special teams drills, Gore lined up on kickoff coverage and proceeded to sprint down the field and get into tackling position on the return man.

“That was crazy,” Gore said with a grin.  “I had no idea what I was doing.”

I caught up with some of our guys after the NFC practice.  Watch the video below:

The AFC players had some interesting things to say following their practice as well.  Here’s my report following their practice:

For all of our coverage of the Pro Bowl, visit our Pro Bowl Central page. And for more videos like the ones above, check out our new YouTube page.

Faithful Vote: Best Sack of 2009

February 2, 2010 Update:

Congratulations to Justin Smith who won with 40% of the vote. Ahmad Brooks finished a close second with 38% of the vote. Aubrayo Franklin (12%) and Parys Haralson (9%) rounded out the top four sacks of the season in the polls.

                     
This week’s 49ers.com poll asks our Faithful fans to decide which sack was the best in 2009.

The 49ers totaled 44 sacks this past season, tied for third most in the NFL and tied for second most in the NFC. It was the best sack totals the team has posted since 1998 in which they racked up 51.

Picking the top four sacks was no easy task.

Manny Lawson led the team with 6.5 sacks and 13 other 49ers registered at least one sack in 2009. But without further delay, let’s take a look at your choices for best 49ers sack of 2009.

Our first nominee is matchup nightmare Justin Smith’s game-ending sack of Kurt Warner.

Smith out-worked and dominated the Arizona Cardinals offensive line in the 49ers Week 1 road victory over the division champs. The defensive tackle totaled an amazing 13 quarterback pressures and nine hits on Kurt Warner.

Smith hit Warner so many times, I’m not even sure this is the picture of the sack that closed Arizona’s chances for a comeback in the season opener. But it just might be the image of Smith sacking Warner with less than 10 seconds at midfield.

The man referred to as “Cowboy” inside the 49ers locker room, lassoed Warner and through him to the ground in a decisive manner. It was the perfect exclamation mark to a solid win.

Our next hopeful is last week’s 49ers.com poll winner, nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin.

Franklin gets the nod this week for his sack of four-time NFL MVP quarterback Peyton Manning. Franklin was one three 49ers to take down the never-sacked signal caller. Manning was only brought down 13 times during the regular season.

Franklin’s sack was impressive on a number of fronts. It showed all the tools that gave him a breakout season in 2009. First, he beat a double team of center Jeff Saturday and left guard Ryan Lilja to get to Manning which demonstrated Franklin’s non-stop motor. It also displayed his amazing hands as he swatted away Lilja’s block and broke through the two blockers to get to Manning.

Franklin picked up honors for best interception in 2009, will he get another award for best sack? It’s up to you to make the call.

Our third nominee is more of a group nominee, but really since one of the primary participants was already nominated (Smith), outside linebacker Parys Haralson will get the call as our third choice.

Out of the 49ers six sacks against David Garrard and the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars on Nov. 29, Haralson’s was easily the most memorable, and perhaps the most violent.

On the first play of the fourth quarter with the 49ers leading 20-3, Haralson made sure those numbers remained as the final score with a devastating sack on Garrard with the help of some friends.

Jaguars rookie left tackle Eugene Monroe decided it would be better to leave Haralson unblocked even though he was lined up directly across from him. Instead of disrupting Haralson’s route to his quarterback, Monroe looked outwards to kick out 5-10, 188-pound cornerback Dre’ Bly.

From there, Haralson corralled Garrard by the shoulder pads until Smith came over to finish the play off, knocking the ball out in the process. Defensive tackle Ray McDonald rallied to the ball and fell right on top, giving possession and momentum back to the 49ers.

Our final nominee is another outside linebacker, Ahmad Brooks, who also turned in another sack-forced fumble play.

One of Brooks’ three sacks of Warner on “Monday Night Football” took the air right from under the Cardinals’ wings.

Brooks’ performance added to the 49ers 27 sacks in the final eight games of the season which led the NFL.

The outside linebacker was also a matchup nightmare for all of Arizona’s tackles, especially left tackle Wayne Gandy.

The athletic edge rusher closed out the first half with a sack and forced fumble on Warner that silenced Arizona’s comeback bid. He did it in style by blowing past Gandy and knocking the ball out of Warner’s right arm at the top of the pocket. Smith again was involved in another one of our nominees, as he recovered the fumble.

The turnover enabled the 49ers to keep their 17-point lead intact as they head into the locker rooms for halftime. They went on to keep that lead and finish the season sweep of the Cardinals.

You can vote as many times as you’d like all week long by finding the poll on the bottom left corner of the 49ers.com home page. The winner will be announced next Monday, along with a new “Faithful Vote” for 49ers fans to debate on.

49ers Make World Series Picks

There’s only so many times you can get asked the same question during an open locker room period. But I know our guys enjoy an occasional question out of left field.

Having said that, today I asked a question about left field, well sort of.

I asked a handful of guys who they were picking to win the World Series which kicks off tonight between the New York Yankees and the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.

And for fun, I asked which players in the locker room would make up the best 49ers baseball team. The answers I got were somewhat surprising:

-“I would definitely have B. Jones [Brandon] as my center fielder,” cornerback Tarell Brown said of his wide receiver teammate, who was a one-time draft pick of the Yankees organization. “I would be a shortstop because I have good range. All the quarterbacks would be our pitchers.”

-“Put me at catcher, I swear I’d be a great catcher. I’d be amazing,” cornerback Marcus Hudson explained. “I’d cover the plate and nobody would steal on me. I would gun them out if they tried to steal on me!”

-“I think Arnaz [Battle] might be a second baseman because he has quick feet and quick hands,” Jones said of the players who would play beside him. “I see Alex [Smith] and our other quarterbacks as our pitchers. We’ll go with a three-man rotation. And on offense, our cleanup hitter would probably be big Mo, Moran Norris.”

-“I don’t know about that – I don’t think Mo has any bat speed!” Battle joked in response to Jones’ opinion.

-“I think Justin Smith would be our first baseman. He seems like he’d be a power hitter,” long snapper Brian Jennings said.

-“Ooh, that’s a pretty good question! I don’t know if Justin could be our first baseman though. He’s a slugger, maybe a DH,” Shawntae Spencer said. “I’m not putting him on the field. I’d put guys with really good ball skills in my infield. Dre’ Bly, Nate Clements they both have good ball skills, the receivers do too.

-“Then, I would go with the coordinators as our bench coaches, because they are good with hand signals. Our base coaches could be special teams coordinator Al Everest and secondary coach Vance Joseph because they send in signals too.”

-“I would be a pitcher, because I’d want to throw the ball. In football I love hitting people and in baseball if I was mad at someone – I could throw the ball at them,” defensive tackle Isaac Sopoaga joked.

Here are some of the picks from the 49ers locker room, note that only one player [Spencer] chose the defending champs:

Josh Morgan: Yankees in five games.

“I think it’s the Yankees year.”

Tarell Brown: Yankees in five games.

“Really to be honest with you, it doesn’t mean a whole lot that the Phillies won it all last year. At the end of the day the Yankees are playing great baseball and they have solid pitching. Really, that’s what it’s going to come down to – pitching. Pitching and defense. The Yankees have always been a great offensive team, but their pitching is amazing this year. I’ve been a Yankees fan forever though….”

Shawntae Spencer: Phillies in six games.

“I don’t really like either one of these teams. If the Pirates aren’t in it – I don’t really care! But I guess I got a little bit of love for Philly, but then again, I don’t want them to win because if they do I won’t see the end of it. I have a lot of friends from Philadelphia, so I don’t really want to hear that. I’m just going to watch as a fan. I think it’s going to be a great series, I’ll take the Phillies, since nobody else has.”

Brandon Jones: Yankees in six games.

“You have to figure the Phillies can get a couple of games. They can hit. And, they might even wear Andy Pettitte out in game three. C.C. [Sabathia] might have to come back on short rest and get another win for them. It might go to six, if that happens.”

Barry Sims: Yankees in six games.

“A-Rod is hitting this year and they’re getting good pitching – I think it’s their year.”

Brian Jennings: Yankees in six games.

“If I played baseball I’d for sure want to play for the Yankees.”

Isaac Sopoaga: Yankees in six games.

“I want it to be less games, but I think it would be more exciting if it goes to six or seven games. Then, you’d have more games to watch on TV.”

Andy Lee: Yankees in six games.

Singletary Names Smith Starting Quarterback

Mike Singletary began his Monday press conference by announcing that two starters in right tackle Tony Pashos and inside linebacker Takeo Spikes will undergo MRI’s today on the shoulder injuries they sustained against the Texans.

Singletary went over the rest of the 49ers injury report from the Houston game and then made an announcement on the team’s starting quarterback position for the 49ers next game at Indianapolis and for the foreseeable future.

“As far as this upcoming week in terms of quarterback, Alex Smith will be the quarterback,” Singletary said.

“As far as, ‘Will Shaun Hill be back?’ and all this other stuff… we’re not going to be a flavor of the month kind of team,” he added. “I wanted to make the decision based on who gives us the best chance to win.”

More Notes from Monday

-Singletary said Pashos suffered a left shoulder contusion, outside linebacker Marques Harris suffered a hamstring strain, defensive tackle Justin Smith suffered a left calf strain, nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin suffered a right knee sprain and Spikes suffered a right shoulder sprain.

-The 49ers head coach touched on the play of his offensive line again on Monday, but he sounded confident that the group would improve its play and reestablish Frank Gore and the 49ers running attack.

“We want to run the ball, but usually they have 8.5 guys in the box, sometimes nine. Sometimes that makes it a little more difficult. When you have an offensive line that has been banged up and is trying to get things right, it makes for not a good combination. But as we build confidence and continue to get better, it will work itself out.”

-If Pashos is unable to return in time for Sunday’s game against the Colts, Singletary said the team would “figure it out,” in naming a replacement.

-Singletary sat in on the team’s defensive meeting this morning to cover some communication issues that have been hampering the unit’s play. Singletary wants to see better results from that side of the ball, but was sure to remind them know how highly he thinks of them.

“We’re a good defense with the opportunity to be a great defense,” he said of his message to the defense. “But because of the communication factor, particularly in the last couple of games, you get guys starting to do their own thing. That’s when you really have to communicate very well, to make sure guys don’t start doing their own thing. We just have to get on one page, relax, settle down and let’s go from there.”

-Singletary said nothing stood out to him from watching the film in regards to the play of Michael Crabtree.

“Nothing jumped out to me, it was very evident yesterday,” Singletary said. “I just wanted to see it on film, just like when you see a good movie; you want to see it again.”

-Singletary spoke with Crabtree earlier this morning to let him know how he appreciated all the work Crabtree did while he was away from the team.

“All of the work he did, all of the studying he did while he wasn’t here – it showed,” Singletary said.

Singletary Pleased After Week 1

Head coach Mike Singletary just concluded his weekly Monday press conference with the Bay Area media. The 49ers head coach answered a number of questions pertaining to the 49ers 20-16 season opening victory from one day earlier.

“It was indeed an ugly game,” Singletary said. “But it was beautiful to see our guys work through all of the stuff and come out with a win. We fought together and ended up winning together.”

Singletary was pleased that his team was able to go into a hostile environment and come out with a win against a good football team. He also expressed his disbelief in rushing for under 30 yards as a team but still coming out victorious.

“I find it hard to do but that’s we ended up doing,” he said.

Singletary praised several of his player’s performances on both sides of the ball, but called out the play of his offensive line.

“We did not play well up front, but it will get better,” he said.

Despite not being able to move the ball efficiently in the first three quarters, Singletary was pleased that his offense put together a 15-play drive in the fourth quarter that put the 49ers up for good.

“I think the best thing that helped us offensively was that fourth quarter,” Singletary said. “Shaun [Hill] did a good job, everybody settled down and we took it down the field. They really did what they had to do when they had to do it and that’s the sign of something special.”
 
Other notes from Singletary’s presser:

-According to Singletary, Hill did a good job of managing the game and taking what the defense gave him.

-Vernon Davis, Isaac Bruce, Josh Morgan and Arnaz Battle were highlighted for making “critical plays” during the 49ers fourth quarter go-ahead touchdown drive.

-Arizona’s penetrating defense was a bigger factor than Singletary and the 49ers anticipated. “I think it got to our guys early on but it didn’t on that 15-play drive,” he added.

-Defensively, Singletary thought his guys played relentless. “We did things we needed to do in order to win. Our defense challenged their wideouts,” he said.

-Patrick Willis was everywhere. Singletary said his first quarter interception was a result of tremendous coverage that was very well played.

-Singletary also complimented the play of his secondary as well as the pass rush supplied by the likes of Justin Smith, Manny Lawson and Parys Haralson.

-Recently signed tackle Tony Pashos will begin sharing snaps with Adam Snyder this week, so Singletary and the rest of the 49ers staff can evaluate the 49ers new tackle.

-The 49ers suffered no major injuries against the Cardinals.

-Also, wide receiver Brandon Jones will return to practice this week. But, it has not been determined if he will play against the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday at Candlestick Park.

Singletary Names Team Captains

When the 49ers take on the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday on the road, head coach Mike Singletary’s team will be led by the six team captains he announced on Friday.

Linebackers Patrick Willis and Takeo Spikes along with defensive end Justin Smith, running back Michael Robinson, center Eric Heitmann, and tight end Vernon Davis will serve as the 49ers team captains for the ’09 season.

“Those six guys, to me, embody all of the things that we strive to be, in terms of the work ethic,” Singletary said. “Number one, these guys are always working, and they’re team guys striving to do all the little things that we need to do in order to be the best we can.”

Upon hearing the news, the chosen six were extremely honored to have been selected.

“It’s a big honor,” Spikes said. “ It’s big from the aspect that it’s my second year here and it comes this late in my career with another team. It’s something that I accept open handedly. It shows the respect factor not only that my peers have for me but for what the staff has for me.”