The 49ers are not practicing today, but the entire team had to be back in
The conference call, originally scheduled for 3 p.m., was pushed back 45 minutes.
Here is some of what he had to say:
--The 49ers signed tight end Sean Ryan today and waived fullback David Kirtman. Ryan becomes the fourth tight end on the roster. Singletary said the move was made after talking to O.C. Mike Martz. He needed a tight end who was a physical guy who could play tight end/fullback to help in the run game, Singletary said.
--When asked if it was any reflection on Vernon Davis, Singletary said, "Absolutely not."
Singletary went on to say, "
--As for how Ryan will be used, that's up to Martz, Singletary said. He said they needed another blocker to help Frank Gore run the ball more effectively.
--As for the bye week, Singletary said it came at a great time.
"I'm very thankful to have the first week prior to the bye week to give me something to have and reflect upon and look at through the rest of the season," he said.
--And what has he learned about being an NFL head coach?
"I learned that being an NFL head coach you certainly have your share of media time," Singletary said. "I've definitely learned that."
--When asked if those issues might become a distraction, Singletary said, "No, I'm not going to let it be. The most important thing is we have to focus on the things we need to focus on as a football team, and that's getting better and winning football games."
--When asked if he was still determined to find the leak, Singletary said he would let the issue die.
"We as an organization felt that this is something that shouldn't have happened and be able to deal with it, so going forward there would be no more sabotaging. (But) for me, the best thing is to let it go. I'm not going to look into who did it, who said it.
Singletary said he did not know if it was someone in the organization trying to sabotage him or if it was just random league gossip. But he said he is a firm believe that what comes around, goes around.
--Singletary said he is not concerned at all about how ownership feels about the pants-dropping incident. "But right now that's not something I'm thinking about," he said. "The biggest thing I'm thinking about is
--He said he plans to investigate ways to use all the players on the roster in the second half of the season. As for Ahmad Brooks, he said he would have to see him in practice to see if he's capable of filling a role as a third-down pass-rusher.
--Safety Dashon Goldson (knee) is the only player who has already been ruled out of action for Monday.
--Tackle Jonas Jennings is expected back at practice. But it remains to be seen if
--Singletary spent the weekend in
--The Arizona Cardinals lead the NFC West by three games. When asked the difference between the Cardinals now, compared to the team the 49ers faced in the first week of the season, Singletary said, "Confidence."
"Momentum is in their favor. Everything seems to be going right for them," he said.
--When asked how confident he was that the 49ers defense could slow them down, Singletary said, "Well, I think our defense will do just fine. I think our team will do just fine. Obviously, the Cardinals are clicking right now: offensively, defensively, special teams. They're doing a good job. (But) I don't expect for us to be overwhelmed. I think we'll go out and do a good job. We'll compete."
Changes are being made. I think this week will be a good measuring stick as to what Singletary brings to the team. It appears Martz is getting ready to start utilizing the running game more, and hopefully he starts getting the ball to the TEs more frequently.
The one game where the 49ers played well against a tough opponent was when Martz was getting VD the ball through screens and whatnot. We came very close to beating the Eagles that day.
listening to the conference he seemed a bit more reserved.
The main difference in this game will center around Hill's ability to sustain controlled, long and productive drives.
Really it amounts to changing the pace.
If it is the case that we do have the "talent" and that its just a matter of time before things "click", I would think that Hill could actually have a bigger impact then just less turnovers.
If Hill's presence is a factor, and a byproduct being changes in the offensive game plan, then we may see a change in chemistry. Less erratic drives = stability and consistency for the D?
Against the Cardinals we'll need more than that.
Hopefully the signing of Kirtman means that there's a trade in the air to get some value for Vernon Davis while some people in the NFL still think of him as a high draft pick. He's no better than an average TE (at a huge salary), and he's had plenty of time to prove himself.
There are too many needs on this team to keep the most expensive TE in NFL history.
I had a lot of wine with dinner. I meant Ryan.
Open question to any thoughtful person--I am too busy at the moment to think for myself-- IF the 9ers could manage to pull off an upset of Arizona, which for some reason I have a positive feeling about, is there any REASONABLE chance of putting together a streak that would get us to the playoffs? (A few details of your thinking would be useful). Thanks.
Eric Musselman's Coaching Blog
"About five years ago, I sat on a plane next to a well-known college football coach who told me that if you want to know how good your team is going to be, look at the offensive line.
In his words, "It's not a sexy position, but they make it all work. A good O-Line can give a mediocre QB more time and open big holes for average RBs. Without a good offensive line, even the best backfield is going to struggle."
By statistic we have the worst pass protecting O Line over the last 3 1/2 years. It isn't rocket science.
MarkW,
Playoffs? You're kidding right? Don't get me wrong I'm a fan who will stick with my team no matter what but I'm also a realist & there's no way the 49ers have ANY chance of making the Playoffs considering there will be 3 teams from the NFC East going to the dance. That would mean that in order for the 49ers to make the Playoffs they would need to win their division out right. This team simply is not good enough.
I can envision Hill playing good enough to keep some drives going, to the tune of say 20 points or so. But I have little confidence that the defense will be able to stop the Cardinals. I can see big play after big play and a lot of third down conversions. It would sure be nice to be totally off-base in that feeling.
I see the Cardinals running ruffshot with Hightower all over our defense.
Has this thought crossed anyone's mind? We obviously know all about Shaun Hill. He is a dink and dunk type of passer. So in the second half of the season, we need to move Vernon to fullback. That means that he will always be matched up against a LB. We can't throw vernon deep passes. he has a tough time with them. He needs to catch the ball underneath, in the flat, and on screens in open space. Gore really needs to be THE featured player. I hope Hill always knows where Gore is at all times. If nothing is open downfield, dump it off to Gore. We will now see how good Martz is with this type of talent. I hope he has learned in the first 8 games that we don't have an offensive line to run his offense and a line that can't sustain pass protection long enough to run 20yd routes downfield.
Keep in mind that VD DID catch 52 passes last year. You can't expect any receiver to catch every ball thrown to him...