The 49ers' preliminary injury report for today (the team practices from 1:45 to 3:45 p.m.) looks like this:
Not scheduled to practice: CB Nate Clements (slight fracture of left thumb), KR/PR Allen Rossum (ankle), S Michael Lewis (abdomin) and CB Walt Harris (rest). Rossum's availability for Sunday's game is up in the air. The others are expected to play.
Limited practice: WR Arnaz Battle (foot), WR Josh Morgan (groin) and S Dashon Goldson (knee). All three of these gentlemen are questionable for Sunday's game.
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Singletary said he's able to lead and be a motivational speaker for the team because of his coaching staff. He said his staff has been outstanding. As for the players, Singletary said he can't motivate anyone who isn't already excited about doing his job.
--Battle will likely return to the slot position when he's healthy. Singletary called Battle "one of our guys." He said he has a lot of intangibles. As for Jason Hill, who has played the slot in Battle's absence, Singletary said the game is slowing down for him and his eyes are not as big as they were when he was elevated into a significant role early last month.
--Singletary settled on Clements to return punts last week because ST coordinator Al Everest convinced him that Clements was the best man for the job. Clements might not be able to perform that duty with a slight thumb fracture. He'll wear a splint for a while. Singletary mentioned Michael Robinson and Isaac Bruce as others who might be looked to return punts if neither Rossum nor Battle can go.
--Singletary praised the improvement made from Chilo Rachal. He noted, in particular, a "devastating block" he had on Bills DE Chris Kelsay.
--Singletary said he's "having the time of my life" as head coach. "This is what I was born to do -- there's absolutely no doubt in my mind."
--He also spoke about his outward sign of religion. He wears a large wooden cross outside his coaching attire. He said he begins and ends every day in prayer. He said he wears the cross on the sideline to allow him to remember who he is, and so he does not lose his mind and become somebody else."
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So far during the games Singletary leaves no stone unturned. He is there to call out a player for a mistake, Praise a player for a job well done and offer support when a player seems frustrated. He is truly being a leader and a coach. Not just standing there dumbfounded in a suit and tie trying to look important. I would like to see this staff get another shot next year.
Singletary said he can't motivate anyone who isn't already excited about doing his job. That is an interesting sentnce because I remeber Mike Ditka saying he can't motivate people who did not want to be motivated. Sounds like Sing might have learned that from his old coach.
Singletary is such a breath of fresh air.
Matt...Please for crying out loud, can you ask Coach Sing or Coach Manusky why do we play 13 yards off on defense. We are the only team to do this and its annoying. Why cant we play press like the giants? Since we cant get a good pass rush, wouldnt bumping the recievers give us 2 extra seconds to rush the qb? The giants are doing it and they have all young guys. Please just ask the question. Thanks Matt.
I'd love to see Singletary retained next year. It will just be another stupid move by the Yorks if they let him go.
On another note, sounds like Martz is interviewing for the San Diego State HC position according to Gary Radnich. Any truth to this Matt? If so, hopefully we can get Norv back here if he's fired at the end of the year.
Remember, you heard it hear first ..... If Norvell Turner loses his HC job with the Chargers AND Dallas promotes Jason Garrett to HC, Norv will be the new OC for the Cowboys as it will be his preferred choice over the 9ers. If he comes back to the 9ers, expect Alex Smith to be here too!
How does that sound, matt?
Whiners4life....why would Norv be the OC for the Cowboys when Garret is currently calling the plays and would probably continue to do so as HC.
Actually, I've heard of that possibility before from others, but nice try =)
We may not get Norv, but if Martz leaves, it would be nice! At least if Norv stays in CA, he wouldn't have to uproot his family again...
Singletary responded to a question addressing why they don't play press because (I'm paraphrazing) the current pass rush blows and if they play press, the DBs will get torched (more than they are) down the field. Press coverage works when you have good safeties and a good pass rush to force the QB to get rid of the ball fast.
The Giants can get away with it because they have excellent pass rushers that scare the hell out of QBs, which the niners are sorely missing at the moment.
Matt greetings from costa rica,
I will love to see what these guys can do with another year with mike singultary as the head coach, the question would be... would we keep Martz and give cotunuity to our offence or we hire Norv who is a better fit???
I hope we win next sunday...
go niners
Matt, can you specify what time in the game Chilo made that block? I have it Tivo'd and would love to see it myself, as lineman highlights rarely make youtube...
Hey Servego... where in Costa Rica? I'm a tico too.
So Singletary was born to coach huh? Was he born to call a timeout with 16 seconds left (rather then 3 seconds) in the 1st half giving the Bills a chance to do something. Was he born to not realize that when Gore was touched down at the end of the Cardinals game that the ball would be moved back to the 2 yard line.
Sorry all but face it - Singletary is Mike Nolan all over again. He's a motivational speaker not a head coach. When the team was bad under Nolan guess who was out there giving the pep talks, yes is was Singletary. I can already see that going forward (just like Nolan) he will draft & play guys with not very much talent but are good character people. The only difference is that now those players are going to be called Singletary guys rather then Nolan guys.
Don't get me wrong I like Singletary as a person, but I get the feeling that Nolan = Singletary = Tony Robbins. Good motivators who know nothing about the strategy or rules of football. So far Singletary has done exactly what Nolan did when he was coach, beat bad teams who happen to make more mistakes then we do.
I don't think Singletary is that stupid to not let the clock run down to few seconds before kicking that field goal. Considering the cold whether and having the kicker sit in the cold for 15 more seconds with the 51 yards FG to kick, we may not make it. I agree that it is a risk to leave some time for the Bills but the defense did the job (like what they have done all day). It is easy to talk about it in front of the TV or sitting there without "actually coaching the game".
Damn - dude....easy, you sound like you have a clue on whatz really going on.....the truth is you dont!!!...at least give the guy till the end of the season before defining him....
It happened at exactly the 12:33 mark of the first quarter. --Matt M.
I think it was a totally bone head move to not let the clock run down running 10 to 12 seconds off the clock is not going to make or break a Nedney field goal even with the distance and the cold. There are 3 completely plausible scenarios that make calling the time out with 16 seconds left a terrible coaching decision.
1. We make at and screw up the kickoff (which we did). All they have to do it hit a quick slant, out route or an out post and they either score a TD or get out of bounds and have plenty of time to kick a field goal.
2. We make it & give McKelvin (a pretty dangerous return man) plenty of time to return the ensuring kickoff for a TD or even just get a OK return to midfield & they hit a quick slant, out route or an out post and they either score a TD or get out of bounds and have plenty of time t kick a field goal.
3. Nedney misses the field goal and they get the ball around they own 40 yard line. Again all they have to do is hit one good completion and they are in field goal range.
If you wait until there is 4 seconds on the clock & call a timeout then all three of those scenarios are negated. The only 2 thing that can hurt you at that point are a blocked field goal that is returned or a missed field goal that is returned; both of which are possibilities with 16 seconds left or 4 seconds left. Basically if you run the clock down only 2 things can really go wrong. Without letting the clock down at least 5 things can go wrong. These are things that coaches know. If I know them then he should know them - Even the announcers said it.
And that bring up another point in that our defense was not that good. For as bad as the Bills played and looked they still put up 350 yards on us (156 rushing & 194 passing yards). That is not a solid defensive outing by any means. My main questions to everyone who think that the ship has been righted is, What so far on the field has Singletary done to make everyone think that he is going to turn this franchise around exactly?
Matt – What do you think: Should Singletary have run the clock down and and call a time out then in order to kick it with 3 or 4 seconds left or was he correct to call the timeout with 16 seconds left?