Singletary met the media this morning after a walkthrough on the first day of minicamp. The club will hit the practice field this afternoon.

Here are some of the other topics on which Singletary spoke:

--Bruce, Mark Roman (on trade block) and Jonas Jennings (does not fit into plans) are the only veteran players not at the camp, Singletary said.

--DE Ray McDonald underwent offseason knee surgery. He is expected to be limited.

--With the No. 10 pick in the draft, Singletary said the team will not go after a "need" position. He said they're going to take the "best player available.

--One of the big focuses of this minicamp will be for new offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye to get a handle on the skills of his players.

--Alex Smith has been cleared to go full-out in practices.

--Singletary said he will take everything into consideration when evaluating the Smith-Shaun Hill quarterback competition. He said Hill's performance in the second half of last season will be weighed. Therefore, the competition actually began last season.

--Dashon Goldson is earmarked to take over at free safety. Singletary said it is obvious that he has talent, and that he made a lot of plays in practices. He said it's time for him to take ownership of that position and take over for Roman.

--The team might give Patrick Willis another chance to wear the green dot with the radio transmitter. Willis wore it for a couple games last year, but wasn't comfortable with it. Singletary said Willis might start out with it again this season.

--On the 49ers' flirtation with Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner, Singletary said, "That's a risk we can't afford not to take." He said the 49ers wanted that situation to play out to see if they could add a proven starting quarterback to the team.

--When asked about Jay Cutler's trade possibilities, Singletary declined to answer, saying he could not talk about a player who is under contract to another team.

--There was a report this week that the 49ers' position coaches were not in the loop when it came to discussing free-agent acquisitions WR Brandon Jones and QB Damon Huard. "Everybody is going to have an opinion," Singletary said. "That's something we'll handle in-house. We got a good house, and we're going to keep that going."

--The 49ers remain interested in signing free-agent tackle Marvel Smith. "That's a great opportunity for us if it works out," Singletary said. "We'll know soon enough." Right now, Barry Sims and Adam Snyder are competing at right tackle, he said.

* * *