Pre-game pep talk . . . and Q&A with RJF
There will be plenty to watch tonight when the 49ers open the exhibition season against the Broncos at
With the family out of the house -- visiting Uncle Great in the woods of northern
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Obviously, the main focus of this game will be the quarterback play of Shaun Hill and Alex Smith. Both QBs have looked good in training camp. However, Mike Singletary stops short of expressing complete satisfaction with what he has seen. He said neither quarterback has fully asserted himself and won the job.
I'd love to see objective analysis in the comments section of my in-game blog this evening. I can already anticipate the observations from those who have firmly expressed their positions on the quarterbacks repeatedly in the past. Here's your assignment for the night: Watch this game as if it were the first time you've ever seen (or heard of) Hill and Smith. Fair enough?
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Six of the 49ers' seven draft picks are expected to see significant action. (Receiver Michael Crabtree remains unsigned.)
Previously flamboyant defensive lineman Ricky Jean-Francois should get a lot of time at right defensive end. He missed several days at the beginning of camp to receive treatment for a staph infection. After getting back on the practice field, he has worked hard and remained uncharacteristically quiet. I spoke to his this week about that and some other things.
Q: You seem to be taking a more low-key approach after being known for your personality at LSU?
Jean-Francois: "At LSU, I was more up front. I didn't have the person like Coach (Mike) Singletary to shoot out front and tell you. 'This is what we need to do.' When I got here, I had Takeo (Spikes) . . . I had older guys who've been in the league for years. So I look at them. I sit back, keep my mouth closed and listen to what they do. Sooner or later - hopefully, I have a long NFL career - and when my time comes, I'll know what to say at what time. Being here and being around players like this makes me more mature. It makes me feel like I'm growing as an adult every day, not just on the football field. When I walk outside this building and hang out with some of the players, I see what they do and how they carry themselves."
Q: Are there times when you have to bite your tongue?
Jean-Francois: "We're rookies. There's a down payment you have to pay. The price you have to pay is being on this field every day for two-a-days. It's lifting weights. It's running. You can't say much. You don't have the stripes to say it. When I get those stripes, I want to carry myself the same way. Rookies should be seen and not heard."
Q: You're playing right defensive end, so are you picking Justin Smith's brain?
Jean-Francois: "I talk to all of them: Justin, Demetric (Evans), Ice (Isaac Sopoaga) and I talk to Aubrayo (Franklin) because I can slide to the nose. I try to find out everything they know and hopefully perfect my technique. A lot of coaches have told me that the hardest position coming in from college is defensive line. If you don't perfect your craft, you're not going to be very good that first year. I want everybody to see I'm making progress game by game."
Q: Did you focus as much on technique in college?
Jean-Francois: "I just knew I was stronger and faster that most of the guys. So I used some of my technique, but I didn't use all of my technique. When I ended up here, I was told, 'You can use some of the stuff you did in college, but don't think you can come out here and outrun everybody and be stronger than everybody.' I'm not going to outmuscle linemen, because some of them have been here 8, 9, 10 years. They've seen guys like me come in and try to outmuscle them. At the same time, I'm talking to the other D-linemen. I use their techniques and put it in my game. I don't look like them, but I'm taking pieces from each player."
Q: Who's the most technically sound defensive lineman among your teammates:
Jean-Francois: "Aubrayo Franklin. If you're a nose in the 3-4, you got to have a nose. You must be the most technically sound. If you're not, you're going to get drilled off the ball every play. . . . He's an athletic nose tackle. I understand that some teams like the big 320- or 330-pound guy. We have athletes on our defensive line. If you want to put somebody else at nose and move him to end, it would be easy. He has good habits. He does not practice bad habits. And when I see that, I know I have to do the same. This is training camp. This is when you need to learn and engrain it so it becomes second nature in the regular season."
Q: Is your head swimming with everything you're learning, as far as the playbook and working on your technique?
Jean-Francois: "I'm not like this yet (snaps fingers quickly). I'm like this (snaps fingers at slow intervals). But at the same time, it feels like I'm taking steps day-by-day. I feel when I get to the point of putting technique and playbook together, I'll be an outstanding rookie."
Q: How much is Michael Crabtree missing by not being in camp as a rookie?
Jean-Francois: "I wish he could be here so he can help the team out, but we can't sit here and let the world stop spinning. We got to keep going. Like coach said, they're looking for 53 guys out this bunch right here. I hope he hurries up and makes a decision and comes in here and makes up for lost time and get rolling. As a rookie, missing every day hurts. There's something being installed every day. As rookies, you just need to get in your playbook and do what the coaches tell you, so when your number's called you're not off-beat."
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Awesome read on RJF - glad to see he's taking advantage of the support around him, knows his role, and expects to grow into a bigger one. Great stuff, Matt!
How did this guy get such a bad wrap as a draft pick? He really seems to be doing and saying the right things so far. Here's hoping that he develops into a great player and shows some impact on the line when he is in there. Good interview! Thanks Matt! Can't wait for your breakdown after the game.
For someone who was supposedly a loudmouth with character issues, he sure seems to have his head screwed on straight. I wonder how much of that is Singletary and how much is RJF just being a smart guy.
I'm really excited for RJF, definitely a good pick up for the Niners. He seems to have a good head on his shoulders and he knows his role right now with the team. He seems poised to work on technique and really contribute. I just hope tonight he can show some of that learning on the field against the Broncos :D
Matt do you think Morgan will play a full half tonight, or possibly a QTR then let him take it easy. Since he is a rising star I want to see him go out there and play but he is injury prone...what do you think?
I agree. He seems very mature. I hope he maintains that attitude and gets a chance to speak up a few years down the road.
What a nice young man. And with the right approach to being a rookie in this game. I hope he makes it.
I also hope that Crabtree reads this.
"I plan to pull an all-nighter to supply an all-80-player review that (hopefully) will be compiled and posted in the wee hours."
Screw Crabtree, Matt, YOU'RE the one that should be holding out for more money!!!
When I was a freshman in high school I was able to play a varsity sport. After a few games I got some notariety and a paper wanted to do an article on me. My coaches drilled it into my head that I must praise the program and praise my teammates. This article sounds EXACTLY like the article done on me. This kid has obviously been well coached on the art of rookie interviews. As long as it's not a huge distraction, I'm looking forward to some of this kids personality and some of his own original thoughts. He doesn't sound like a bad kid but an interview based on Crash Davis crib notes and rehearsed cliche's doesn't reveal much.
I disagree, we've seen too many young men in this same situation come off looking like illiterates or self-absorbed. Even if he were coached at least he was smart enough to get the message and then deliver.
I'm still a fan of RJF and haven't seen him on the field.
No no no. Dont get me wrong. I like the kid. I've seen interviews with him and heard stories about him in college. I think he's very smart. I dont think 9er fans are seeing the real RJF yet. He's a freaking riot but he rubs some ppl the wrong way sometimes.
Hi Matt, Look forward to your player analysis. Coach sets the tone and just his stare keeps the rookies in line. I admire the way Alex conducts himself prior to the Broncos game. Nolan didn't only throw him under the bus he tried to pave the road over him. Alex has not sounded bitter and even offers to shake the suits hand. Have to admire that, shows someone with character.
OK, I get it. But I do like his start
This is off topic to RJF but now that Raji and Monroe are signed, what are the chances of Crabtree getting into camp next week? I think the season is lost for him regardless but three weeks of camp might allow us to get something out of him by mid-season. Thoughts?
This renews my interest in RJF as a NT prospect (an athletic one like Aubrayo).
Wonder why we didn't train him there & slide Khalif Mitchell to 3-4 DE instead (which was where most projected the latter to during the run-up.)
Watch this game as if it were the first time you've ever seen (or heard of) Hill and Smith. Fair enough?
...really?
...sure - fair enough
Matt, hire Eugene Parker as your agent!!!
maybe he can get you a nice and juicy contract where you don't need to stay up all night. you can stay up for 30 minutes and CLAIM that you had stay up all night.
Excellent Q&A Matt. Kid seems like a sponge. Like what I'm hearing from him. Plan on watching the game and I will report my thoughts. Thanks for the interest Matt.
don't care what he is saying, show me on the field. we will see if he is the real deal or if the guy that lined up next to him at LSU is the real deal. Tyson Jackson, #3 overall pick.
I love football
WOW!
Is this dude for real or what? I've just become a HUGE
RJF fan! Matt, one of your best player interviews EVER! What jersey number is he so I can watch him tonight?
Man sounds like a class act
By Craig Massei
SFI editor in chief
Posted Aug 13, 2009
"Mike Singletary says not to read anything into it, but go ahead and read something into it. Shaun Hill will start at quarterback for the 49ers in Friday’s exhibition season opener against the Denver Broncos, which is as it should be and clearly establishes the team’s pecking order at the position, even if nobody wants to admit it.
In a decision that was expected but delayed until Thursday, Singletary announced that Hill indeed will be the first quarterback on the field when the Niners unveil their 2009 product against the Broncos at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.
Singletary says he doesn’t want the move to be construed as any kind of indication that Hill is winning the competition at quarterback with Alex Smith, even though Hill is.
Hill, as it stands today at this moment, is San Francisco’s best quarterback. He should be the team’s starter. And that is why he is.
After watching last night's Ravens game I have never been ANYMORE PIST OFF THAN EVER WITH THE 49ERS. -We passed up a player we were SUPPOSED to draft in Michael Oher (who was playing at the potion we terribly need filled, at a hardcore level).
So where are we at right now? -We're stuck with a chump hold-out who doesn't even want to play for us unless he gets a fat paycheck, who 10-1 will turn out to be a level 2 bust (that won't even see any playing time period because of the holdout).
Best thing Crabtree can do right now for both sides is get hit by a bus. -Seriously, his trade value is worthless, and we're not even going earn any compensation for the waste of space he's becoming.
STAMPEDE...I'm pretty sure MM is married with children. I don't think you have a chance so how about getting off his N*ts!
Snake: LOL, Crabs will come in and we will all forget about this insignifican rookie holdout(which is not unusual). In a year or so ,when he is catching TD passes for the Niners,we will not remember this nonsense of a story ,that has been hyped up by the media.
Oher was slated to go somewhere in the top 25 or so and Crabs was and is thought of as either THE best or 2nd best talent in the entire draft,nothing has changed and the Niners got a steal of a deal,thanks to Al Davis.
You really couldn't be farther off in your opinion on this,imho.
TOP_CAT,
Give it a rest already. You're wearing me out!
Great interview with RJF! I'm impressed by his maturity. Didn't he fall in the draft for being a character risk? If so, he's taken the lesson to heart. I don't think you can underestimate Sing's influence on guys like RJF. They want to win, and believe Sing will take them there if they buy in. That's what I've been yearning for ever since the end of the Walsh/Seifert era. I think its going to be a great year. Also, Scotty and Paraag deserve props for bringing in guys who respond well.
I'm not worried about Crabtree. If he doesn't end up signing, it'll be a huge blow to the team, but I think we're doing the right thing not acceding to his threats. We have a fair offer out, and if he's willing to push it too far, he must not care much about winning. However, given how messed up the NFL is in regard to top draft pick salaries, too far might be pretty far out.
I like how we operate according to principles, so far in the Sing era.
Not that anyone cares about my opinion, but I really HATE that the 49ers are going into the preseason even without a named #1 QB. I'm sure fans will be split somewhat right from the beginning. I'd hate to be Alex if he throws in INT. I can here the boos already.
I just hope the team as a WHOLE sticks through this time and MS quickly picks a #1 before the cracks get to big to be sealed.
JIM...GROW SOME N*TS!
GO NINERS!!!
Awesome interview Matt. I didn't get the feeling that was a cliched type interview or he made sure to hit all the bases giving credit to the organization & some key players. I thought it was genuine & caught me by surprise the insights he has + the intelligence there. He said he didn't have a voice/HC like Singletary that would be in the forefront & tell you how it is (paraphrasing). That's also surprising coming from a LSU program who's regularly been 1 of the top ranking in the SEC & a hit on their HC Les Miles who I thought has a solid rep.
We'll find out about RJF soon enough but I like what I heard. He knows his place, wants to learn, & is biding his time. Who knows we potentially have a steal in the making here. EXCELLENT 7th RD pick to take a swing at IMO. GO RJF!!!!!!!!!!!
..."Alex Smith is in a no lose situation. If he doesn’t win the starting job, nobody expected him to win it anyway. If he does win it, now people are saying, okay maybe he was worth that pick. It’s going to take, if he comes out and fires 300-yard games the first three games of the season and then maybe a little bit of pressure will start. I think Alex is in a perfect position again because he has no pressure. ".....
Go niners......
Matt,
Great question about 'the most technically sound defensive lineman among your teammates'. As with Eric Heitmann, the guys in the middle of the line get their jobs by having the best technique.
Quick thought....
Does anyone think Sing will take his time naming a starter bcuz if he names one guy the starter and then that guy gets hurt in the preseason it will damage the psychie of the person who didnt get picked when its time to step up???
just a thought
Matt,
I predict alex to play very well tonight! GO SMITTY!!!!!! I hope to meet him someday, he is my hero. im also excited to see coffee play. glad your excited about tonight and i look forward to reading your extensive read tommrow on all the players! GO ALEX!!