49ers Nate Clements is taking turns each week with receiver Bryant Johnson in scouting out the upcoming opponent. Get Clements' take as he locks down his preparation for the second go-around with the Seattle Seahawks.
Before I talk some about Seattle, I'll first comment on what has occurred here this week with our team. Coach Nolan being let go is very unfortunate, but we all know this is part of our business. The same thing goes with players. They aren't performing up to their ability – cut and release. It's an unfortunate side of things.
As for Coach Singletary, I know when he speaks, I listen. It's just some people have it. When they talk, people listen. For example. Ray Lewis, right before a game, he gets his team ready to go. When somebody like that talks, you find a way to look down inside of yourself and get ready to play a game.
I think as a team, we don't have any choice but to respond to what has happened and compete at a high level and basically get a W. That's what it really boils down to; we need to win, bottom line.
We as a team, we definitely have to continue to work and press forward and move on, and moving on means getting ready for Seattle.
Seattle is 1-5 and like us, has had some struggles. We expect them to come in and compete hard, and we'll do the same. This is a team that we know very well, and although they've got some different personnel, we just have to play what we see on film. If they do anything else, we'll make the adjustments, but as far as breaking them down, I'm just going to look at the film and what I see on film, I believe is going to hold come Sunday.
It sounds like Seneca Wallace is going to play at quarterback for them, but I never count anybody out. If we see Matt Hasselbeck, we know that he knows that offense. He knows where the ball is going to go on his first read, his second read, and he knows where his safety valve is at on the field. I haven't seen that much of Charlie Frye, but in the time he was in, he's capable. I think he has a strong arm and we all know that Seneca is very mobile, so they all bring something new to the table. In my opinion, when Seneca is at quarterback, their playbook is definitely expanded because he's versatile. They can use roll out action, bootlegs and also trick plays as well. He's lined up at wide receiver before so he expands what they can do at quarterback. I also think he adds another dimension because he can tuck it in and scramble and get big yards that way. We'll have to keep him contained and in the pocket, and stay disciplined because he's effective.
The last time we played them they had a lot of guys injured and unfortunately for them they didn't have all of their receivers. Throughout the course of the season, adjustments have been made and people have been brought in, and now they have a different group, so we just have to take the same approach and watch film on them.
Bobby Engram is back, and he is a guy who is kind of shifty and knows how to find a hole in the defense. We just have to have tight coverage on him. Koren Robinson is more of a vertical guy. He knows the system. They actually drafted him so he's been in that system before. I'm sure there's some adjustments he's had to make, but we know that he's a guy who can definitely stretch defenses vertically. Keary Colbert is a receiver who is also capable of making big plays. He's shown that in the past. I think he has good hands and we have to have tight coverage on him.
Tight end John Carlson is a guy on their team who has been consistently making plays ever since our first game against them. He's not overly fast or overly athletic., but he finds a way to get open and make plays for them.
They've done a good job running the ball, and Julius Jones had a good day against us before. They've also gotten Maurice Morris back, and he's been in their system for a while too. He's very effective. I think they'll utilize him a lot, not just handing him the ball, but motioning him out too. They aren't afraid to get him the ball lined up as a receiver.
As for Jones, we need to be aggressive and attack him. We don't want a guy like that to get going. Last game he made some big runs so we want to limit that, be aggressive on him and initiate contact.
TJ Duckett is a big, brick, power back. Most of the time he's utilized on short yardage situations so we have to pin our ears back and attack him. He's a big guy who is hard to stop once he gets rolling.
We accomplished several of our defensive goals last week, and we just have to continue to build. We can't afford to take any steps back. We just have to continue to move forward and get turnovers, create even more three and outs, and just get our offense the ball back.
Our offense was able to move the ball and score points against this team the last time we played them, and we expect them to do the same thing again this weekend.
I think special teams is definitely going to play a factor, but that's no different than any other week. Like I've said, there are hidden yards in special teams, and as you've seen the last two weeks, there's hidden points too. We've scored twice off blocked field goals the last two weeks and we want to set the tone and feed of those plays and keep them coming.
If they need me to do punt returns, I'll be glad to do so. It's something I've worked on and if Allen Rossum can't go, my number might be called, and so I'll definitely be prepared and ready for that responsibility. Every time I'm back there, my mindset is that I'm going to break one.
I was limited in practice on Wednesday because of my ribs but I'll be fine for the game. We need a win like I said, and I want to be part of that.
