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RE: Hey Coach, How are you?**
"I'm good."
RE: Can you tell us what Frank Gore's situation is?
"Frank Gore is a football player. He does not know what a concussion is. He has no idea. I don't even know what a concussion is. But in all seriousness, Frank has a neck sprain and it may feel like a concussion but I talked to [Head Trainer Jeff Ferguson] who is one of the finest trainers in the country [and] he does not have a concussion. He's okay, he'll be good to go and we'll go from there."
RE: Did they put him through that battery of test to see if he's got a concussion?
"He's good, that's all I can tell you, he's good."
RE: He'll play on Sunday?
"I certainly hope so."
RE: Did that happen on that third to last play? The pass to Jason Hill down near the goal when it took Frank Gore a while to get up?
"Are you talking about the one when he ran into the referee and the other guy touched him and he went down on a knee when they thought it was a touchdown. Are you talking about that?"
RE: I'm talking about the:
"Oh, you're talking about when they held him up?"
RE: Yeah:
"He was tired a little woozy, a little nauseous, but he was fine. Trust me, you know what, let me just say this, okay. I'm not a doctor, but I know when I hear concussion and I know what a concussion is when I hear it okay. When I talked to the trainer, he does not have a concussion. It's as simple as that, ok. Guys get tired, I mean, we had guys getting I-V's left and right, we had guys that were nauseous, we had guys throwing up, we had guys cramping up, all kinds of stuff.
But I'm telling you from everything that I have from the trainer, I get the report everyday, he does not have a concussion…Anything else?"
RE: Why would Frank Gore say he has a concussion?
"You know what, I have no idea. I do not know. And I'm not trying to be funny, I do not know."
RE: But when did the neck injury occur? Was it the last play or the second to last play?
"I don't know exactly when it happened. I don't know exactly when it occurred. You have to understand, as for me, when a running back comes down to [saying] I got a back [injury] or a neck [injury] or whatever you're going to get hit, okay."
RE: What is the teams' policy if a player does sustain a concussion?
"I think it depends on the different degree of concussion. I think you have a high-level concussion, I think you have a low-level concussion and you have mild-concussion, that kind of thing. There are some guys that, particularly in the quarterback area, they get hit in the back of the head and they have a severe concussion. Well they maybe out a game, or two. That's the extent that I know of it, don't get me lying to you because I can't take it any further than that. But I just know that there are different levels of concussions."
RE: How long do you expect Josh Morgan to be out?
"Right now we are kind of taking it from week to week at this point and we will just kind of see."
RE: What is the extent of that?
"The extent of?"
RE: The injury?
"It just right now it…it is just a groin injury. Just kind of tight. The MRI just revealed a little tighter than normal. So we'll just have to play it and some guys heal different than others. And we'll go from there."
RE: Mike, how can you evaluate what Isaac Bruce has given this team so far, his first year with the 49ers?
"I'll put it this way: From Isaac Bruce, Bruce is mentoring our young guys alone. Just been a tremendous plus. There is no way in the world that [Dominique] Zeigler, [Jason] Hill, Josh [Morgan], can develop as quickly as they are without a mentor to go to and be able to talk about where they are and where they need to be and some of the great ones that he's seen and some of the things he's done in order to get there. Just his mentoring the guys alone. Playing ability, just having him there, he's very dependable, he's a professional. He helps us tremendously. It's a big, big bonus for us to have him."
RE: What's your plan for Chilo [Rachal] and will he continue to work in the mix at right guard?
"As he continues to develop and learn the offense, you know, we'll see. That's on Chilo. It just depends on how quickly he learns and we'll just judge it as we go."
RE: He played about three or four series?
"I think a couple series. You know, he did well when he was in."
RE: No major mess ups?
"No. He executed fairly well."
RE: That first play it looked like he really got out there and threw a good block:
"Yes, yes. Like I said, he did a good job when he was in. He was excited, he was fired up when he came to the sidelines and to have a chance to go in, and so we'll just see, but it's all on him."
RE: If for some reason if Frank couldn't go on Sunday, would it be DeShaun Foster in tailback, would you give Robinson some reps there too?
"You know what, in all honestly, I don't want to go there. I just want to…to me, he is going to play. I don't want to go into any other scenarios because to me he is going to play."
RE: When will that be determined Mike, about Frank?
"Today. He is going to play. As far as I know, he is going to play. There has been nothing to me that points differently than that."
RE: They are your two leading tacklers and leading playmakers on defense. What kind of tandem do you see Takeo Spikes and Joe Staley becoming as an inside linebacker tandem there?
"Takeo is like a big brother to Pat. It's another situation where Takeo has been great for him, as well as Jeff [Ulbrich]. Pat is very, very fortunate to have both of those guys. He is learning things about the position, about playing the position, about the mannerisms of the position, the leadership aspect. I mean he's learning a lot from those guys. That's really huge. Hopefully here as we get going and we get something going here, they're just going to get more recognition as they continue to get better."
RE: How well do they complement each other?
"Takeo is more of an outgoing guy, a very vocal guy, and Pat is just kind of learning how to be more of a vocal guy. He's learning how to step up and say what's on his mind without offending others, or not really caring if it offends others depending on the situation. And then on the other side, Takeo looks at Pat and Pat has a tremendous amount of talent. He tries to help him understand how to utilize that talent from a player's standpoint. I just think they complement each other. Their strengths and weaknesses balance each other out very well."
RE: What kind of guy were you your first and second years?
"I was very vocal. Sometimes that was good, sometimes it was bad. Buddy Ryan didn't like vocal guys in their first year. He wanted you to be quiet and learn, and I couldn't help myself most of the time. He really helped me get out of my own way because I needed to earn a little more respect before I was as vocal as I was. I remember he sat me down for several games until I had learned some humility and earned respect before I talked. I learned the hard way.
RE: Are either of those guys [Patrick Willis or Takeo Spikes] in your mold?
"No. I think it's very important for every player, particularly at the linebacker spot, to really create their own mold. I'm hoping that Pat will create a mold that no one can fit into. He's just going to get better and understand and utilize his talent and the tools that he has. He's going to be off the charts."
RE: That's a position [linebacker] where the responsibility [is] where you almost have to be vocal?
"Oh, yeah. For Pat, he's earned the right to do it, but he's so humble he just wants to kind of hold it off as much as he can. But, he's doing great. [He's a] great kid."
