Skip to main content
Advertising

Singletary's Notebook: Sept. 16

**

singnotebook2009version2.jpg

Opening Statements:**

"Good afternoon. I'm excited this week to have another great week of practice and get ready for another division opponent. Seattle, when you look at them on film, they're a fast football team, very efficient, very effective. [Matt] Hasselbeck is a quarterback who is a tremendous leader on the offensive side of it. Really, it's a tempo-setting offense. You come out, you've got 10 or 15 plays they're going to run. They're going to do it, and you have to be ready. A pretty good thought process, in terms of what they're trying to do, they've got a good offensive line and they get after you well, coming down hill, the running backs are running hard. The receivers, adding [T.J.] Houshmandzadeh this offseason really adds more threat to what they already had that was very effective. The tight end, the young tight end they have from Notre Dame is becoming more and more of a target. On offense, they pose a lot of different issues. We're going to have our hands full. On the defensive side of the ball, trying to defend what they do.

On the defensive side of the ball, they pose problems as well. They're running to the ball. They're fast. [Patrick] Kerney is healthy on the outside, the new kid, [Aaron] Curry, that they just drafted, he's coming off the edge. They've got a lot of speed and they're going to the football. They're running. They're getting off the ball, doing a lot of things well – very aggressive. For us, we just have to make sure that we have a great week's work and we understand exactly what we need to do. We have to match their tempo going into the game and be ready to play a very physical football team."

On whether the way the defense played against Arizona gives him confidence that the 49ers can handle Seattle's offense:
"I just feel like our defense just has to continue to get better. To me, we just scratched the surface in the first week. We have to continue to get better. I'm excited about that on the offensive side of the ball. I just think it's one of those things where we have to get back to the fundamentals up front and do the things that we know how to do. Have to do a better job communicating across. I'm sure they're going to be jumping around in the A gaps and trying to pose some problems as well, and our guys just have to communicate. [G David] Baas and [T Adam] Snyder, this is another week for them to get under their belt. Baas missed a lot of the training camp, so timing is a little bit off. Snyder, we just have to get back in sync and do what we do."

On whether the team has a designated tight-end stopper:
"It's by committee. Our guys just have to, as much as they want to rush the quarterback and go up-field and play the run. We also have to cover as well, and that's part of the job. We don't have a designated guy for that."

On LB Manny Lawson's ability to cover the tight end:
"Manny does a good job. Manny knows that the most important thing for him is to continue to work his technique. Coverage is all about technique. It's not about speed. It's not about all that other stuff. It's about doing your technique. As long as our guys do that, along with Manny, we'll be fine."

On his plans this week for WR Brandon Jones:
"We'll just have to see. He's coming out today, going to work out. We're going to put a black jersey on him so the guys don't get physical with him. We'll see how it goes. Today will be a big test for him. It will be a great opportunity for our coaches to see what he can contribute this week, or is it just going to be a day-to-day thing? We'll know after tomorrow."

On his plan this week for T Tony Pashos:
"I think it's just a matter of, you have a guy like Tony Pashos, he's got a lot of experience at that position. I just want to bring him in and see what he can do, see what he adds, and at the same time, I'm very confident in Snyder. We'll just see how that works itself out."

On LB Parys Haralson's development:
"When he first got here, he was primarily a defensive end coming out of Tennessee. When we drafted him, we really didn't know how much was there. It was obvious in college that he loved to get up-field and rush the quarterback. So, he was pretty much a pure defensive end coming out of college. He hadn't really stood up and dropped very much. I think his work ethic is what has helped him develop into a really good football player, and he's just going to continue to get better and, hopefully, develop into something special."

On what sets Haralson apart:
"Persistence. He's always asking questions about how he can get better, what does he need to do? He's always trying to work his hands. He's always trying to work his eyes, all of the little things that make guys on the outside special. He's a guy who's constantly working at his craft, and to me, that's a sign of someone who can be very special at what they do."

On whether Haralson needs a signature move:
"Some guys have a signature move. I think for him, he's just going to study his guy and look at what works and just try to do that as best he can."

On how much involvement he had in extending Haralson's contract:
"Parys is one of those guys who you don't have to talk to anybody around here about knowing what he's about, knowing that you want a guy like him on the team. That's probably one of the last guys that I had to say, 'I want this guy.' Because everything that we talk about, that's what Parys Haralson is. That's was quite conspicuous."

On whether he plans to open up the passing game more this week given the low rushing numbers in the opener against Arizona:
"We'll make some adjustments, but we're still going to be stubborn and we're going to do what we do. I'm sure we'll just continue to figure out and see how the game goes, and we'll go from there."

On whether the success the defense had against Kurt Warner can carry over to Matt Hasselbeck this week:
"Hasselbeck is a good quarterback. There's nothing to really add or take way from that. He's a good quarterback. He's healthy. He's throwing the ball well. He's throwing it quickly. I just think the most important thing for us is we really have to be detailed on the back end, in terms of making sure we're not giving him easy reads. We're really making him work for what he gets because he has seen so many different looks. He knows where he wants to go with the ball. We just have to do our homework and make sure that we try to take some of those things away, pre-snap reads."

On whether other teams will use Arizona's gameplan after watching the film for defending the 49ers run:
"I really don't think about teams looking at our film. I know this team will look at our film, but hopefully, going forward there will be other film for them to look at as well. They will see that we don't just hammer it in there all the time. A gameplan is a gameplan, and sometimes you have to stay the course. The most important thing is we came out of it. We were fortunate to come out of it with a win, but every week there will be something different. For us, it just so happened that last week it worked out the way it did."

On whether he is concerned about the defense this week against a more unpredictable attack:
"We're just going to do what we do. I'm not concerned about the tempo of what last week was and then coming in this week, are we going to get there? Are we not going to get there? We're going to do what we do. Hopefully, we get there. I know one thing: We're going to be doing the very best we can to get there. But, the most important thing, we've got to stop the run. We've got to stop the run and earn the right to go and rush the passer."

On how the Seahawks use LB Aaron Curry:
"They're definitely putting him at his strength. They're not asking him to do a whole lot of things. They're letting him really learn the defense and learn some of the nuances of what he can do. But, right now, they're letting him come off the ball. They're sending him to the quarterback. Everything else, I guess, will just take its time. He's doing a good job. He's fast, he's physical and he's a tough guy to defend against. We're going to have our hands full with him on one side and Kerney on the other."

On what side Curry plays:
"He goes either way."

On what he's stressing to his offensive line this week:
"Same thing: physicality, the physicality of what they need to do, and in order to do that, having leverage, being fundamentally sound, using their technique. [Offensive line coach] Chris Foerster is a tremendous coach, and they just have to use the tools that he's giving them. If they do that, they're going to do just fine."

On whether he thinks the team lacked a third tight end against Arizona:
"In any game, you're going to lack something. In that game we lacked another offensive line. It was just one of those situations. I think for us, we have to use the guys that we have here. I think that's more than sufficient. If these guys will just do, believe, execute the things that we're doing, I think we'll be OK. Really, that's all that our focus is on. We're not going to focus on what we don't have. We're not going to focus on what's not here. We're going to stay with what we have and make that work."

On what he remembers from playing against Hall of Fame defensive end Fred Dean:
"I remember him being a very effective pass rusher and very strong, physical guy as well. You look at him and you think, 'Wow. We can just run right at him.' And, you find after a while you're not getting anything running at him, so you've got figure out something else. Anytime you have a guy on the field who can rush the passer, it's going to be somebody you have to deal with. You have to account for on every play."

This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an issue.
Advertising
;