OK, um, very good today, for both sides. Got a lot done. We started on New Orleans. The week will be really kind of set up to teach, particularly the young guys on the team, kinda how a normal game week goes, with the installation and the different segments that go in each day. So it was good to get started on that. Injuries, the normal crew now – Schilens, Barnes, Wade, Fargas, Shaughnessy, Ekejiuba, Morrison, Horton, Mitchell, Shane – just held him out, being smart – and then a couple guys who started but didn’t finish – Myers, he’s got that real tight quad, and then Hiram Eugene got a little stomach flu this afternoon. So nothing serious there in any of that.
Q: You signed Harris today?
A: OK, we did sign Napoleon Harris and released Ricky Manning.
Q: What was the thinking behind it, the struggles against the Niners ground game?
A: That, obviously, and then the loss of Kirk here for at least a week or two, it looks like, so just trying to be smart there.
Q: Did you talk to others in the organization about Harris?
A: I did. You know, my only knowledge of him was two years ago. He was at Kansas City in ’07.
Q: Shaughnessy’s injury keep him out of this week’s game?
A: Potentially, yeah. It is getting better. Just want to be smart with it but potentially, it could.
Q: What did you see from Javon out there?
A: A guy kinda getting back into it. Looked a little rusty but he ran some good routes, caught some balls, looked decent in individual. We’ll kind of bring him along a little more each day as we go through the week.
Q: Is he going to play against the Saints?
A: We hope so. Yeah, we hope so.
Q: Since Javon is coming off two surgeries do you have to guard against making expectations too high for him, especially with Chaz out?
A: Just being smart, I think. You know, guarded, if that’s how you want to call it. But just being smart to make sure we don’t do too much, too fast. But certainly we’d like to get him ready to play a little bit on Saturday
Q: You have first teams go against scout teams, on both offense and defense, to better prepare for a real game week?
A: Yes, we introduced them to the scout teams and the different looks from New Orleans’ offense and kicking and defense and then just trying to get, again, teaching the young players in particular, just kinda how the week goes as you prepare for a game.
Q: Looked like a lot of action with the receivers today, that by design?
A: Yeah, and just again, being a little bit more dialed in about some gameplan thoughts for this week. First time we really gameplanned anything in the preseason so just trying to focus on that a little more.
Q: The TD pass from JaMarcus to Murphy, did JaMarcus look Clements off?
A: He did, because his eyes went to the tight end first, then down, then up top. So it really was a good job of getting through his progression.
Q: Did Louis Murphy surprise you against the Niners?
A: No, no. I mean, through camp, I’ve talked about him quite a bit. Of course, then he got the tail bruise in the Dallas game and all that. But we’ve seen it coming. Certainly seen it coming.
Q: Are you disappointed in Sands since you’ve been hyping Desmond Bryant?
A: I don’t know if I’d say disappointed. I just think it’s a young guy that’s really stepping it up. He just continues to improve daily and played pretty well on Saturday night.
Q: Have you been contacted by the Napa PD?
A: I have not, but that’s all I’m gonna’ say about it.
Q: Have you been contacted by the NFL?
A: I have not.
Q: Why won’t you commment on it?
A: Not going to.
Q: Is Shane’s groin going to hold him out this week?
A: I’m not sure about that. He feels really good today. We’ll see Wednesday when we go back to work where he’s at. We’d really like to kick him, he wants to kick, but certainly we need to be smart with that. We’re talking about a guy that really impacts our team.
Q: Is Michael Bush going to start this week?
A: I’m pretty sure it’ll be him. Yeah. Isn’t that rotation? Yeah.
Q: Is Murphy going to start again?
A: At this point, I would say yes. We’ll get to that later in the week.
Q: Is there a reason that you want to simulate a normal work week?
A: Yes. Yes that’s why. We’re getting–Obviously, the September 14th is a 7:15, so we’ve done that already, then we got a 5:15, we’ll play in Seattle again so I thought it was imperitive to get a mid-day game as most of our games are on Sunday at 1:00.
Q: Have you begun worrying about how to beat the Chargers?
A: You know we’ve done some things. Just really, right now, the most important thing is to keep improving the team and evaluating this team. ‘Cause we’re getting close to those decisions now. So, as that comes, we gotta’ make great choices.
Q: What did you expect to get from Javon Walker?
A: A lot of it was the fact that he has been a terrific player and once we learned of the surgery and the whole deal that took place, you felt like he could bring something to the young guys and if in fact this works, take the chance. So, we’ll see.
Q: How to you light a fire under the the guys at the bottom of the depth chart?
A: We’ve done that each week. We’ve just talked about the opportunity and what goes into it. We show ’em the night before the game what the play time will be and exactly what each of them’s individual opportunity is. We’ve just kinda’ went through preseason the whole way. If you remember early in camp, I mentioned OTA and mini camp is kinda’ like going to Disneyland or whatever. This is like the U.S. Open–every shot you get counts. So, we’ve tried to really be firm with that and get ’em to understand that they’ve gotta’ be at their best.
Q: How did Oren O’Neal handle himself against the Niners?
A: I think well. It didn’t get a ton of opportunities. Missed a deal early down in the redzone, we ran the ball one time and missed a block, but other than that pretty good.
Q: Garcia says that JaMarcus is using him as a resource. Are you seeing that also?
A: I am. I’ve seen it for maybe about two weeks now. I think that it’s that whole process, you know, of getting comfortable and realizing that this guy’s here to help and whatever he can do to help us be a successful team, he’ll do that and I think everyone’s comfortable with that. Certainly JaMarcus is showing that.
Q: Is Russell seeking out Garcia, or the other way around?
A: I think both. I’ve seen both where something goes on and Jeff go to him and talk about it or he’ll come to Jeff and say, ‘Hey what about…da da da da’, or ‘what’d you see there’ so it’s a good relationship that’s starting to grow.
Q: Where do you stand with your return team (punts and kicks)? — Does Nick Miller have a shot?
A: Well, we’ll see, we’ll see. Obviously we have the two guys returning and we want to get them chances, but we want to continue to see what young Nick Miller can do and we’ll just keep pressing that.
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