SmashMouth

So many teams in the NFL use two or three tailbacks to divide the load, but not in your system. Is that a compliment to him specifically?

San Francisco 49ers Coach Mike Singletary

Conference Call With New Orleans Media

Thursday, September 16, 2010

In terms of Frank Gore, do you have a personal philosophy of having a workhorse back or is he the type of player that warrants that many touches?

“I do like the fact that we have a workhorse in Frank. He’ll have his opportunities as the year goes on.”

So many teams in the NFL use two or three tailbacks to divide the load, but not in your system. Is that a compliment to him specifically?


“Yes, it is. He’s definitely the guy that wants the football. That is a credit to him.”

There’s some thinking that maybe even you’re a more dangerous team coming off that loss. Are you a more dangerous team now than a week ago?

“I don’t know about all of that. I guess the best thing for us to do is just to continue to work and get better. We have a 16 game season.”

Do you not feel a specific sense of urgency attached to this game?

“Not any more than week one.”

Was the Sunday night meeting something you’ve done in the past or have you ever been a part of that?

“As a head coach, I think it’s important to have the pulse of your team and for me, things were addressed after the game. I just wanted to make sure that when we got back that everybody understood what I said and exactly what I meant, so we were on the same page, so we didn’t have any conversations in the parking lot or in the bathroom, outside. I’m the kind of guy; I always like to make sure people understand what I’m saying very well. I don’t like gray. I let you know exactly what I’m saying and what I mean.”

Can you give us the Cliff’s Notes version of what you said and what you meant?

“Absolutely not.”

Did you feel that when you drove home that night, assuming you went home, did you feel better about things that night?

“I just knew that there was no misunderstanding after that meeting. I didn’t want any loose ends. I felt very good about that.”

Did you practice yesterday or give them yesterday off?

“We practice every day.”

Did you feel things have been crisper since the talk and the game?

“From week to week, I’d like to think we get a little bit better from one week to the next.”

In your opinion as a coach and as a player it has always been thrown around that teams get better between the first and second game. Is that something you’ve experienced in your career?

“I’ve never really looked at it like that, but I think when you have something you are trying to build you definitely want to see the things you did the week before corrected. If they don’t get corrected then there are some issues deeper than reaches the surface.”

Did your defense not play as bad as the score indicated in that you gave up only 242 yards?


“I was encouraged by a lot of things they did. I thought in this league when you turn the ball over, especially in the red zone, it’s going to be difficult to win football games. As long as you don’t lose sight of that and understand that, you have a chance to put things in perspective and move forward.”

Is the Saints offense a big challenge? Having a little bit of a rough time against the Vikings, how much of that can you pick out of the Vikings to help you?


“I just think that we are playing the World Champions of last year. I think it’s a tremendous challenge for us. I’m very excited about that. You look at the Vikings game and you look at some other games from last year, they are a very well-coached football team. They play hard. They’re a physical team. We just have to continue to do all we can to prepare ourselves for Monday night.”

read more