Renz
An Army of One
RE: Opening statement:
“Going down to Arizona will be the first regular-season game in the new stadium. I’m led to believe it will be a packed house, that’s a little something different from an Arizona standpoint. Usually when you go down there it’s outside and not quite as noisy as it will be, so we’ll have to prepare for the noise that we could potentially have in that stadium. I know they’ll be jazzed up and excited to play that game. It’s not only their first home game, but it’s also a divisional opponent. It’s extremely important to both football teams. Something we need to accomplish this week is the field position. It will be an important part of the game, as it is every game. I think it will be very important in this game, because of the explosiveness of their wide receiving corps. Their running back, Edgerrin James, is an outstanding player. I’ve gone against him many times over the years. I know he hasn’t played a lot in the pre-season, but he’s an explosive player. From that standpoint, it will be really important.”
RE: In your experience, does a team get a bit of a lift from being in a new stadium?
“I believe so, yeah. I think the biggest thing that encourages that lift is the fact that it’s a packed house. They’re noisy. They’re excited to be there. That’s really what generates the enthusiasm more than anything else. To go in a new house and not have a fan base there, I don’t think it’s near as effective. But when you have your fans there, I believe that’s what generates the adrenaline flow the players get. That will have as much to do with it as anything. Also, putting a lid on it, which they’ve done, keeps all of the noise in.”
RE: Would you rather not be the team that breaks in the stadium?
“No. I love to be that team. For what? I don’t know. It makes something more of the game, I guess.”
RE: Is it coincidence or scheduling that you are the first team to play in that stadium?
“I don’t know how they did that. I’ve heard two different things. I’ve heard that they scheduled us and I’ve also heard that the league said no one gets a say in who plays who at what time. I don’t know what the truth of that story is.”
RE: Which version are you going to be telling your team?
“Both. If they had a choice, I’m not sure who they would pick. Right now, it’s been espoused to us that teams don’t have a pick in who they schedule.”
RE: Have you submitted a wish list for when you would like to play certain teams?
“No. I’ve never been asked that question.”
RE: What are your thoughts about starting on the road with this young team as opposed to home?
“As we’re all well aware, the last few years we have not been a good road team. We pulled off a road victory last year in our last road game against St. Louis, which was a big victory for us. Even coming back from a deficit in that game to do it, that was big. I would like to think that we could take some of that into this game, but it is a different game as far as who we’re playing. It’s not like they need to get revenge. They beat us twice last year, even on our own home field. I think they divisional games are always a bit more special for players, because they know the opponent better, for one. They also know the importance of the game. Going on the road is something we’ll need to deal with and get better at. I’d like to think that we’ve already started getting better at that, so we’ll see where that game takes us.”
RE: Is there less distraction on the road?
“There can be. It all depends on what family follows you. Some guys have family that parade around everywhere they go and they have a lot of distractions. I don’t know how many homecomings it will be for guys on our team, but I know in the NFL there are a lot of guys who make their off-season residence in Arizona. We might have a few more. Outside of that, I think we have a pretty focused group. It is a young group. We’ll see how we handle it, but it’s a good group.”
RE: Doesn’t it all revolve around QB Alex Smith getting a good start?
“Offensively, we need to understand that we need to do it collectively. If you top it all on one person, that’s unfair, because that’s not how good offenses work. Certainly the quarterback pulls the trigger every snap, as far as who he gives it to in the running game and the passing game. I’d like to see him come on, but if he starts a little slow and picks it up, that’s good with me. If we get a victory, I’ll take it anyway we can get it.”
RE: Do you look forward to someday having a new stadium yourself to bring the team into?
“I’d like to think it would happen sooner than later. Selfishly I think it would be great for me, great for the team, great for the organization, but it’s a great thing for the fans. I’ve been in a lot of stadiums, naturally. Anybody that has gone to games around the country has been in different stadiums. There are a lot of beautiful stadiums around the entire league that take care of the fans extremely well. It makes the entire game experience that much better. I think it’s a great fan thing, as well.”
RE: If the Cardinals are down to one last play and you’re in your red zone. Who do you double cover - WR Larry Fitzgerald or WR Anquan Boldin?
“You could double both, you know.”
RE: Wouldn’t that leave RB Edgerrin James exposed?
“You could still double three. They have five eligible and we have 11 guys on defense, so we could double all of them and put one on the quarterback. It would be a lot of guys rushing. Maybe that’s a good idea. We might put that in.”
RE: How much of Edgerrin James would you expect to see since the Cardinals have such good receivers?
“That’s a good question. It will certainly explain their commitment to the running game with what they do. I know that philosophically Coach Denny Green has been very big on the explosive plays offensively. It shows in not only his style of offense they run, but also in the style of players he has. He has got very physical, big, tall wide receivers that are great targets for the quarterback to throw to. They use the vertical game quite a bit. They did in both of our games last year. They do it against everyone. It’s not new. It’s not just for us. I don’t know how much they will go to Edgerrin. I know that they didn’t bring him in there just to watch, so we’ll see how it goes.”
RE: How do you try to combat a team with two really good wide receivers?
“I don’t want to get into game planning stuff. To answer that question properly, that’s what I would have to do, but it’s a real good question. It’s not easy, let’s just say that. It’s not easy.”
RE: Are you happy with the way the team handled penalties in the pre-season?
“Yes, because with a young football team, that’s typically something you get a lot of. You do get a lot of penalties. Last year, we had a lot. We started early. We were jumping off-sides, fumbling snaps, doing things like that. Thus far, knock on wood, we’ve done very well. Especially this, we do a lot more shifting in motion than we did last year. The year of maturity, the year under the belt of our young players, has really helped. It shows. If there is an advantage to having a lot of young guys a year ago, they all played. The disadvantage was that we couldn’t place young guys like Derrick Johnson and Rasheed Marshall on the practice squad this year, because they played last year. They’re not eligible. There are ups and downs, but the upside I’ll take. They’ve got a year more of experience and hopefully, when they get in their third, fourth, and fifth years, we’ve got guys playing like they’re in their sixth or seventh.”
RE: You still have a “Win the West” banner. Going into the season with the roster you have, what is a realistic goal for this season?
“I think that’s becoming more realistic for our football team. I don’t know that it will be there. My first goal is that we try to make the playoffs. That’s our reasonable goal. I think an outstanding goal is to win the division. Seattle being a Super Bowl team last year, although they were the loser, obviously is a very good football team. At the same time, you never know what the season brings. We’re very healthy at this time. I’m excited about that. We’ve got a healthy roster. We’ve got a lot of healthy players. We don’t have a lot of players who, by history, tend to carry a lot of injuries. That’s important in staying healthy. Healthy guys stay healthy a lot of times. Guys who are injured all of the time are prone to getting injured. I’d like to think we stay healthy and if we do, we have the opportunity to accomplish some goals.”
RE: How comfortable are you with where the secondary is at this point?
“I don’t know how to answer that, certainly not from a percentage standpoint. I guess the best thing I can say is that everybody starts at one place and you finish in another. If we were playing in the 16th week with the first week secondary against somebody else who has 16 weeks of experience, then that’s not where we want to be. But we’re all starting in the same place. Offensively, they’re just coming together and hopefully, we’re doing the same defensively. The game will dictate where we are more than anything else. Hopefully we’re in a place where we can produce a win.”
RE: How has CB Shawntae Spencer reacted to having practiced the last few days?
“He has been good.”
RE: Will you be relying on rookies more this season than last year?
“I don’t know. I haven’t done the numbers on which guys. Some of the players I look for to be our best players in going forward are young guys, whether it’s QB Alex Smith, G Adam Snyder, RB Frank Gore, TE Vernon Davis or LB Manny Lawson. All of the guys that were our first day draft picks, and even some that were our second day draft picks like RB Michael Robinson or TE Delanie Walker, I expect to be playmakers for us. They will be integral parts of the successes we have. Without them, we’re not near as good. I would hope that they contribute quite a bit this year. I hope they perform to our expectations.”
RE: Do you tell your team it’s a big game or do you play it level week to week?
“From our standpoint, every game is a big game, as you all know. You just take them one at a time. That’s a cliché maybe, but some teams do try to paint out a season like this, ‘You have to win all of your home games. You have to split on the road.’ There will be a time, I believe, when we’re pretty good and I can say, ‘Look, team. This is what we’ve got to do to get it done this year, to get back to where we were.’ Right now, we’re just trying to get to a place we haven’t been with this team, so we take it week to week. This is the biggest game of the week for us, as crazy as that sounds, because it’s the only game we play. That’s because we’re a young team. If you take them anywhere past that, you can lose them. The college guys are thinking, ‘We’re going to be playing in December and January.’ You don’t want to take them there, because they might start thinking about Christmas presents and things. They’ll really get lost.”
RE: In the pre-season, you said you expected a 60-40 run to pass ratio. Have you seen anything that will make you change that in the regular season?
“No, not at all. That’s the way I expect the season to end up. Game by game, it will be whatever that game dictates to get the victory. If you’re way ahead, you’ll do more runs. If you’re behind and trying to chase somebody, you’ll have more passes. I’d like to think that in the end, if things have gone correctly, we’ll be about 60-40. If things are 50-50, that means either we’ve had an injury or we haven’t won as many as we would like, because then we’re having to put the ball in the air a little more.”
http://www.49ers.com/pressbox/news_detail.php?PRKey=2259§ion=PR News
“Going down to Arizona will be the first regular-season game in the new stadium. I’m led to believe it will be a packed house, that’s a little something different from an Arizona standpoint. Usually when you go down there it’s outside and not quite as noisy as it will be, so we’ll have to prepare for the noise that we could potentially have in that stadium. I know they’ll be jazzed up and excited to play that game. It’s not only their first home game, but it’s also a divisional opponent. It’s extremely important to both football teams. Something we need to accomplish this week is the field position. It will be an important part of the game, as it is every game. I think it will be very important in this game, because of the explosiveness of their wide receiving corps. Their running back, Edgerrin James, is an outstanding player. I’ve gone against him many times over the years. I know he hasn’t played a lot in the pre-season, but he’s an explosive player. From that standpoint, it will be really important.”
RE: In your experience, does a team get a bit of a lift from being in a new stadium?
“I believe so, yeah. I think the biggest thing that encourages that lift is the fact that it’s a packed house. They’re noisy. They’re excited to be there. That’s really what generates the enthusiasm more than anything else. To go in a new house and not have a fan base there, I don’t think it’s near as effective. But when you have your fans there, I believe that’s what generates the adrenaline flow the players get. That will have as much to do with it as anything. Also, putting a lid on it, which they’ve done, keeps all of the noise in.”
RE: Would you rather not be the team that breaks in the stadium?
“No. I love to be that team. For what? I don’t know. It makes something more of the game, I guess.”
RE: Is it coincidence or scheduling that you are the first team to play in that stadium?
“I don’t know how they did that. I’ve heard two different things. I’ve heard that they scheduled us and I’ve also heard that the league said no one gets a say in who plays who at what time. I don’t know what the truth of that story is.”
RE: Which version are you going to be telling your team?
“Both. If they had a choice, I’m not sure who they would pick. Right now, it’s been espoused to us that teams don’t have a pick in who they schedule.”
RE: Have you submitted a wish list for when you would like to play certain teams?
“No. I’ve never been asked that question.”
RE: What are your thoughts about starting on the road with this young team as opposed to home?
“As we’re all well aware, the last few years we have not been a good road team. We pulled off a road victory last year in our last road game against St. Louis, which was a big victory for us. Even coming back from a deficit in that game to do it, that was big. I would like to think that we could take some of that into this game, but it is a different game as far as who we’re playing. It’s not like they need to get revenge. They beat us twice last year, even on our own home field. I think they divisional games are always a bit more special for players, because they know the opponent better, for one. They also know the importance of the game. Going on the road is something we’ll need to deal with and get better at. I’d like to think that we’ve already started getting better at that, so we’ll see where that game takes us.”
RE: Is there less distraction on the road?
“There can be. It all depends on what family follows you. Some guys have family that parade around everywhere they go and they have a lot of distractions. I don’t know how many homecomings it will be for guys on our team, but I know in the NFL there are a lot of guys who make their off-season residence in Arizona. We might have a few more. Outside of that, I think we have a pretty focused group. It is a young group. We’ll see how we handle it, but it’s a good group.”
RE: Doesn’t it all revolve around QB Alex Smith getting a good start?
“Offensively, we need to understand that we need to do it collectively. If you top it all on one person, that’s unfair, because that’s not how good offenses work. Certainly the quarterback pulls the trigger every snap, as far as who he gives it to in the running game and the passing game. I’d like to see him come on, but if he starts a little slow and picks it up, that’s good with me. If we get a victory, I’ll take it anyway we can get it.”
RE: Do you look forward to someday having a new stadium yourself to bring the team into?
“I’d like to think it would happen sooner than later. Selfishly I think it would be great for me, great for the team, great for the organization, but it’s a great thing for the fans. I’ve been in a lot of stadiums, naturally. Anybody that has gone to games around the country has been in different stadiums. There are a lot of beautiful stadiums around the entire league that take care of the fans extremely well. It makes the entire game experience that much better. I think it’s a great fan thing, as well.”
RE: If the Cardinals are down to one last play and you’re in your red zone. Who do you double cover - WR Larry Fitzgerald or WR Anquan Boldin?
“You could double both, you know.”
RE: Wouldn’t that leave RB Edgerrin James exposed?
“You could still double three. They have five eligible and we have 11 guys on defense, so we could double all of them and put one on the quarterback. It would be a lot of guys rushing. Maybe that’s a good idea. We might put that in.”
RE: How much of Edgerrin James would you expect to see since the Cardinals have such good receivers?
“That’s a good question. It will certainly explain their commitment to the running game with what they do. I know that philosophically Coach Denny Green has been very big on the explosive plays offensively. It shows in not only his style of offense they run, but also in the style of players he has. He has got very physical, big, tall wide receivers that are great targets for the quarterback to throw to. They use the vertical game quite a bit. They did in both of our games last year. They do it against everyone. It’s not new. It’s not just for us. I don’t know how much they will go to Edgerrin. I know that they didn’t bring him in there just to watch, so we’ll see how it goes.”
RE: How do you try to combat a team with two really good wide receivers?
“I don’t want to get into game planning stuff. To answer that question properly, that’s what I would have to do, but it’s a real good question. It’s not easy, let’s just say that. It’s not easy.”
RE: Are you happy with the way the team handled penalties in the pre-season?
“Yes, because with a young football team, that’s typically something you get a lot of. You do get a lot of penalties. Last year, we had a lot. We started early. We were jumping off-sides, fumbling snaps, doing things like that. Thus far, knock on wood, we’ve done very well. Especially this, we do a lot more shifting in motion than we did last year. The year of maturity, the year under the belt of our young players, has really helped. It shows. If there is an advantage to having a lot of young guys a year ago, they all played. The disadvantage was that we couldn’t place young guys like Derrick Johnson and Rasheed Marshall on the practice squad this year, because they played last year. They’re not eligible. There are ups and downs, but the upside I’ll take. They’ve got a year more of experience and hopefully, when they get in their third, fourth, and fifth years, we’ve got guys playing like they’re in their sixth or seventh.”
RE: You still have a “Win the West” banner. Going into the season with the roster you have, what is a realistic goal for this season?
“I think that’s becoming more realistic for our football team. I don’t know that it will be there. My first goal is that we try to make the playoffs. That’s our reasonable goal. I think an outstanding goal is to win the division. Seattle being a Super Bowl team last year, although they were the loser, obviously is a very good football team. At the same time, you never know what the season brings. We’re very healthy at this time. I’m excited about that. We’ve got a healthy roster. We’ve got a lot of healthy players. We don’t have a lot of players who, by history, tend to carry a lot of injuries. That’s important in staying healthy. Healthy guys stay healthy a lot of times. Guys who are injured all of the time are prone to getting injured. I’d like to think we stay healthy and if we do, we have the opportunity to accomplish some goals.”
RE: How comfortable are you with where the secondary is at this point?
“I don’t know how to answer that, certainly not from a percentage standpoint. I guess the best thing I can say is that everybody starts at one place and you finish in another. If we were playing in the 16th week with the first week secondary against somebody else who has 16 weeks of experience, then that’s not where we want to be. But we’re all starting in the same place. Offensively, they’re just coming together and hopefully, we’re doing the same defensively. The game will dictate where we are more than anything else. Hopefully we’re in a place where we can produce a win.”
RE: How has CB Shawntae Spencer reacted to having practiced the last few days?
“He has been good.”
RE: Will you be relying on rookies more this season than last year?
“I don’t know. I haven’t done the numbers on which guys. Some of the players I look for to be our best players in going forward are young guys, whether it’s QB Alex Smith, G Adam Snyder, RB Frank Gore, TE Vernon Davis or LB Manny Lawson. All of the guys that were our first day draft picks, and even some that were our second day draft picks like RB Michael Robinson or TE Delanie Walker, I expect to be playmakers for us. They will be integral parts of the successes we have. Without them, we’re not near as good. I would hope that they contribute quite a bit this year. I hope they perform to our expectations.”
RE: Do you tell your team it’s a big game or do you play it level week to week?
“From our standpoint, every game is a big game, as you all know. You just take them one at a time. That’s a cliché maybe, but some teams do try to paint out a season like this, ‘You have to win all of your home games. You have to split on the road.’ There will be a time, I believe, when we’re pretty good and I can say, ‘Look, team. This is what we’ve got to do to get it done this year, to get back to where we were.’ Right now, we’re just trying to get to a place we haven’t been with this team, so we take it week to week. This is the biggest game of the week for us, as crazy as that sounds, because it’s the only game we play. That’s because we’re a young team. If you take them anywhere past that, you can lose them. The college guys are thinking, ‘We’re going to be playing in December and January.’ You don’t want to take them there, because they might start thinking about Christmas presents and things. They’ll really get lost.”
RE: In the pre-season, you said you expected a 60-40 run to pass ratio. Have you seen anything that will make you change that in the regular season?
“No, not at all. That’s the way I expect the season to end up. Game by game, it will be whatever that game dictates to get the victory. If you’re way ahead, you’ll do more runs. If you’re behind and trying to chase somebody, you’ll have more passes. I’d like to think that in the end, if things have gone correctly, we’ll be about 60-40. If things are 50-50, that means either we’ve had an injury or we haven’t won as many as we would like, because then we’re having to put the ball in the air a little more.”
http://www.49ers.com/pressbox/news_detail.php?PRKey=2259§ion=PR News
