!49ers.com writer Chrissy Mauck checks in with some updates from head coach Mike Nolan's Saturday afternoon conference call in review of the 49ers game against the Raiders.
Saturday, 5:30PM
Head coach Mike Nolan is currently on conference call with the media.
Nolan said that some highlights included the play late in the game of second-year linebacker Jay Moore, and the early play of receiver Josh Morgan.
Nolan does not have a time table for naming a starter at quarterback for the Packers game. He also doesn't have a time table for when he might ultimately decide on a starter or cease the rotation between Shaun Hill, J.T. O'Sullivan and Alex Smith.
"Yesterday," responded Nolan when asked when it would be a good time to decide. "But, you can't make it then. It has to take its course. It's an important decision. We are not taking it lightly because it's about winning, and the quarterback is key to that."
Nolan didn't feel that there was a clear cut standout among the three quarterbacks in Friday night's game.
He liked the command of the offense by J.T. O'Sullivan, his quick delivery and his ability to move the 49ers offense, but Nolan said the two turnovers were costly and plays that O'Sullivan could have avoided. Although DeShaun Foster got his hands on O'Sullivan's lateral pass, that too was a dangerous play that Nolan said he lumped into the category of the turnovers - one that should have been avoided.
Nolan also said that Alex Smith moved the ball well and avoided the mental errors, but did have some throwing errors.
Evaluating Shaun Hill was the hardest Nolan said since Hill worked late in the game with the third-string.
Justin Smith played 12 plays according to Nolan, and played well. Nolan said that the Ray McDonald sack was a stunt with McDonald and Smith that confused the Raiders offensive line, and indicated that it was a split sack.
Nolan said they are still experimenting with the defensive headsets but that Michael Lewis and Keith Lewis wore them last night. Joe Staley could have a headset at some point, but right now Nolan said he prefers to have his veteran safeties wear them.
Asked about the play of Adam Snyder and Joe Staley on the left side of the line, Nolan said they started out a little soft and that he would like to see them play better, and expects that they will.
Nolan is undecided about whether he'll use Isaac Bruce in the next preseason game against the Packers. If he does, he said it would be limited to none.
He does not expect Bryant Johnson or Ashley Lelie to be back from their injuries this week.
C Eric Heitmann might miss some practice with a hip injury suffered in the game, but should be a go for Green Bay.
RS/CB Allen Rossum has a knee bruise and should be okay for this week. CB Marcus Hudson has a quad contusion and could miss some practice time but should be okay by the end of the week. WR Jason Hill might miss practice early in the week with a groin. T Damane Duckett will miss time with a knee injury.
The PR department will provide a complete transcript, and that will be posted later this evening.
I borrowed a copy of the game from our video department so that I could watch it again tonight. The website was down, thanks to our hosting company, and I spent so much time trying to catch up and update the site that I didn't get to observe as much as I would have liked.
I did count up all of the run - pass plays this morning, just out of curiousity. I figured with the 49ers looking to use Frank Gore sparingly and Michael Robinson also on the shelf with his knee injury, and mostly because of the need to evalute the quarterbacks that Coach Martz would lean towards the pass more and that's the way it broke out.
According to my count...
There were 6 runs and 6 passes in the first quarter.
There were 5 runs and 13 passes in the second quarter.
There were 3 runs and 5 passes in the third quarter.
There were 2 runs and 18 passes in the fourth quarter.
That's a total of 16 run plays and 42 pass plays.
O'Sullivan was in for 18 plays. 11 of his were designated pass plays, 7 were runs.
Smith was in for 14 plays. 9 of his were pass plays, 5 were runs.
Hill was in for 26 plays. 22 of them were pass plays.
(not counting plays that were done over due to penalties)
