OT - Niner QB rips his coach.

[JoMal]

Here is a question for you all.

The NFL is known for its image of tough players who play through injuries and still produce.

The 49'ers quarterback, Alex Smith, recently had his throwing shoulder dislocated, was sidelined for a few games, came back and clearly was not right, as he grimaced after every misdirected throw he made. He finally just said he could not continue playing with it and sat down. His coach, Mike Nolan, essentially said Smith's bad shoulder was not as bad as the player was making it out to be. His comments to his team basically were that injuries should never be an excuse for poor play, then praised Smith's backup, Trent Dilfer, for his toughness and giving his team a chance at winning (ha ha) the games he started.

Today, in the San Jose Mercury News, Smith shot back at his coach:

http://www.mercurynews.com/sportsheadlines/ci_7689770?nclick_check=1

The gist of what he said was "that Nolan has tried to "undermine" his reputation in the locker room"

"Smith said Nolan made it clear to teammates that the quarterback was using injuries as an excuse for poor performance, a charge that has left Smith's locker-room reputation in shambles."

Smith said he is frustrated with Nolan's public comments, which he refers to as Nolan's spin on the subject of his shoulder, that have brought Smith's toughness into question. Smith initiated this very public media dialogue at this time because his latest doctor has confirmed his shoulder is indeed severely injured and will now require surgery to repair it - which may have been unnecessary had Smith not tried to play with the injury.

My question is - who blundered here? Smith clearly is burning his bridges in S.F., but is he also not likely burning down his own NFL career by voicing these things in the media instead of the lockerroom? As for Nolan, there just are no excuses for a coach denying a severe injury on his most expensive commodity, playing him when he clearly was wincing after every play in one game, and then essentially telling his players the quarterback is faking the severity of the problem, leading many Niner players to nickname Smith "the Lion" - a derogatory reference to the cowardly lion of the Wizard of Oz.

The way I see it, Smith is done as a San Francisco 49'er, but Nolan has shown he has virtually no loyalty to a player HE drafted and was responsible for preparing for the NFL, and now is tossing aside in the most embarassing fashion possible for an NFL player.

[Laker Fan]

Nolan's rep as a coach is highly suspect as the Niners are a floundering mess under his inept tutelage. Alex Smith spends most of his time on his back shaking out the cobwebs as the all-female offensive line of the Niners (that Nolan had a very big say in assembling) proves time and again they couldn't stop a high school teams pass rush.

I don't blame Smith ONE BIT for his frustration and his lashing out, Nolan has NO BUSINESS coaching at this level and his decision to put a clearly hurt quarterback back behind an O line that is the biggest joke in the NFL and then calling him out publicly and in the locker room is outrageous, GET HIM SOME PROTECTION NOLAN!!!!!!!!!! The Niners line has more holes in it than a set of Sacramento teeth .

[JoMal]

Nolan's rep as a coach is highly suspect as the Niners are a floundering mess under his inept tutelage. Alex Smith spends most of his time on his back shaking out the cobwebs as the all-female offensive line of the Niners (that Nolan had a very big say in assembling) proves time and again they couldn't stop a high school teams pass rush.

Not to mention that Smith has had three differenct offensive coordinators in his three years in S.F. The best one was Norv Turner, who was actually making something out of Smith last year, and Alex stayed healthy for all 16 games as well; only one of four NFL starting QB's who could say that.

I don't blame Smith ONE BIT for his frustration and his lashing out, Nolan has NO BUSINESS coaching at this level and his decision to put a clearly hurt quarterback back behind an O line that is the biggest joke in the NFL and then calling him out publicly and in the locker room is outrageous, GET HIM SOME PROTECTION NOLAN!!!!!!!!!!

Not only is Nolan the coach, he is the team's GM as well. He is clearly over his head holding down both jobs. His comments to the media over all of this is that anyone who says different about how Alex looked after injuring his arm doesn't have a medical degree so should just shut up about it. Implying, I guess, that Nolan DOES have that medical degree himself, or only believes the medical staff on retainer by the Niners.

The Niners line has more holes in it than a set of Sacramento teeth .   

Yes, we only export those holey teeth down south, where LA ites buy them up at premium prices because they are advertised as "designer" teeth so users can all look like Survivor contestants. 

[jn]

It's seems like forever since the Niners had a good, injury free offensive line.  Things are really a mess out there.  There's some talent out there like Gore and the LB Willis but there has also been some bad decision making by Nolen and now the atmosphere seems to be getting downright poisonous. 
 
The Smith situation reminds me of a solid piece of wisdom from McHale. (No, really).  McHale played through some serious foot problems in the late 80's and it ended was never the same after.  From that he learned there is a difference between "playing hurt" and "playing injured".   If you've got some bumps and bruises or a mild sprain you should be out there.  Obviously, Smith's situation went way beyond just being dinged up and Nolan refused to recognize it.

[JoMal]

Big article in the NorCal papers today about how Smith and Nolan have made up and will work together next year for the good of the team and the rest of the players and <yadda, yadda, yadda>......

Nolan is starting to annoy me. He clearly is feeding the newsmen bullsh** about the true nature of their relationship, saying the same lame quotes he gave back in November when this rift first surfaced in the media. His work with this team now has to be questioned much more then how Smith has performed for this team. Alex has no worthwhile receivers to throw to on this team except an overworked Vernon Davis at TE. The remade offensive line is just offensive now, leaving any QB unfortunate enough to be put behind it a sitting duck to angry D-linemen.

Last year, under Norv Turner as the Niner Offensive Coordinator, Smith was used successfully in roll-outs and he ran for yardage a bit. In other words, Turner saw where Smith's abilities lay and exploited them so Alex looked comfortable and produced, while reducing the subpar work the O-line was putting in, letting them just run block for Gore, who also benefitted from the adjustments. Smith also played and started in every game last year without any injury issues at all.

So what is so different this year? Well, the new Offensive Coordinator simply sucks, for one thing. Ignoring the flaws in the wide receivers, the inadequacies of the offensive line, and not utilizing Smith the same way Turner did, he has exposed how poor the line is in protecting anything, reduced their effectiveness in blowing holes for Gore to run through, and left Smith open to critizism from all sides for not being Peyton Manning. He is 23 years old, has had three offensive coaches in three years, no wide receivers worthy of the name to throw to, and a below average offensive line to play behind.

And Nolan implies that Smith is the problem and he should play through injuries.