SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) -Alex Smith suited up to watch practice Friday. While Shaun Hill and J.T. O’Sullivan led the 49ers through a workout, the former No. 1 draft selection did a few drills and then stood off to the side, still not sure what role he’ll play when the snaps count.
Yet after three losing seasons, 30 starts and one embarrassingly public blowout with coach Mike Nolan, Smith claims he’s content to wait his turn while the 49ers’ staff sorts out its unusual three-man quarterback competition.
After seven days of heavy throwing in camp, Smith actually was grateful for a chance to rest his surgically repaired right shoulder. Though Hill and O’Sullivan got all the action Friday, Smith says he’s getting plenty of chances under Mike Martz, the fourth offensive coordinator of his career.
“It’s a ton of fun,” Smith said. “I don’t know why any quarterback wouldn’t want to be a part of this. (I’m) much more comfortable now than the first few days, that’s for sure. … This is the most throwing we’ll do at any time. To blow it out in the first few weeks would be dumb. When your pitch count is that high, it’s time for a day off.”
Smith, Hill and O’Sullivan all have an opportunity to win the starting job, Nolan proclaimed earlier in the summer. He said it again Thursday when he justified his decision to rest Hill’s weary arm by putting O’Sullivan to work with the first-stringers, even though Smith and Hill had taken every practice snap to that point in what logically seemed to be a two-man duel.
“For me, it’s no different,” Smith said. “I’m still going to try to take advantage of the reps I get out there. Obviously, there will be a difference with three guys instead of two, as far as the numbers go. Other than that, whether you’re competing against one or two guys, that really doesn’t change my mind-set.”
Many NFL teams might consider the Niners’ three-man competition to be an unconventional arrangement. Most coaches prefer to give their top two quarterbacks most of the practice time, particularly with a new offensive coordinator during the important installation days of training camp.
But Nolan never has been one to bow to convention, particularly in the treatment of his quarterbacks.
“That was in the plan all along, as far as how to get these guys some rest,” Nolan said. “Naturally, it’s his turn now. I am confident that we have three quarterbacks we can win with. I feel very good about that, but the competition obviously is still going on.”
Smith and Nolan had a lengthy public disagreement about the state of Smith’s arm last season, with Smith eventually going public with worries about his own health even while Nolan insisted nothing was wrong with his quarterback. The two clashed again later in the year when Smith lashed out about Nolan’s locker-room disparagement of his toughness.
Those wounds seem healed now, partly because both men realize they could be gone next year if they can’t end San Francisco’s string of five consecutive losing seasons. When Martz was hired to revive what was the NFL’s worst offense in both 2005 and 2007, Smith and Nolan both embraced the chance for a fresh start.
Martz hasn’t passed much of a public judgment on any of his new quarterbacks, but Smith clearly is eager for the chance to play for a proven offensive coach. Smith, a flailing rookie in 2005, had his only respectable NFL season in 2006 under Norv Turner before struggling last year with rookie coordinator Jim Hostler, who was fired.
Smith spends several hours most days in film study, picking up nuances of Martz’s schemes. He thinks the practice schedules and the heavy throwing workouts are part of an overall test by Martz, who wants to see how his quarterbacks handle an avalanche of new information.
“What you realize about this offense is it’s constantly evolving,” Smith said. “We’re always putting new things in, looking to change things and getting better and better. There’s so much detail that goes into this, and I’m just getting more and more of it.”
Add A Comment