SF Examiner: No resting for San Francisco 49ers' reborn QB Alex Smith

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Maybe they should rename it bye-bye week. NFL teams have been getting their break, and many subsequently have been breaking down. That sobering thought was presented Wednesday at Ninerville by Alex Smith, who along with his teammates is coming off a bye.

“I’ve seen the reports,” said Smith, the 49ers’ quarterback. “Teams coming off their bye week this season are 3-9.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh is doing it his way

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Who cares about decorum? If the people running the 49ers — meaning Jed York — cared about decorum, protocol or manners, they might have hired someone who knew how to shake hands.

Instead, they hired someone who knows how to win football games. Shake that.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Al Davis had lasting impact on 49ers, Raiders coaches

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

The man knew football. Also football coaches. Al Davis gave Jim Harbaugh his first pro coaching position. Al Davis gave Hue Jackson his first pro head coaching position.

Davis had his well-reported faults, but consider his virtues. Those two gentlemen always will.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: Not time for 49ers, Raiders to push panic button yet

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

There’s a segment on ESPN in which a former player, now employed by the network, tries to judge an NFL team’s immediate future. It’s labeled “Patience or Panic,” which is self-explanatory. In the Bay Area, it would be called “Panic or Doctor, can I get a prescription for sedatives?”

After two games, the 49ers and Raiders are 1-1. And people are giving up already. Maybe...

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company

SF Examiner: 49ers' Jim Harbaugh already mastering coachspeak

By Art Spander
Special to The Examiner

Jim Harbaugh is as much a football coach as a psychologist is a pixie. His words are measured, his thoughts unlimited. There’s a reason for every comment, just as there is for every play call.

Wednesday at 49ers Central in Santa Clara — and via phone hookup — Jason Garrett of the Dallas Cowboys, who play the Niners on Sunday at Candlestick Park, said what one coach always says about another: That Harbaugh is brilliant.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2011 SF Newspaper Company