49ers’ Harbaugh Is Happy Out of His Comfort Zone
Whistle-blowing trains rumble past the practice field at routine intervals, just a David Akers chip shot from the far end zone. The screams of passengers being flung upside down on a ride at a theme park next door mix with the shrill tweets of coaches’ whistles. Then there’s the sports-radio chatter, growing more vociferous every day, about the competence of the returning quarterback, Alex Smith, who struggled against a blitzing New Orleans defense Friday night in a 24-3 preseason loss. Jim Harbaugh, the 49ers’ first-year coach and a former N.F.L. quarterback, has said all along that the starting job is Smith’s to lose. After <a href="www.trading666.com"><strong>wholesale Cheap Replica Handbags from china </strong></a> the setback to the Saints, Harbaugh said Smith, who signed a one-year contract to return for his seventh season, remained the front-runner. But he did not discount the possibility that the 49ers would add a veteran quarterback “if the right person” became available. In an interview this month, Harbaugh was asked what he liked about Smith. “This is a new start,” he said. “I like the fact that he wanted to do it here.” Harbaugh, 47, came from Stanford, where he was mentoring an N.F.L.-ready quarterback in Andrew Luck. During the lockout, Harbaugh occasionally wondered if he would be coaching anybody this fall. But even at the negotiations’ lowest points, he never second-guessed his decision to opt out of college for the N.F.L. “That was kind of one of the reasons I took this job,” Harbaugh said. “I didn’t want to be in any kind of comfort zone. I didn’t want to be in any kind of guaranteed situation. The fact that it was uncharted waters, try to figure out ways to do things, gave me energy.” At a practice this month, Harbaugh zipped throws to Braylon Edwards, the former Jet who signed with the 49ers as a free agent. Harbaugh rushed toward his quarterbacks during a passing drill like a basketball player defending a 3-point shooter. The previous day he spent several minutes lined up behind the team’s new center, Jonathan Goodwin, tutoring his quarterbacks on where to <a href="http://www.trading666.com/T-shirt-polo-men-t-shirt-f2-61-c3-89.html"><strong>wholesale fashion polo men t-shirt online from china </strong></a> place their hands to receive the snap. Smith’s backups — Colin Kaepernick, a second-round draft pick out of Nevada, and Jeremiah Masoli, who was undrafted — played out of the shotgun in college. “So there’s some extra teaching that needs to go on with those guys,” Harbaugh said with a twinkle in his eye. Harbaugh is fiercely competitive, with the potential to be the West Coast version of the Jets’ Rex Ryan if only he would let his mouth run free. “I just like being the guy who throws the rocks at the beehive every now and then,” he said. So far the rocks have stayed in his pockets. Harbaugh has not taken aim at Pete Carroll, the coach of the division rival Seahawks, whose skin he burrowed under when he was at Stanford and ran up the score on one of Carroll’s Southern California teams. There have been no challenges issued along the lines of, “I think we need to find someone else besides the 49ers to beat the Seahawks.” Harbaugh meets with the beat writers every other day — most coaches take questions daily during training camp — and even then, he does so with something less than a smile on his face. After a recent practice, he challenged a reporter who pointed out that one running back had gotten very few carries, saying, “I don’t even know if you’re right, so it’s hard to comment on it.” In the wake of the loss to the Saints, Harbaugh took umbrage <a href="http://utenti.multimania.it/sihaya10191/displayimage.php?pos=-72"><strong>Telling The Difference Between False And Real Women Designer Bags ...</strong></a> with someone who suggested that the offensive line, which gave up six sacks, had played poorly. “You make that statement,” Harbaugh said, “and by me even answering it, it would validate what you’re saying.”
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