49ers, Nolan remain in Smith's corner
QB has thrown 5 picks in last 2 games
- Kevin Lynch, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Alex Smith certainly hasn't played great during the 49ers' three-game
losing streak, but the quarterback's teammates and coaches are in no
way blaming him for the skid.

When the 49ers won three straight in November, Smith seemed almost an
accessory. He was the guy who handed the ball to running back Frank
Gore and maybe made a short throw to keep a drive alive.

But in the last two games, Smith has been the object of fan scorn
because of his five interceptions.

Coach Mike Nolan said to level responsibility at the cleats of the
quarterback is to minimize the other parts of the team that have
faltered. Nolan defended Smith vehemently when asked if he considered
benching Smith in favor of Trent Dilfer.

"I think it would be more of a setback if we did that with him," Nolan
said. "Dilfer, as competitive as he is and as bad as he would like to
play, would be the first to say, 'Coach, bad decision. You got this
young kid here who's going to be a hell of a quarterback. Make this kid
learn.' "

Dilfer tutored Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who will face the
49ers on Thursday night in Seattle. Dilfer agreed with Nolan in the
strongest of terms.

"The next time the 49ers go to a Super Bowl, the quarterback isn't
going to be me or anybody else," Dilfer said. "It's going to be Alex
Smith. ... I've told Alex this many times, he has more potential than
Hasselbeck. And Matt is a good friend of mine."

Even Brett Favre, whose Packers beat Smith and the 49ers 30-19 on
Sunday, pulled 49ers offensive coordinator Norv Turner aside after
Sunday's game to tell Turner how impressed he was with Smith. In
particular, Favre was wowed by Smith's 35-yard completion to tight end
Vernon Davis in the fourth quarter that was nullified by a holding
call.

"He's going to be a heck of a player," Favre said after the game. "I
can see why they drafted him. In a year or two, he'll be lighting them
up."

Dilfer said the losing has focused criticism on Smith's poor plays,
such as the decision to try to hit Davis on 3rd-and-2 in the third
quarter, when Smith could have thrown away the ball or run for the
first down. Safety Nick Collins slipped in front of Davis to make an
interception.

In the fourth quarter, Smith also threw a pass into triple coverage
that was picked off by rookie linebacker A.J. Hawk.

Those plays overshadowed Smith's aforementioned completed pass to
Davis, or the bulleted pass to wide receiver Bryan Gilmore, which was
perfectly thrown, but nevertheless knocked away by former Raiders
cornerback Charles Woodson.

Smith threw a dandy 42-yard pass to Taylor Jacobs down the sideline in
the second quarter, but Jacobs was ruled out of bounds.

Smith tries to keep himself clear of the criticism.

"I've never been much of a talk-radio person," he said. "Occasionally,
I see a newspaper or something. But during the season, I try to stay
pretty clear-minded."

Discipline question: Nolan put to rest rumors that wide receiver
Antonio Bryant sat out the opening series because he was late coming
back from Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens' birthday bash Dec. 4 in Los
Angeles.

"He was tardy for a special-teams meeting on Saturday," Nolan said. "He
was five minutes late."

Depriving the team of arguably its most dynamic receiver on the opening
series because he was minutes late for a meeting devoted to the "hands"
unit on the onside-kickoff-receiving team might seem extreme.

Nolan could have fined Bryant, a decision that would have punished
Bryant without directly affecting his teammates.

"There's nothing more powerful than peer pressure," Nolan said.

He also said there's no set punishment for being tardy to meetings. The
decision to deactivate rookie returner Brandon Williams for breaking
team rules before the game in St. Louis also might have hurt the 49ers.
With Williams out, Arnaz Battle took his place despite a broken hand.
Battle fumbled on a return and the Rams recovered in their 20-17 win.

"I'm sure there were a lot of players upset at Brandon for not doing
what he was supposed to do before the game," said Nolan, who takes into
account the reasons for tardiness and the repetition of an infraction
before determining punishment.

Injuries: Cornerbacks Shawntae Spencer (ankle), Sammy Davis (thigh) and
Donald Strickland (knee) are questionable for Thursday night, which
could make the team frightfully shorthanded at a key position. Tight
end Eric Johnson (knee) and linebacker Derek Smith (hamstring) also are
questionable. Spencer was injured Nov. 19 against the Seahawks with
what has been described as a sprained ankle. He also has a bone bruise,
possible ligament damage and maybe even a chipped bone. "I don't even
want to hear about that," said Spencer, who did concede he might need
surgery after the season.

E-mail Kevin Lynch at klynch@sfchronicle.com.

Page F - 1
URL:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/12/12/SPGHEMU1DK1.DTL

©2006 San Francisco Chronicle