Mike Singletary on Michael Crabtree: “When You See This Kid on the Field, You Know He’s Got to Play”
October 21, 2009 – 9:20 am by Jimmy Shapiro
The 49ers did not really go into the bye week the way they wanted to. Even though they went into their off-week with a 3-2 record and a lead in the NFC West, the last game they played they got belted by the Atlanta Falcons and looked pitiful on offense. However, this could be a 49ers team that gets a huge offensive boost in the second half of the season coming off their bye. Not only is Frank Gore expected to be back from his injury, but their first-round pick and the guy that I thought was the best prospect in the 2009 NFL Draft, Michael Crabtree, is set to make his NFL debut.
It remains to be seen how much he will play or the kind of impact he will have. After all, he did miss all of training camp, all of the preseason and five regular season games. But Mike Singletary seems to think that he is ready to play. While Singletary would not confirm that Crabtree would become a starter right away, he seemed pretty intent on making sure the former Texas Tech star and 2-time Biletnikoff winner sees some playing time right away against the Texans. The 49ers could certainly use a spark on offense and Crabtree certainly has the playmaking ability to be just that.
Mike Singletary joined KNBR in San Francisco with Murph and Mac to talk about Michael Crabtree being ready to play Sunday, how he is going to handle the wide receiver position, what led to his decision to play Crabtree so soon and whether or not Crabtree will start this weekend.
On whether or not Michael Crabtree will start Sunday
“Well I think its something that we’re looking it. Were not sure if we are there yet, but it is a possibility.”
On what happened to allow him to play Crabtree so quickly:
“Some different thought processes, some different mindsets going into it. You have a kid, he comes in, and he’s in great shape. He’s ready to go, he’s been studying and (Offensive Coordinator) Jimmy Raye and (Wide Receivers Coach) Jerry Sullivan really kind of sat him down and kind of looked at maybe the possibility of putting him in a package and seeing how he comes along, but he’s hungry for knowledge, he’s hungry for information. It’s kind of like ‘well wait a minute, maybe we can just get him on the field and lets see what he does, see how he responds.’ He’s not sitting back saying ‘well I’m gonna just kind of get my feet wet and see how it goes.’ He’s saying, ‘I’m ready. Whatever you throw at me, I’m ready. I’m gonna stay here during the bye week, I’m gonna work my tail off, I’m gonna study, I’m gonna listen, I’m gonna learn, I’m gonna run routes.’ He asked Alex Smith if he would stay and throw the ball to him, got one of the trainers who used to be a college quarterback out there throwing the ball to him. He just couldn’t get enough. He’s the kind of kid that if he’s on the sideline, he’s going to drive you crazy. You want to try and get him on the field and see what he can do.”
On what he saw in practice to make him decide to play Crabtree:
“I think you didn’t have to wait until practice film. You put him out there on the field and he will jump out at you. It’s gonna be interesting. As I was saying before, if we ever got him in, it’s one of those situations where I’ve had a chance to talk to him and really reiterate over and over, Mike don’t try to live up to anything, don’t try to make up for lost time and all this other stuff, just go out there, be who you are and let everything else take care of itself.”
On how the other guys are handling Crabtree playing so soon:
“I put it this way. I think everybody here wants to win. I think when you see this kid on the field; you know he’s got to play. It’s not because he’s a first round draft choice. It’s not like he’s out there dropping balls, he doesn’t know what route he’s running, he’s late to meetings or any of those types of things. This guy is a guy that already guys are looking around at him and saying ‘hey we want him on the field.’ Its not just coaches its players saying ‘this guy has got to get on the field.’ That’s an exciting thing. The quarterbacks are excited and I think the other receivers are excited. For me, it’s just a matter of instead of looking at it as locker room politics or whatever, I think everybody here, the common denominator is to win. Maybe he’s taking some reps from Josh Morgan. I think Josh is mature enough to look at it and say ‘you know what we’re all going to get better. We’re all going to benefit from this.’ At the end of the day, Josh Morgan, all its going to do for him…it’s the old term that iron sharpens iron, competition is just going to make him better. It’s not like all of the sudden Crabtree is the starter and Josh isn’t. You just have a guy that’s going to play, Josh is going to play, Isaac Bruce is going to play and we got to figure out the other receiver or two that’s going to play and go from there.”
On how he will manage the time with the wide receivers:
“I think when you look at it; we’re just going to get in the game, see how it’s going and let the guys play. As far as this guy is going to play a third, this guys is going play two thirds, you know what, let ‘em get out there, let ‘em play and I think the way they play will dictate how much they play. That’s really the bottom line. Isaac Bruce has certainly proven himself, Josh Morgan certainly knows he’s going to play, he knows that he figures heavily into our plan. We look at him as a starter, so that’s kind of how we’re looking at it. We got Isaac Bruce, we got Josh Morgan, we have Crabtree and we have some other young receivers that are up and coming. They’re all working, it’s a work in progress and we’re just going to try and get better.”
On how he feels about Shaun Hill:
“The way I feel about Shaun Hill five games into the season is about how I felt about Shaun Hill last year five games into the season. It’s not going to change. Shaun Hill is Mr. Consistent. He’s a guy that you know what you’re going to get. If you give him time, if you just give him an opportunity, he’s going to make plays. Shaun Hill is a winner. That’s the thing that we have to do. We have to give him time, so that’s kind of the bottom line.”
On whether or not Frank Gore will play on Sunday:
“Frank Gore will play and I think if you know Frank Gore, he doesn’t know how to be tentative, he’s going to play. That’s the guy we know him to be and that’s who he’s going to be.”
(This post was written by Chris Fedor)
Listen to Mike Singletary on KNBR in San Francisco with Murph & Mac
Tags: Michael Crabtree, Mike Singletary, NFC West, San Francisco 49ers
