**
Head Coach Chan Gailey**
Wednesday, October 03, 2012
On the strengths of the 49ers:
That is what you are looking for—they play from the front so to speak. They know what they want to do and they go do it. They have the people to do it and they are doing a great job of controlling the tempo and controlling the game.
On this being a tough group to play on the other side of the line of scrimmage against:
They are physical offensively and defensively on the lines. They are very strong and to move either side is very difficult. It will be a great challenge to go play against a team like this.
On the Bills and 49ers aspiring to be similar style of teams:
Yeah, probably go about it a different way but yeah. To be honest with you, I think everybody would like to be able to run it as much as you want to run it. Pick and choose your times to throw it. Play great defense every time you walk on the field. That is what everybody is trying to get to.
On having to be mentally tough against San Francisco:
I think that when you come off of a loss, you have to travel all the way across the country and you have to go against a good football team you are going to be challenged mentally. Your toughness mentally and physically is going to be challenged. That is what we have to get ready for—and we know that. Everybody on our team understands that.
On the decision to stay out West before the Arizona game:
San Francisco has done it the last couple of years. I talked with (Jim) Harbaugh and he thought there were some real positives of not making your team fly back-and-forth, putting them on a plane for five to six hours both ways and adjusting to the time change twice during the course of a year. That was the decision. I have never done this to be honest with you. It made a little bit of sense to me not to put your players through that. It is a little bit of a pain for everybody else involved: for the coaches, for the video people, for equipment and trainers. But it is better for the players. That is why you are doing it.
On how much of a hassle it is for the players:
We will be able to do our job, hopefully without the jetlag and all of that being a major issue. Taking that out of the equation. (The players) will still be able to do their job.
On if DE Mario Williams' wrist has been hampering him:
Only he can answer that. He has been getting some treatment, but it has not been a thing that has kept him from ever practicing or anything like that. How much it bothers a guy, we have guys with ankles, knees, hips and shoulders. Everything bothers you during a season. How much? Only a player can answer that. But it is not enough for him to not make every rep in practice and do what he is doing.
On Williams never appearing on the injury report:
No, we do not put every ankle, every sprain, shoulder that hurts or elbow. We do not put that on every injury report.
On assessing Williams' performance:
He is trying to play the best he can play, that is for sure. I think what happens a lot of times is that there is a great deal of respect for him. They chip him and put a couple of guys on him. Bang him around in there. Can he play better? Yeah, he can play better but there is a lot of guys that fall in that category. There is a lot of guys that can play better. I can coach better. Everybody can do better.
On if it is a disappointment Williams' has not been a difference maker:
Well I think if he had been one-on-one a lot we would have seen a lot different. You do not know how much of an impact it has been just by presence. Does everybody wish the numbers were up? Yeah, we wish the numbers were up. Sometimes that does not happen. Wait till we get to the end of the year and then evaluate everything.
On how he defines mental toughness:
Not letting things affect you that you have no control over. You cannot let things affect you that you do not have control over. We have no control over what has happened up until this point. It has happened and it is there. Now, what are we going to do from here? How strong can you be from here on? We learn from it and we go forward. We still have our destiny in our hands. We still have that. How strong can we be? How strong do we need to be to finish this season the way we need to finish it?
On if mental toughness can be changed during the course of a season or if it has to come in leading up to a season:
That is a great question. If you had that answer you could probably make a bunch of money. I do not know if anybody knows that. I think you either have it or you do not have it. Can it get better? Yeah. Can it worse? Yeah, during the course of a season.
On 49ers S Donte Whitner:
He has done a great job out there. Donte has made a lot of plays for them. He is playing that deep secondary safety spot for them. Getting involved in run. He is playing well for them and there is no need to talk about what happened here when he played here. He just felt like it was a better situation out there.
On if the 49ers can stop the run with seven and how he would characterize their defensive style:
Yeah, that is what they do. They play a soft secondary and then when they read run they come 100 miles-per-hour up there. For the most part, they are trying to keep everything in front of them and trying to play the run with the front seven.
On the 49ers front seven:
As good of a tandem as there is in the league. They are big, strong, physical and they play pass and run. They do it all. They are very, very good players.
On Williams getting one-on-one matchups against the Patriots and not excelling:
I cannot speak to that really. I will be honest with you, I cannot. A guy goes out there and he is trying to do what he does best. Sometimes you get it and sometimes you do not. You would like to see him have the opportunity to do that on a regular basis to see exactly what would happen. It comes sporadically and he has to take advantage of it just like every one of them do. You have to take advantage of it when you get the opportunity.
On Williams being the target of criticism:
Yeah, that comes with the territory. Everybody understands that. I am the object of criticism, (Ryan Fitzpatrick) is the object of criticism, everybody is the object of criticism when you do not win.
On the public perception of Williams:
I cannot control people's thoughts.
On S George Wilson saying it is the players responsibility to make plays:
That is nice of him to say that, but we are all in this together.
On how much better the offense can be with a healthy RB Fred Jackson and RB C.J. Spiller:
It is a lot better having both of those and knowing you are going to have both of them. You never know for how long but that is the nature of the game. It sure helps our planning to know you have both of those guys and going to be able to do some of the things you hoped you were able to do earlier in the year.
On if he has figured out a rotation for how to use Spiller and Jackson:
Not yet. To be honest with you, I would like to get them through two or three games before we get back to all of that about how we are going to use them. There may be a spot or two to use them in the game at the same time but you really do not want to do that too much.
On if S Jairus Byrd will practice:
Not today. He will not practice today, but I think he is going to be fine for the game.
On how WR Ruvell Martin is coming along:
He is going to practice today. He is coming along better.
On if TE Scott Chandler and WR Donald Jones are OK:
Yeah.
