SANTA CLARA – Vernon Davis has met Terrell Owens. He likes Owens. He respects Owens. But he has not received career advice from Owens.

"Nah, we've met at charity functions, things like that," Davis said. "It's mostly small talk. We never got serious."

If Owens ever went deep with Davis, the Cowboy's counsel might be this: The squeakiest wheel gets passes thrown his way.

Owens followed that logic a week ago and was richly rewarded. The Dallas wideout ran one of his most reliable routes by going on national television to decry his reduced role and to point a finger at the person he felt was responsible, in this case Dallas offensive coordinator Jason Garrett.

The result: In the next game, Owens saw 13 passes come his way. He caught seven of them for 213 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown.

What many observers would describe as whining, Davis sees as competitive fire.

"He's a competitive guy, like myself," Davis said. "I know a competitive guy when I see (one) because he wants to get the passes. … That's the thing about T.O. where everyone goes wrong – that he's complaining or being a jerk. It's because he's a competitive guy. And you need that. You need that on your team."

Davis can relate.

When Shaun Hill replaced J.T. O'Sullivan at quarterback Oct. 26, Davis figured the trickle of passes that had been thrown in his direction would increase because Hill was more apt to toss short passes to the running backs and tight ends.

In the past three games, however, Hill has targeted Davis on only six passes. Davis has caught three, two for touchdowns. The one that wasn't a touchdown was a 47-yard reception Sunday against the Cowboys that Davis took to the Dallas 4-yard line.

Last season, Hill started two games and played the second half of another. In those three games, 21 passes were thrown to Davis. He caught 13 of those for 118 yards and two touchdowns.

Before the season, offensive coordinator Mike Martz cautioned that Davis might see fewer passes than he has in the past. But Martz noted that with Davis running deeper routes, the passes that did come his way would result in bigger gains.

Still, even Davis' yardage totals lag behind last year's pace. After 11 games this season, he has 263 receiving yards. After 11 games in 2007, that total was 413 yards.

Davis has made no secret of his desire to become more involved in the passing game.

Dating to last season, he has told anyone who would listen that he routinely outruns his defensive opponents, and he has complained that his blocking duties often have eclipsed his pass-catching opportunities.

Unlike Owens, however, Davis hasn't called out teammates or coaches. And he's been a tireless worker, typically staying after practice to improve his hands, which have famously failed him in several games.

Davis said he hasn't begged Hill for more passes and he hasn't griped to Martz. But he has taken advantage of interim head coach Mike Singletary's open-door policy.

Asked Thursday if Davis had a point when he complains about a lack of opportunities, Singletary said absolutely. The head coach who banished Davis to the locker room earlier this season also said he doesn't mind fielding the tight end's complaints.

"He wants the ball, and you don't want a guy like him if he doesn't want the ball," Singletary said. "I want him to keep talking like that, I want him to keep thinking like that and keep working like he is. He'll get the ball."

Read Matthew Barrows' 49ers blog at www.sacbee.com/ninersblog.