Mike Singletary spoke a lot today about Vernon Davis. And he spoke a lot of about cancers in the locker room and how they can damage a team. But he was careful to separate the two. "Vernon is not a problem," Singletary said. "Vernon is not a problem guy. Vernon forgets sometimes that the team is more important. ... You have to be able to separate the two. He is not a guy who's a distraction on the team."
Which is not to suggest that Singletary isn't still steamed over Davis' performance yesterday. To recap: Davis was hit with a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty when he flicked the underside of Brian Russell's facemask. Singletary said he saw the whole thing and thought Davis was "kidding when he did it." What seemed to upset Singletary more was Davis' reaction. He tried to talk to Davis as he came off the sideline and Davis was defensive. When he looked behind him a few seconds later, Davis was being demonstrative on the bench.
Singletary said he had a conversation just last week with Davis in which he urged the talented tight end to be a leader on the team. His actions on the sideline were entirely opposed to what the new coach was looking for. "It just hit me the wrong way," Singletary said. He said he hadn't yet spoken with Davis and didn't mention any disciplinary action. He said he was not the type of coach who plays psychological games with players and would not give Davis the silent treatment. "It's not that he's out of my good graces," Singletary said. "Not at all. I don't have a doghouse." Which leads one to believe that Davis won't be subject to any disciplinary action ...
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As for the quarterback situation, Singletary said no decisions have been made. He said he and Mike Martz looked at the game film together and that Martz "pointed out some things about both quarterbacks." He said he was leery of stepping on Martz's toes and said that "we're going to come to a decision, and it will be unanimous."
Yesterday, Singletary said he had been stressing game management heading into Sunday. Asked if J.T. O'Sullivan had done a poor job of managing the game over the last few weeks, Singletary said: "If he had done a good job of managing the game, we wouldn't be talking about what we're talking about."
He said he wasn't looking for the quarterback with best arm or the best running ability. And he recalled games in which his Bears team had to contend with Joe Montana. "How can this guy beat us?" Singletary recalls asking. "And he was wearing our tails out every time he played us." ...
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Singletary gave good marks to guard Davis Baas, who started at left guard in front of Adam Snyder. He also mentioned Tony Wragge ... He did not have any injury updates, although he said he hoped to have Jonas Jennings back for the Nov. 10 game in Arizona ... Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky called Sunday's game from the field, not his usual spot in the coach's booth.
-- Matt Barrows
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