Not to get all man-crushy on Mike Singletary, but I think the master psychologist is taking the right tack regarding Michael Crabtree. In fact, it reminds me of the one he took with Isaac Bruce when the taciturn receiver was waffling about returning to the 49ers in late winter. The 49ers were transitioning away from the Mike Martz offense - the one in which Bruce excelled - at the time. And they suddenly had three solid young receivers in Josh Morgan, Jason Hill and Brandon Jones. It would have been tempting for Singletary to try and strong arm Bruce into making a fast decision. Instead, he allowed Bruce to take his time, and the veteran eventually returned. The 49ers certainly don't need Bruce as badly as they did last year. But he's still valuable at such a young position group. Carefully luring him back was a wise move.
Singletary also could take a hard line with Crabtree, who is officially missing his first day of camp today. After all, the rookie didn't run a single route this spring, there's a good-looking youngster, Josh Morgan, at his position and the leverage seems to be decidedly on the 49ers' side. Instead, Singletary lavished praise on Crabtree yesterday and said his job was to get the rest of the team moving forward, not to worry about Michael Crabtree. It's like coaxing the kid who has locked himself in his room to come out and play. Threats only will make him more entrenched. If he sees everyone else having a good time and feels wanted, he'll unlock the door that much sooner.
Of course, Crabtree hasn't begun to miss any practices yet. If this drags on, it'll be interesting to see if the sweetness in Singletary's tune takes on a sour note or two ...
-- Matt Barrows
