The 49ers' fan base might be uncertain about Alex Smith, but Jimmy Raye is not. The 49ers' offensive coordinator was effusive in his praise of the quarterback today. Here's only a small sampler of what Raye said:
"You don't find many quarterbacks who throw three touchdown passes in the second half of games," Raye said in reference to Sunday's loss in Green Bay. "Be it behind or be it in the lead. ... It has nothing to do with the score, the team, the opponent or if they're playing bend-don't-break or any of that. You do that, you do it. And he has demonstrated on several occasions that he is capable of scoring points with the ball. And that's the function of the position - throwing the ball. So I would say, yeah, he's well on his way. If his maturity and all of the other things to fit the position. He's tough enough, he has escapability, he can ad lib a play. He kept a play alive in the third quarter. He kept a play alive with his legs running the ball. He has those things. It's his confidence that will continue to expand to let him be the best he can be. Now whether that will be in the upper echelon of the NFL, I don't know. He has a chance to be good enough."
The bottom line: This reinforces the notion that Smithy will be the starter for the rest of the season and that Raye would be more than comfortable with going into 2010 with Smith under center ...
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Isaac Bruce will not be active Sunday against the Jaguars, Singletary said. With so many starters playing on special teams, Singletary said, it was impossible to have a non-starter like Bruce who took part in no special teams. He said he spoke with Bruce about the decision and that Bruce was a "champion" about it.
Singletary said there was a good chance that Josh Morgan would return kicks Sunday and that Brandon Jones would handle punts. With Bruce down, the depth chart at receiver is as follows:
X: Michael Crabtree, Brandon Jones
Z: Morgan, Jason Hill
When the 49ers go with three wide receivers, Morgan would bump inside and Hill would play Z.
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Singletary also confirmed that Dre Bly would start at cornerback ahead of Tarell Brown. Look for the two to switch roles against Jacksonville. That is, Brown will be the nickel cornerback, which had been Bly's role in recent weeks.
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Takeo Spikes continues to be bothered by a hamstring strain and did not play. Curtis Taylor, Mark Roman, Justin Smith and David Baas were a full go in practice today after either being limited or not practicing yesterday.
WR Arnaz Battle (ankle), Bruce (ankle), DT Aubrayo Franklin (not injury related), S Michael Lewis (quadricep), RB Michael Robinson (shoulder) and Spikes (hamstring) did not practice. Marcus Hudson (back) was limited.
For the Jaguars, RB Maurice Jones-Drew (knee), WR Mike Sims-Walker (knee) were back at practice today after sitting out yesterday's session.
-- Matt Barrows
