49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh finished up a full week of practice with his end-of-week press conference. We've got a transcript for your enjoyment. How's G Mike Iupati doing? Does he have a chance to come back and play in this game? "Yes he does. He's had a good week." Are you penciling him in the starting lineup now? "No. No final decision's been made." We were talking to RB Frank Gore yesterday, and he was saying that he thought RB Anthony Dixon had a good offseason at fullback going against LB NaVorro Bowman and LB Patrick Willis. What are your recollections of him in the offseason when he was doing that practice in and practice out? "Frank's right, Anthony's been doing both fullback and tailback. And, core special teams player for the last 12 months, so he's been good. That's why we have confidence in him." QB Colin Kaepernick talked at some length this week about time management. You know, when the clock's running down, maybe calling a timeout occasionally, saying it was worth it if you got to make a big play. Are you comfortable with sort of the improvement you guys have made in terms of getting the play in quickly and not having to burn a timeout maybe as often as earlier in the season? "Yes." I heard you say a couple times in the last week or so that you really like this team because they want to win or they play to win. Every team wants to win, right? But, it seems to me like you believe this team has something inside it even more so that way. Can you expand on exactly what you mean by that when you talk about this team that way? "What I said was they play like they really want to win. Their play is very team-oriented play. It's very concentrated on win the game by any means necessary." Is there anything specific like that that just shows up in the game that you watch when you watch the team play that exemplifies that? "Yeah, the team. It's about the team. It's about winning the next game." Are guys deferring to other people to do certain things or what? "No. The mission is the most important thing. That it feels good to win. There's nothing that makes you feel like winning. And, it's that simple. So simple that it just might work." Is it that rare? "Teamwork? I think it can be rare, yeah." Did you talk to the team, I guess, at the start of maybe each of the last two seasons just about the window of opportunity and just a sense of urgency to take advantage of the situation or how often that would be brought up? "Not like you're saying. I don't know how often that comes up. But, there's always an urgency to prepare and put yourself in the best possibly position to win the next game." Did T Luke Marquardt have a milestone this week as far as his rehab? "Yes." What was it? "He had a bone-scan and had a very good result. He's been elevated in what he can do in terms of rehab." Is that running? "Uh-huh." What is his long-term outlook next year? Do you want to see him competing for a spot at tackle? I mean, is that what the progression is for him medically? "Well, the next thing is to continue to get into the next phase of his rehab, become fully healthy and most definitely compete for a spot on the team." He's a very huge individual. "Yeah, he's a big guy." He's enormous. I know you don't like comparing, but as far as his physique, does he bring to mind any certain offensive lineman you ever played with? "He's a big man. I hope he plays very physically. There's no question he's big, one of those guys you want to get off the bus first." Are you somewhat intrigued? Just when you look at him and he's got an interesting backstory, are you somewhat intrigued when he can actually start really playing football to see what he can do? "Well, obviously we are. I mean, that's why we used a roster spot in August as a part of our 90, because we knew that he wasn't going to be able to play this year. Definitely intrigued, yeah, and hopeful. Excited things are going well in his rehab." Anything you want to take away from Monday night's game at Candlestick from after it's over in terms of something to save from the stadium, or I don't know, the coaches office there? Anything you want to take away? You know this is the last game. "It's a good question. I hadn't thought of that." Have you saved stuff from other places you've been? "Yeah. Yes, I have." Such as? "I saved a picture that was sent to me when I was coaching at Stanford that I hung in my office and hangs in my office here." How about from your playing days at Michigan? You got anything from Michigan? "Got a helmet." If Arizona loses up in Seattle on Sunday and gets you guys a playoff berth that way, does that change any aspect of how you guys play Monday's game in terms of resting players? Anything like that? "No." Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio mentioned the experiences in the visiting locker room as coach and how it's like a closet is how he described it. You played at Candlestick a few times as a visiting player, what do you remember from just the locker rooms specifically? "It was very normal for visiting locker rooms at that time when I was playing. It was a lot bigger than a closet." Do you think now that most stadiums aren't that way that that gives you guys a little bit of an advantage at home? "Possibly. Minimal, if any. In terms of size of the locker room, nominal. Miniscule, perhaps." When you were with the Raiders, did you ever go up and coach from the coaches box up there at Candlestick? Did they ever play there? "Yes." Were you up there or did you stay on the field? "I was in the press box." What'd you think of that vantage point? "It seemed fine." Did you have to do the halftime run down to the locker room like coaches do now then? "Yes, I'm sure I did, yeah." Your coordinators spoke fondly of it yesterday. "Oh, really?" You don't remember anything about running through the crowd? "I don't remember having a complaint. Maybe I was in a little better shape than they are." Source: Continue reading...
