The San Francisco 49ers weren't bluffing when they said Aldon Smith would have to earn playing time. After fully practicing this week -- following his return from a leave of absence to seek substance abuse treatment -- the 49ers' 2012 team MVP didn't play in the first quarter and, per Pro Football Focus, took just 12 snaps the entire game. San Francisco fell 10-9 to the Carolina Panthers. After the game, Smith said he was "not really" OK with his role and hoped he'd get a full set of snaps moving forward. Source: NFL.com markaz's Take: As it turns out The 49ers defense did well against the Panthers even with Smith's minimal playing time. My first thought was that Smith should be thankful for being in uniform and actually playing given his recent 'setbacks' instead of saying anything that could be perceived as negative about the coaching staff's decisions. Hopefully he will play entire games soon because he is fun to watch.
the niners are 1-3 when smith plays. they are 5-0 when he doesn't. there is my meaningless stat of the day. carry on.
