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HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER**
(on why it's difficult to win on the west coast)
It's been difficult for us. I think the last few years we've gone out we've faced a good Charger team. We faced a good Raider team for a couple years out there. I don't think we were as competitive as we would have liked early when we went to Seattle. Again, this is a new opportunity, new chance to start a streak.
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(on being 5-0 against the NFC)
I think we're 10-2 over the last three years, not that I keep those things on the front of my mind. One of the things we stress here is familiarity. That's important. We're familiar with the conference opponents, the divisional opponents, you play them twice a year. When you're playing somebody for the first time perhaps under new systems, you have to spend the extra time to get to know them. We do that during the week and then when we line up and play it doesn't really matter who you play. That's kind of been our approach.
(on if there is more bounce in the team's step coming off a win)*
It was better today. They're focused. What we do out here is try to take care of our own responsibilities as they relate to the game plan. When we go inside and you have to study your opponent. I think the fact that who we're playing this week and where we're playing and the circumstances surrounding that, I think it's a motivating factor. It's a good football team. It's a well-coached team. It's very physical, it's fast, they've got a tremendous running back and with the quarterback change at halftime in Houston, he put 21 points on the board in the second half against the Texans. You can put on any tape and watch a very, very well-coached team. Defensively, they're second in the NFL in rushing. Against the run, they've played Minnesota, and they've played Atlanta, they've played St. Louis. They're doing some things. Certainly, it's going to be a challenge for us to run the football.
(on facing former teammate Mike Singletary)
When you kickoff, we're coaching our teams. I'm not concerned about who's across the field. I'm really excited for Mike that he got the opportunity. He's done a great job there in the short amount of time turning this team around. He's put a stamp on it. They're playing with discipline, they force penalties, they play hard and they have the tools now to win games as we've seen throughout the start of the season.
(on if his days in Chicago gave him any insight to the way Mike Singletary coaches)
No. Mike's a Hall of Famer and plays very, very well. One would only assume that he's going to have the same expectations on his football team that he had for himself.
(on Vernon Davis)
He's got seven touchdown catches, I believe, already, two against Houston. He's blocking well, he's a dangerous, dangerous tight end because he can stretch the field. He's got tremendous speed, catch, run after catch. He's like a receiver in a tight ends body with great speed.
(on Chris Davis signing with the team)
We released Chris clearly because of the injury. He wasn't going to be healthy enough for us to do anything because he missed a couple of games. We felt like this would mount to whatever the injury was. This week was the first opportunity, we've stayed in touch with him. He's healthy and he'll give us an option as far as returning is concerned.
(on Chris Johnson leading the league in runs for negative yards)
We've played some good defenses that penetrate. Last week, the style of defense the Jags play is not necessarily a penetrating style. They're more of a two gap reading and strong type. We felt like we could get squared up and get to the line of scrimmage. This team however, even though they're a 34 defense they do penetrate. The more of those we can avoid, the better off we are.
(on if he prefers one player that will do punt and kick returns)
You're going to put your best guy at the punt returning position and the kickoff return position. If it happens to be the same guy then you benefit from it.
(on if Vince Young has been given more options on offense)
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Our game plan is going to be different then it was last week, from a passing game to a play-action standpoint. From a run standpoint he's got to hand the ball off. Each week you're playing a different opponent and we hope he'll be able to carry some of the things over and dress him up. There should be some new things, yes.
(on Patrick Willis)
He's what you look for in a linebacker. He's got great speed, strength, size and instincts. He makes plays behind the line of scrimmage, on the line of scrimmage and down field.
(on not having any quarterback drama weighing on the team this week)
I have to credit the team for putting aside the tough loss a few weeks ago, the events that took place during the bye week, staying focused and eliminating distractions and they did so. That translated into a win for us. Yes, there's fewer distractions this week, as you say, and all of our attention's on the 49ers.
(on if there are any memorable Mike Singletary moments he remembers)
When he was drafted, I think the highlight was the number of helmets that he broke in college. He set a record and broke five or six helmets his senior year, something like that. For obvious reasons he was a very intense player and tremendous hitter. Mike expected everything out of his teammates that he expected from himself and he wouldn't tolerate guys that didn't know what to do or how to do it. He kind of set the tempo for that team.
(on his relationship with Mike Singletary over the years)
We've stayed in-touch. Mike obviously didn't get right into coaching. He retired and spent time with his family. He did a lot of speaking. It didn't surprise me that he would get into it. I got a sense that he missed the game. I'm just real happy he got the opportunity.
(on having two of his players ranked in the top 10 dirtiest players)
That's the first I've known of it.
(on Cortland Finnegan and Kevin Mawae being named two of the top 10 dirtiest players)
I think both of them were also selected to the Pro Bowl last year.
