Injury Report: "Alright, injuries. (WR) Riley Cooper will not practice today. He is making progress and there's a chance he's out there for tomorrow's practice. (CB) Asante (Samuel), likewise, with a concussion. He's making progress. He was able to go through the walkthrough this morning; we'll just see how he does. He won't practice today, though. (RB) LeSean McCoy is making progress with the rib fracture. He's just settling down a bit; we'll just see how he does. He won't practice today. And (QB) Michael (Vick), again, it'll be a stretch for Michael to make it this weekend. So, right now, we're going forward with (QB) Kevin (Kolb) taking all the reps and we'll just see how Michael does. I'm not ruling him out right now. We're just taking it day by day. He's still in pain, obviously, or he would've been out there. We'll just take it from there with Mike. We'll just see how it goes as the week goes on."
Opening remarks: "I look forward to the challenge of playing the 49ers. Our players had a chance to look at the tape. The thing that jumps out at you is their toughness, aggressiveness. They've got, really, three games that they had an opportunity to win and this last game here against Atlanta – they had the game in their hand there, so we know the caliber of football team that we're going up against. I've said this before, records this early in the year don't mean much. Again, a lot of the players are the same players we played against last year with the exception that they've got a couple guys added in there on both sides of the ball. On defense, there are crucial positions where they've playing very well right now. Like I said, again, I look forward to the challenge of going out there and testing ourselves and making sure that we get ourselves ready to play a good football team."
On Vick's soreness: "Well, he's sore. He's a little bit better than what he was the last time I talked to you. He's not quite as sore as what it was. He had a little bit of swelling in that area, the chest area; really on both sides. That swelling is going down. He's getting treatment for it and he's more comfortable than what he was Monday."
On whether his injury involves a comfort level or whether it's something that has to heal: "Well, there's a crack in the cartilage. We always use the term 'sticky.' Time takes care of that. Really, it's a comfort thing is what it is. He's not going to be in danger of hurting himself anymore, but these are very painful things. Like I said, he's got the crack on the one side, but he also got sandwiched in there. His other side is sore, too."
On whether he feels the team has to make a transaction at quarterback if Vick can't play on Sunday: "No, I won't do that right now. That's not where I'm at right now."
On whether Vick's assessment of the healing process is different than his: "He's just not sure. I mean, none of us are sure on how long this thing will take. I think his thought was, 'I'm going to try to get back this week.' It could be a week, it could be two – I don't know. That's kind of the context of where I think we're all at. We just have to see on this. This is up high. We've had ones that have been down lower, but this is up a little bit higher."
On whether Vick's injury is the same concept as broken ribs: "Yeah, it's not as bad as a broken rib; up that high, at least. The lower you get, not quite as bad. Up in that area, it's tender, that's the main thing; it's sore. It's better than a broken rib, but it's still that kind of pain."
On whether McCoy's injury was based in the lower part of the ribs: "It's low, yeah."
On what he does with QB Mike Kafka this week in preparation of him being the number two quarterback on the depth chart: "He's got to stay focused and he's got to get reps before and after practice. He's not going to get a lot of reps during practice. Kevin is going to get all the reps; that part doesn't change. Part of being a relief pitcher is just that. Now he's a young guy. He's in the same boat that A.J. Feeley was in at one time with us. He's just got to prepare the best he can without taking the reps."
On whether he plans on making a transaction at either the RB or WR positions: "Right now I'm not making any transactions."
On whether Kolb throwing underneath almost exclusively had anything to do with what the Redskins were doing defensively after looking at the film: "I thought he did a nice job with his check downs. They were very productive the way they were playing, their defense. This was something that they haven't done before this year. For what he had there, he did the right things."
On whether Kolb will be more comfortable throwing the ball down the field after having a whole week of preparation: "Yeah. I think that – this is the important thing – I think he needs to take what's there. If there's an opportunity down the field, then you take the shot. If the defense takes that away, then you're patient. That's where the thing I mentioned to you on Monday is, as an offensive unit you've got to be very disciplined. Not only as a quarterback, but as an offensive unit. So you can't have penalties and so on; the negative plays. You take it and work it down the field and punch it in."
On whether he doesn't want to bring in another quarterback to save roster spots: "Well, I looked at the quarterbacks that were out there and I'm good with (QB) Michael (Kafka) doing this right now."
On his impressions of 49ers QB Alex Smith: "I've been a fan of Alex's since he was in college and he's out there – there's been some changeover in his career. And I know (49ers head coach) Mike (Singletary) has tried to keep it – at least the philosophy of it – as stable as he possibly can. And I know Mike likes him. I know he has a lot of respect for him. So, again, quarterbacks take time to develop and they have to keep repping the same thing over and over again. With a young guy, that's what you hope they're presented. So, I think he's an efficient quarterback right now."
On whether there will be any personnel changes on defense this weekend: "You'll probably see (LB) Moise (Fokou) take a couple snaps in there at SAM linebacker."
On the confidence of Kolb after all of the change the first couple weeks of the season: "I think he's in a good place. I think he's looking forward to the opportunity; the challenge. I think the thing that you see with San Francisco is that they have a very good defense and what a great challenge that is and an opportunity. That's what he's in the game for; he enjoys that. So, that's where I think he's at."
On whether a quarterback can be successful when playing with the mentality of not making any mistakes: "Well, I don't think there are a lot of quarterbacks if you ask if they want to make mistakes that they're going to tell you they do. So, I think that's okay. I don't think that takes away (from his play). He wants to score touchdowns and that's what he wants to do."
On whether Kolb needs to be more aggressive: "He's fine. He'll be fine."
On whether he is willing to go into Sunday with three wide receivers if Cooper can't play: "I'm pretty sure he's going to be okay. I mean, that's where we're at right now. So, that's how I'm looking at it as we talk here."
On whether he feels the same way about Samuel: "Yeah, I do. I think he'll be ready to go."
On whether he feels comfortable with RB Joique Bell if he plays a role in the game on Sunday: "I do. I feel comfortable with him and (RB) Eldra (Buckley). (I'm comfortable) with both of them. And then, obviously (RB) Michael (Bell) also."
On whether there is an emergency quarterback: "Well, we'd probably do the same thing we did before with a combination."
On whether the possibility of 49ers RB Brian Westbrook getting some playing time is on his mind: "I'm always aware of Brian. I mean, I have a lot of respect for him. Right now they're using (RB Frank) Gore. And I would tell you right now that Gore is playing as good as any running back in the National Football League, so I don't want to take anything away from him. But, at the same time we're also aware of what Brian can do and they have another runner there that's pretty good too. So, they're fully loaded at that running back position."
On whether there is a situation that Kolb has the potential to earn the starting job back: "That took you a long time to ask that (laughing). I figured that would be the first question (jokingly). Right now I'm focused in on San Francisco, and getting Kevin ready to play, and Kevin's getting ready to play and we'll go from there."
On what he has seen from Fokou at SAM linebacker: "Well, I just think he deserves to get in there. (LB) Akeem (Jordan) has done a nice job too. So, we can use a combination of different things, and that's where we're at."
On whether McCoy's injury affects the way he uses the other running backs in the offense: "Well, I mean, they're different backs. But I think we've seen Michael (Bell) in the past and he's been very effective – first hand when he was with New Orleans. So, we know he's a very capable starter if needed. And it's a different game for him the way he plays; he's a very physical back."
