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Smith: Nolan “was trying to undermine me with my teammates.”

In an exclusive report today by The Mercury News, Alex Smith has finally come out lashing at head coach Mike Nolan.

In the report, Smith said the coach “underminded” him, claiming that the quarterback was using the injury as an excuse for his poor performance on the field. That has left a feeling in the locker rooom that gives teammates a negative look at Smith. In this season where the team is struggling heavily, to have a quarterback complain that he isn’t doing his best and letting injuries be an excuse, is unacceptable. But Smith never really did that, and Nolan has now questioned his toughness.

However, we have to realize what the situation is at first. The day that Smith got hurt on a sack from the Seahawks’ Rocky Bernard, we can clearly see that Smith was not right. His shoulder was in terrible pain. Even former teammate Julian Peterson felt that Smith’s continuing to play in games afterwards was not right after seeing him in pain.

“I think if (my teammates) would have heard what I actually said out there that day, it wouldn’t have been an issue,” Smith said. “But all of a sudden Nolan spins it as if I was making excuses for an injury. What I really felt like was, ‘Yeah, I tried to play on it. And that was my decision and obviously I wasn’t playing well enough.’

“But at that point my arm wasn’t getting any better. In fact, it was getting worse and I was going to go get a second opinion. (Nolan) can spin it however he wants to, but the first thing Dr. Andrews told me when he saw me was ‘This is much worse than I thought.’ “

Did Nolan intentionally say this stuff to make Smith look bad? Is he that frustrated and disappointed in his quarterback to attack him like that? Is this the Mike Nolan we hired as a coach three years ago?

Or is this on Alex Smith complaining again? Sure, the injury is getting a lot worse, but is Smith needing to realize that he needs to battle out of the injury and just play?

On Around The Horn today on ESPN, a point was brought up by Tim Cowlishaw (I think it was him). Maybe this is Nolan getting Smith to man up. He said that Smith will need to be able to take sure hardships, and attacks like so. It is possible that Nolan just wants Smith to realize that these attacks will happen not only from inside, but outside the locker room. Does Smith need to take it like a man and prove us all wrong when he’s healthy? Something to think about.

Let’s weigh in both sides.

Smith comes out saying that the coach is basically trying to screw him over, making him look like the bad guy. But does he have a legit argument? Smith has been clearly hurt, yet Nolan has continued to put him in games. Should Smith have said no? He can’t, for that is something you can’t do in the tough NFL. Letting injuries be an excuse is one of those things that is looked down upon. But Smith knew that his shoulder was hurting, and risking damage to it by playing could jeopardize his career. He’s the franchise quarterback and he knows that his health is necessary for him to develop as a quarterback.

While Mike Nolan has gone through a lot of trouble trying to find the answers to a frustrating season. Nolan isn’t an offensive minded coach, so the struggling offense got a hit when Smith got hurt. Maybe Nolan wanted to get Smith to continue to play to save the season. Nolan is praising toughness, and sending out a message. Was it wrong to “undermine” Smith and make him look like the bad guy? Yes it is, but was Nolan trying to fire up Smith? Smith should have been more vocal during the season, but since he didn’t, Nolan kept him around.

It looks like Smith has the better argument. Logically, if a player is hurt, you don’t want to keep him on the field until he is healthy. At the same time, Smith continued to play in hopes to save a season full of hope. But it does seem that Smith is being attacked by the coach. And since the season has gone in no direction but backwards, it makes Nolan look more confused as a coach.

The two are now butting heads and the questions are still popping up.

Will Smith be back next year healthy?

Is Smith the answer at quarterback?

Is Nolan the right coach?

Who stays? Who goes?

Maybe neither will stay. Nolan has been nothing but terrible this season with playcalling and giving confidence to the team. But Smith has been just horrible. Could it be the injury? But Smith just hasn’t been established and it might be too much of a risk to keep him in a team that needs a fresh start.

Nolan should have realized that Smith was hurt and that for a quarterback still this young, he is the franchise and the last thing to do is to have him hurt. Smith needed to realize that even though he is hurt, him and the doctor are the only ones know what is best for him. Both sides are wrong in both cases, and now it has blown up in their faces.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 at 2:43 pm and is filed under 49ers, Alex Smith, Mike Nolan, General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.