It turns out there was a good reason why David Baas had trouble with shotgun snaps when he first took over at center earlier this month. The last time he started a game at center was at Michigan in 2004. And back then, the shotgun wasn't in the Michigan playbook. "Truthfully, I don't remember if we had one gun snap when I was there," Baas said today.
Baas has since conquered his shotgun snafus. In fact, in two preseason games he hasn't had an errant snap, a big reason why Baas is now the clear favorite to be the 49ers' starting center Sept. 12 in Seattle. "I gained a lot of confidence after Indy," Baas said. "When I went out there it just seemed easy. So after that I don't really think about it as much as I used to. ... At first I was whipping the ball back there, so I had to get a little bit more touch and feel for it. That's why we stay after practice every single day."
Confidence was something Baas referred to earlier this month when he was tapped to take over for Eric Heitmann. He said he needed to gain confidence with his new craft, and more important, his linemates had to have confidence in him. Is it here yet? "I can sense it, but I wouldn't say it's 100 percent there yet," he said. ... "It's definitely better, I have to say, than when I first got out there."
***********
Michael Crabtree went through a full practice for the first time since spraining his neck Aug. 11. Vernon Davis, however, is still rehabilitating a sprained knee suffered Aug. 15. Davis worked out on a side field while the team practiced and also spent time after practice catching passes from a JUGGS machine.
The others who did not practice were Heitmann (fibula), Ahmad Brooks (kidney), Kyle Williams (toe), Brandon Long (knee) and Will James (ankle).
***********
Bobby Guillory is like a tick - he's hard to get rid of. The rookie was back handling punt returns again today. Joining him were two fellow rookies, Phillip Adams and Kevin Jurovich. Adams had an excellent game at cornerback for the 49ers on Sunday. Ted Ginn also was part of the rotation in practice.
-- Matt Barrows
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.