49ers Blog and Q&A

Oh captain, my captain. The 49ers' list of team captains was released today and there's one change from last year: Alex Smith also will wear a "C" in 2010. The captains are not elected by their peers as they are on many NFL teams. Instead, they are appointed by Mike Singletary, who stressed today that Smith's captaincy is not due to his role as starting quarterback but to the work he put in over the offseason.

"Alex really put in the time," Singletary said. "He was out here when no one was out here. ... He was wearing (quarterbacks coach) Mike Johnson and Jimmy Raye out all offseason."

The other captains are: Vernon Davis, Patrick Willis, Eric Heitmann, Justin Smith and Takeo Spikes. Heitmann, of course, will miss the first few games of the season because of a broken fibula. He has been a steady presence in team meetings since the injury occurred. ... Alex Smith said he prefers "heads" when it comes to coin tosses.

***********
Singletary has made it clear to newcomer Troy Smith that he expects him to put pressure on David Carr for the No. 2 quarterback job. That's something he felt Nate Davis, who was released Monday, was not doing. Smith met with Singletary on Monday. What was the message? "He made it clear to me as soon as I got here - he wants workers and he'll get just that," Smith said.

Carr, meanwhile, said it didn't matter who was behind him on the depth chart. Asked if he was surprised Davis was released, Carr said that nothing surprises him anymore. But he said he thought Davis had NFL talent. "I've seen guys that have less talent that have won Super Bowls," he said. (He declined to say which quarterbacks those were).

For those of you who were wondering, Pete Carroll today said the Seahawks have not made a claim for Davis. We'll learn whether Davis has passed through waivers around 2 p.m.

***********
Conspiracy theorists won't like Matt Hasselbeck's answer. Despite a plethora of ex 49ers on the team, Hasselbeck said the Seahawks have so much to worry about concerning their own game plan that they didn't have time to pump the former 49ers for answers. "Scot (McCloughan) - I think I've seen him one time in the cafeteria," Hassebeck said.

***********
Odds & ends:

* Singletary said that Brian Westbrook was ok to play Sunday. Not playing: Ahmad Brooks, Heitmann, Will James and Kyle Williams.

• Asked about the 49ers defensive backs, Hasselbeck said the Seahawks have a lot of respect. In fact, he said safety Dashon Goldson was their pick for the Pro Bowl last year. Hmmm. Goldson is scheduled to be a free agent, and he also played collegiately at the University of Washington.

• Both Hasselbeck and Carroll spoke very highly of receiver Mike Williams, who has had a renaissance of sorts in Seattle. Williams' play this offseason helped push T.J. Houshmandzadeh off the roster.

* Carroll said his relationship with former USC safety Taylor Mays is still strong despite Mays' hurt over not being drafted by Carroll and the Seahawks. "All that stuff was a little emotional at the time, and I totally understand it," he said.

-- Matt Barrows