Don't worry about my confidence, Alex Smith said today. It's just fine.
"I think people are just reading into a lot of different stuff and have no idea of what's going on around here," Smith said when asked about a couple of national stories, one of which questioned his confidence, the other the 49ers confidence in him, during Thursday's win over the Seahawks. "My confidence is no different than it was a week ago, than a month ago, than it was a year ago. No different."
The national stories, in Sports Illustrated and Yahoo!, wondered whether Smith's recent struggles were the result of a combination of events that have taxed the quarterback's psyche -- from difficult contract negotiations in March to the team's interest in Peyton Manning to Colin Kaepernick getting extra snaps this season. Both noted that the 49ers played conservatively with running plays or short passes at pivotal points in the 13-6 San Francisco win.
Smith said the two down games -- he had a 43.1 and 73.5 passer ratings in the span of four days -- were the result of playing good defenses.
"Games change week in, week out, I think," he said. "There are people that expect the same thing over and over again. That (Seattle defense) was a good defense we played on Thursday night. We played them on a short week. You look what they did versus a lot of good quarterbacks this year. Look what they did against Aaron (Rodgers). They beat Tom Brady. Look what they did against (Tony) Romo. I think people just ... I don't know what to think. But, no. No different."
Meanwhile, Smith reported his sprained right finger -- which has coincided with his off games -- is improving.
"Not having to do a ton with it, letting it rest over the weekend, was nice," he said.
-- Matt Barrows
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