Sure, Mario Manningham can offer the 49ers defensive backs a few tips here and there on how to cover the Giants wideouts. And Brandon Jacobs might share some observations about New York's running backs.
But their biggest piece of advice this week has been more general: Prepare yourselves for battle.
Said Jacobs: "I know the guys over there. I know they work hard. I know it's going to be war when they come in here."
Said Manningham: "I know how they get started and how they roll. Believe me, when they come in here they're going to be ready to play. I know they're going to be ready to play."
While the 49ers have been fueled this week - and all offseason, for that matter - by their overtime loss to the Giants, back on the east coast the Giants have been motivated by the inference that they are not the true Super Bowl champions.
Indeed, the 49ers have talked about the two missed interceptions in the NFC Championship game and the late fumble by the Giants that was given back to New York because the play was whistled dead. Kyle Williams' quote this week - "We look at it as if they have something we should have had" - likely is the rallying cry for both teams this week.
Most of the 49ers have tried to walk a line - perhaps it's a fight between their brains and hearts - between admitting they are driven by the championship loss and trying to prepare for Sunday like it's just another game. Their quotes reflect that dichotomy.
"At the end of the day, we didn't do what it took to win the game," cornerback Tarell Brown said. "We're not sour over that. We still have a bitter taste in our mouth (but) we have to go out there and forget about that."
Said Vernon Davis: "They beat us, and that was it. I'm sure my teammates as well as myself, there's a bitter taste in our mouth because, that game, it hurt. We lost that game, and we're still thinking about it a little bit. But we can't jump out of our skin. We have to continue to stay focused."
Said Carlos Rogers: "I mean, this is the team that knocked us out from going to the show. There's going to be a little more on each player just to try and win a game against those guys because, I mean, they're the defending champions. You always say that. That's always going to come through their mind. But that day, those guys were the best. If the Super Bowl came after we played the (regular season) game, we were the best team. But it didn't happen like that."
-- 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.