No wiggle room for 49ers' Smith

By: MIKE SULLIVAN - Staff Writer | Tuesday, August 28, 2007 11:03 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO -- Safety Eric Weddle will be rooting hard for a third-and-long situation during San Francisco's first offensive series on Thursday night. He's craving to hear that the Chargers' dime package is needed on the field.

A call for six defensive backs is how Weddle will share the field with former Utah teammate Alex Smith, the 49ers' starting quarterback, when the Chargers host San Francisco in a preseason contest. Both teams' starting units will only see limited action.

"It will be fun to see him out there and go against him like it was in practice," Weddle said. "If we go dime in the first series, that's the only chance I'll see him.

"I hope he does good. I wish him the best. But of course, I want us to win."

The two players did a lot of winning together at Utah, where Smith had a 21-1 record as a starter. Smith was the star of the Utes' team that went 12-0 in 2004 and trounced Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl.

Weddle made it clear that Utah doesn't experience that magical undefeated season if Smith wasn't the signal- caller.

"No, he was that good," Weddle said. "He was a big part of what we were doing on offense and as a team, being a leader and setting an example. He was that guy for us."

Smith, 23, has quickly become the guy in San Francisco. He was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NFL draft and has started 23 games over the past two seasons. He took every offensive snap last season, becoming the first quarterback in 49ers history to do so.

Weddle won't be the only familiar face Smith sees Thursday night. Chargers coach Norv Turner was the 49ers' offensive coordinator last season and Turner helped Smith improve from a rough rookie season -- 11 interceptions against just one touchdown in 2005 -- and turn him into a productive starter.

Smith passed for 2,890 yards and 16 touchdowns and credits Turner for upgrading his performance.

"I really felt I got back under control in a lot of ways, back to playing football," Smith told San Francisco reporters earlier this week. "It felt comfortable again. I look back a couple years ago and it was very surreal.

"Last year, I felt I made a lot of growth under him. There was that comfort zone. I knew what he was talking about and where he was coming from right from the start. I'll take a lot of things I learned from him for the rest of my career."

In his year of tutoring Smith, Turner saw the Helix High graduate make strides in many areas.

"I think comfort level in playing and confidence," said Turner, citing where Smith grew most. "Alex is a very, very physically gifted guy. Sometimes with the adjustment to this league, getting good people around you, getting comfortable with a system, guys do that in different timetables.

"But once Alex got comfortable, it was very clear to me that he was really going to be an outstanding player."

Smith wasn't a highly recruited player out of Helix because he spent a lot of time handing the ball off to Reggie Bush, who went on to win the 2005 Heisman Trophy at USC. But he emerged as big-time player at Utah under former Utes coach Urban Meyer.

Weddle relates to Smith's nothing-handed-to-him path because Weddle has repeatedly overcome obstacles during his football career.

"We're just both hard workers," Weddle said. "We see what we want to get and we go get it. We put all the doubters and the naysayers in the back of our heads and that's what drives us. That is what it takes to be great -- your work ethic."

Smith said he's following Weddle's progress with the Chargers. And Weddle is certain Smith will be looking for him.

In fact, he's thinking of ways to rattle his former college teammate.

"I'll try," said Weddle, laughing. "I'll do something. I'll get his attention. He'll see me. He knows I'll be in there."

Chargers notes

DE Igor Olshansky (groin) said he'll play Thursday against San Francisco. Olshansky missed Saturday's game at Arizona because of a recurring groin injury suffered July 28, the first day of training camp. "It held me back from practicing and playing in a couple preseason games, definitely," said Olshansky, who also missed the Seattle game. "It's a pain injury, one of those things you would rather not go through but you do so you just have to make the best of it and stay on top of your rehab and make sure you're healthy enough to be out there so you can last instead of just being out there and not really being productive and end up hurting yourself and taking a big step back." ... Coach Norv Turner said he will decide Thursday whether ILB Matt Wilhelm (calf) will see his first action of the preseason. ... WR Craig Davis (wisdom teeth) returned to practice and Turner hopes he'll be able to play Thursday. DL Ryon Bingham (foot), DT Brandon McKinney (ankle) and RB Michael Turner (ankle) all missed practice. ... The Chargers got down to the 75-man roster maximum by placing G Erik Robertson (ankle)

on injured reserve.

-- Contact staff writer Mike Sullivan at (760) 739-6645 or msullivan@nctimes.com.

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