Jim Harbaugh rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
As a head coach, his strengths were in tactical arrangements, on-field strategy, and coaching players. However, his weaknesses were in interpersonal relationships and dealing with people. This was true when dealing with the media, the owner, and the players. The locker room problem was especially tricky. He had no idea how to handle it and no intention of taking it on.
He didn't know what had happened in the locker room, what caused the conflict, or what it was all about. To be precise, he wasn't interested in finding out.
In Jim's mind, locker room issues were always left to the team captain. It was a communication between the players themselves, which was the most convenient and effective way. He could focus on his coaching job, and those trivial matters could be handled by the professionals. It was a win-win situation.
But now, things were clearly not that simple.
For the first time, Jim didn't chase away the other coaches or stubbornly stick to his own opinion. Instead, he asked, "If Lu Ke continues to be the starting quarterback, do you really think the team's conflict will get worse? Even if we continue to win?"
This was an interesting way of asking a question.
Jim's focus was not on solving the problem, but on questioning the possibility of the problem getting worse. If possible, he would definitely continue to ignore the problem. It was like getting a wound and instead of seriously checking it and bandaging it, he would just put on a band-aid and hope the wound would heal on its own.
But at least it was a start.
Kipp opened his mouth, unsure how to answer. He couldn't predict the future. "At least, Vernon Davis and Lu Ke's relationship has improved." Kipp could only shrug and explain in this roundabout way. "Are you saying you still want to choose Lu Ke as the starting quarterback?"
Jim didn't answer directly and changed the subject. "Alex has started his passing practice?"
"Yes," Kipp said seriously, as the quarterback coach, regaining his focus. "He's still the Alex Smith we remember." Kipp also came to the San Francisco 49ers this season, but before that, everyone in the league knew about Alex, and Kipp was no exception. "He's stable with short and mid-range passes, his mechanics are solid, and his footwork is light and steady. But his deep passes still haven't improved."
It was true that Alex's arm strength was not outstanding, and the stability of his deep passes declined sharply. However, the bigger problem was that Alex lacked confidence and was even timid, not daring to try deep passes for fear of an interception. But in fact, Alex's deep pass attempts were so few that his interception count was always at an extremely low number. So, there was no situation where a high number of interceptions would affect his confidence.
Sometimes, the purpose of a deep pass is more to tie down the defense. If an offense can run the ball, make short passes, and make deep passes, the defense will naturally be running ragged. But without the ability to make a deep pass, the defense can focus more on a specific area.
This was Alex's problem, and it was also Lu Ke's strength. One was steady, and the other was aggressive. Both of them were double-edged swords, full of countless uncertainties.
Jim nodded his head slightly, indicating that he understood. "Is Alex going to have contact drills today? How is his knee injury recovering?"
This question wasn't for Kipp, but for Mark Uyeyama, the team's head coach for strength and conditioning. In addition to players' strength training, they were also in charge of recovery and rehabilitation training.
"The team doctor has given him the green light. Alex's injury has recovered, and he can have contact drills now," Mark said clearly and concisely. "As for the specifics, we'll have to see in practice."
The ACL is one of the most fragile parts of an athlete's body. Many players who return from injury are often afraid to make certain moves because of a psychological fear. This requires a process. A small number of players can never fully recover. They can live their daily lives, but their playing form is gone forever.
Jim nodded his head slightly and didn't say anything. Instead, he was carefully digesting what he had just heard. "Kipp, Craig, has Lu Ke finished reading the entire playbook? I mean, in the second game, our tactical arrangements were still not rich enough. The Cowboys' targeted defense was something we were clearly unprepared for."
"Lu Ke sent me an email last night. He has already watched the video of the second regular season game and analyzed all the plays. He also analyzed his tactical mistakes and the Cowboys' tactical choices," Kipp's words brought a surprise, but after a moment's thought, it was a logical development. In just a few weeks, Lu Ke's consistent hard work and diligence were slowly becoming a habit.
"You got one too?" Craig looked surprised but then became delighted. He nodded repeatedly. "He doesn't look like a rookie at all. He asked a bunch of questions about the derivation and changes of tactics. Some of the questions were a little foolish, like a rookie, but some were genius and truly eye-opening."
"Jesus Christ," Vic, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but exclaim. Everyone's eyes were on him, and Vic spread his hands and shook his head. "Lu Ke also sent me an email, asking me about some of the defensive plays. I was watching a movie with my wife, and after I received the email, I went to my study to watch the game footage."
Vic was the defensive coordinator, and his interpretation and understanding of defense were naturally different. Lu Ke not only interpreted the game from the perspective of the offense but also tried to interpret the defensive plays.
"Are you saying he has read and understood the entire playbook? I mean, all of it!" Jim interrupted the three coaches' conversation, his eyes wide as he emphasized his question.
For rookie players, they have three months after the draft to read the playbook and integrate into the team. They also have four preseason games to practice specific plays and adapt to the game. But for undrafted rookies, the time is even shorter, maybe less than a third of that.
As an undrafted rookie, Lu Ke only had six weeks to gel with the team, which meant he only had six weeks to study the playbook. Even a genius, even with a perfect Wonderlic Test score, the NFL playbook is definitely not something you can master in six weeks.
During the two games, the scope of tactical choices was relatively limited, which was inevitable.
Not only were Jim's tactical choices somewhat limited, but Lu Ke's tactical variations were also limited. As the season progresses, a rookie quarterback needs to mature, and the tactical arrangements need to become richer, always staying one step ahead of the other teams before they can fully understand the San Francisco 49ers' offense and defense, and strive for victory.
"Yes, I think he's pretty close."
"He's working on it."
"At least, he's more diligent than I am."
The three of them had three different answers, with different meanings, but Jim nodded his head meaningfully, indicating that he understood. "Then we'll have Lu Ke continue to be the starting quarterback."
As always, Jim was an iron-fisted coach who, after hearing their opinions, made a decisive decision. There was no hesitation or overthinking. It seemed reckless, even impulsive, but it was the result of careful consideration and weighing of the pros and cons.
"Jim, are you sure?" Craig asked with a worried expression.
The decision was too quick and too hasty. For the past two days, all the members of the coaching staff had been thinking and talking about this problem, but they had never officially exchanged their opinions. Now, they had only been in the meeting for a few minutes, and Jim had already made the final decision?
This…
During this year's offseason, Alex first left the team and then returned. Under the decision of the head coach and the team manager, he signed a one-year, $5 million contract. In other words, the San Francisco 49ers had signed a starting quarterback for $5 million. Now that the player had recovered from his injury, were they going to give up on this "$5 million" and choose an undrafted rookie?
This didn't seem like a good deal. At the very least, Jim should have thought about it more. So, Craig raised his question.
Jim had now gradually calmed down, and the redness on his cheeks had returned to normal. He finally looked like he was no longer in danger of exploding. "Have you guys heard of the Washington Redskins' playbook trick?"
"The Redskins?" Craig frowned, wondering why Jim had changed the subject now and what the point of the topic was.
"Yes, I have," Kipp Krist said. The coaches all looked at him. Kipp explained simply, "During the rookie training camp, the Redskins would choose players they were interested in and then give them the training camp playbook. During the interview, they would ask them if they had finished reading the entire playbook."
"Right, I know. We do that too. More than half the teams in the league do that," Craig said, shrugging nonchalantly. "What does that have to do with what we're talking about now?"
Kipp's gaze fell on his colleagues. "The difference is that they would tape a hundred-dollar bill to the last page. Of course, everyone would say they had read the playbook, but not everyone would mention the hundred-dollar bill. After that, the Redskins' coach would bring up the hundred dollars again to see the players' reactions."
The coaches suddenly understood. "That's an honesty test!" Vic immediately understood. "That's genius! The person who came up with that idea is a genius!"
Since football is an incredibly violent sport, players often encounter problems off the field, such as temper control, alcoholism, being a party animal, petty theft, and so on. For a team, they naturally hope that their players will stay out of trouble and choose players with good morals as much as possible.
In that case, the Washington Redskins' little test suddenly showed its value.
"What, did the Redskins' test put Lu Ke to the test?" Kipp asked curiously.
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