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Playing the short week and playing on Thursday it feels like we all should have today off. Thank you all for coming in and doing this with me.

Obviously I was pleased with the way our guys prepared on a short week. It’s a challenge. It’s a physical challenge having played a game like we did against Kansas City and then coming back and having to play on Thursday night, and it’s a mental challenge getting focused and flipping that switch Monday right after you come in from a win. Our guys handled it extremely well.

Defensively we’re playing at a high level. They got some run early but I thought we settled down and took that away and we got great pressure on the quarterback. I thought Shaun Phillips and (Antwan) Barnes on the outside were outstanding and when you get the pressure from the outside it helps the guys on the inside and that was a big part of it.

Obviously Philip continues to play at a high level and getting Vincent involved the way we did and making the big play early kind of set a tone for everything else.

Do you see yourself being a peacemaker between A.J. Smith and Vincent Jackson?

Oh, gosh. I figured we’d get some Vincent Jackson and contract questions. I think those are things that’ll take place after the season. I’m just excited to have Vincent here and our players are excited to have him here. He’s a good guy. He’s come back in here and I think it’s been good for our team and it’s been good for him.

What’s his value to the offense?

It always to me starts with guys that can make plays. And he obviously can make plays. He’s proven that over the last two or three years. Then you get the dividends of it. Obviously they start playing him a little different. They double him or the safety’s playing wider. It does help the tight end. It helps the running game.

What influence do you have on whether he stays?

The great thing about the way we’ve operated, obviously at some point someone makes the final decisions and that’s A.J., but between myself and A.J. and Dean Spanos and Ed McGuire, we spend a lot of time talking about all the different things that are important to our football team. So that’s where you have the ability to have some influence.

That said, are you likely to exert your influence on Vincent’s behalf?

There’s a lot of things that go into it and if it was easy and it was just black and white, you watch that game and you say yeah, you want Vincent Jackson here. But there’s a lot of things that go into it.

On the rest after the short week

There’s no question. My experience with this, and I think it was proven over a long period of time when they only had the Thanksgiving Day games, Dallas when I was there the three years and I think there was a long run after that, before that everyone thought that they had an advantage on the Thursday, but actually the advantage came the next week when you were playing with extra days (to) rest and a little more time to prepare. I’m not assuming that’s going to happen but that’s our plan. And we have as coaches a little more time to prepare for Cincinnati. Obviously we have a lot of guys that have nicks and are banged up and little things that they’re playing with. You hope the extra days of rest will help that. We’ll have a light practice on Monday and then have a normal week when we start on Wednesday. I think it does help our guys.

What about your guys with more than light nicks like Floyd and English?

I’m hopeful. You know me, I’m hopeful Larry will be able to play. It’s 10 days. He felt a lot better each day this week and I would think he’s got a chance and then Malcom came in Thursday morning with (trainer) James (Collins) and did a little bit and he wasn’t ready but I believe in 10 days he’s got a real chance of being ready.

Have we seen a permanent change at punt returner?

I don’t think so. I like Cason and what he’s done back there but we’ve got two really good corners and it’s hard to have two corners playing at the level that our guys have played all year. There’s always a bump along the way where a guy gets beat, that’s the National Football League, but from a standpoint of the way our corners have played this year I don’t know that you could ask for more and I hold my breath every time I see Antoine return one because it’s hard to find guys that play at the level at corner he does. I think it’s helped Darren get more involved in the offense but I think we need to get Darren back in there returning punts.

So Antione’s days of returning punts are done?

No, they’re not done, but we can use both of them. We can be smart about how we used him.

On Kelley Washington’s production at receiver after signing as a special teams guy

It is circumstance. It’s amazing. My experience with this, and it’s pretty simple to be honest with you, guys that make plays get a chance to make more plays. We got in those situations where everyone was hurt and he’s a teams guy and he went in and next thing you know he’s catching a ball and he’s running down the field with it. Then he’s catching another one. With our situation he’s gone in there and played in that nickel spot, that sub receiver spot, and the things he does well he does real well. He’s made big plays in our last games.

Is there a new problem on the near-miss of blocked punts last night?

No it’s not. The problem we had is with Larry English. Larry English has really gotten to where he’s played at a high level and got to where every week he got better. Kory Sperry was in there and he didn’t give the center quite enough help and they got on the edge and then we put Michael Tolbert in there for about his 70^th play of the game and he got held on a pick and he just didn’t recognize it soon enough. Again, we’re seeing as many different looks as anyone in the history of football because they have hope that they can block one. They were near blocks and you hold your breath but they are things that we can fix and they’re things that we have done when Larry was in there. We’d been doing it at a high level.

Is it your hope that Patrick Crayton can make a comeback on the 26^th? Is that within the realm of possibility or are you looking further down the line?

I think there’s a possibility. I wouldn’t count on that and I wouldn’t rush it. Kelley Washington is playing at a high level in that spot doing a lot of the same things. In fact I told Patrick this morning, I said, ‘Kelley’s taking all your crossing routes.’ He says, ‘Yeah, you know, he’s doing pretty good with them.’ I want to get Patrick back because he adds something to us but I don’t think it’s a situation where you’d put him in there until he’s ready.

On the national exposure that comes with a Thursday night game

I wish I could tell you I watched them. When we win a game they play the replay of the game on our TVs so I’ve seen a little bit of the broadcast but I haven’t really got a chance to see a lot of what’s being said. We’ve been through all of it where you’re either the best or the worst. None of it really matters. Our guys have stayed pretty well grounded. We know we’ve got a lot of work to do. My thoughts this morning were spent looking at Cincinnati and they’re the same team that we played here last year that played in a real close game, kicked a 52-yard field goal to beat on the last play of the game, and they’re a physical team. They’ve lost some close games but they had a chance to beat Pittsburgh last week. They had a chance to beat New Orleans in a real close game. We’ve got to get ready to go play a very physical football team and I know what their mindset will be when we go play them. Playing at their place, that’s what my thoughts are.

Have you cemented your Sunday plans yet?

I’ll be turning the dial and watching. Obviously we’ll pay close attention to the games in our division.

On the pressure the Chiefs face

I know people talk about the external. The pressure for all of this is playing the team you’re playing and getting ready to play the team and hammering what they do. In St. Louis we were in that dome and we were on the road and we didn’t play very well against them. They played very well against us so I’m sure that the focus and the pressure for Kansas City is looking at the Rams and how they’re going to stop Steven Jackson and all the things involved in playing in a game.

Other than Philip Rivers, who on your team at this point might be most deserving in your mind of Pro Bowl consideration?

It’s a shame in some ways because people talk about the slow start and obviously the record is what you are. That’s a slow start. But we have so many players that played great early and have had their best year. A guy like Eric Weddle. He didn’t get off to a slow start. He was playing great from the get-go and he’s had a great year and he’s a guy that I would love to see get some consideration. It’s hard when you haven’t been mentioned on that level but he’s playing at that level. Quentin Jammer plays at that level all the time and he doesn’t get recognized but he didn’t get off to a slow start this year. He’s had a great year. Shaun Phillips had another great night last night and he is deserving of an opportunity to go to the Pro Bowl. He’s always played well here and for a while was not the lead guy. He’s kind of a lead guy on the outside for us. In my mind he would be deserving. Kris Dielman’s had a great year and he did not get off to a slow start. Our offensive line, those guys inside, Hardwick, he’s had a heck of a year, Jeromey Clary’s had a heck of a year. I don’t know how you decide which ones should be Pro Bowl guys but I know Dielman’s had a Pro Bowl year. He’s played great. Those would be some of my guys. Jacob Hester certainly didn’t get off to a slow start. He’s had his best year by far and has played great from the get-go. Unfortunately we all know what caused us to get off to the start we did. I looked at the statistics on running backs and they’ve eliminated the problems but our two backs both have lost three fumbles. They’ve lost more fumbles than any other backs in the league and that’s two guys that play the same position. That’s six fumbles and the next-most was three so there’s a bunch of those guys that have lost none. And obviously the kicking game problems have been well-documented.

On the status of Antonio Gates

I’m hoping for Gates in Cincinnati. I know it’s hard for him because he’s the guy who’s got to go play. I think he’s getting better. I don’t know if he’ll be ready for Cincinnati. But if he is we need him.

What will he do this week?

We’ll see where he’s at. He’s got extra time. He can get treatments and stay off it. He’s got extra time. We’ll see where he is Monday and Tuesday and we’ll have a plan for the rest of the week.

Do you make any kind of schedule concession for Christmas?

It’s hard because we were on the road last year at Christmas. It’s not a concession; our original schedule was to go on Saturday morning because this game was scheduled as a Sunday night game. When they rescheduled it’s been scheduled as a 4 (p.m.) game so we’re going to keep the schedule the same. We’re going to leave here early Saturday morning like at 9 (a.m.), get in there about 4 (p.m.) and then do our normal Saturday walkthrough, our meetings and those things, and then our guys at least have a chance to get home on Christmas Eve and the ones with little kids can get up early in the morning and they can do what they do in the morning and then go get on the plane.

Got any injury reports?

We’ve talked about a lot of the guys. A lot of them are getting treatment or getting looked at now so I think we’re going to wait until Monday.

On McNeill not playing a portion of the fourth quarter

It was a chance to get him out of the game. He’s a little bit dinged. His knee was a little sore. He played well. And it was a good chance for us to get Dombrowski some work also.

On if the running back plan Thursday went as he hoped

We didn’t make as many yards as I wanted to. That’s the biggest thing that didn’t go with the plan. Those guys ran hard. I knew the 49ers were a good defensive front. They did some good things against us in the running game, particularly early. We got the ball on the edge a little bit later with Ryan and I was glad to see that. I think it went the way we wanted it to. Depending on who we’re playing and which guy we lead with, it’ll be based on the style and what they do. Those are two young backs and when they’re going good, they’re really good. There’s some things still, they’re missing some holes and missing some lanes that the more they play they’re going to get. Obviously with the two of them and Darren we’re finding a good rhythm with those guys.

On Mike Tolbert’s helmet falling off

I think it’s his chinstrap. Whatever it is, we’re going to work on that so he’s not running down on a punt without a helmet. That looked dangerous.

On why he didn’t challenge potential Weddle INT

Our guys upstairs had a good look at it and there’s one shot that shows that Eric was out of bounds when he got control of the ball so that was the purpose of that.