Harbaugh Q&A: ‘Some crazy, wild calls'

HOUSTON -- Coach Jim Harbaugh had some issues with replacement referee Wayne Elliott's crew in the 49ers' 20-9 loss to the Houston Texans on Saturday night.

There were some "crazy, wild calls," Harbaugh said after earlier saying he had been instructed not to comment on the officiating. Harbaugh later said of the calls, "A lot of them didn't seem like they were in the ballpark."

Here's what Harbaugh had to say in his post-game comments:
Can you give us an update on the severity of Brandon Jacobs' injury?
Harbaugh: "He's going to miss a little time. I don't think it's anything . . . the ACL is good. The patella is good. It'll be some time, but we'll see. It's not the you-don't-come-back-from variety."Anything on LaMichael James?
Harbaugh: "Things look good, X-ray-wise, and it's calming down for him."How do you assess this game, as far as the maturation process of what you want this team to be?
Harbaugh: "That's a great question. I don't know that I really have the answer for us. Was it us? Was it them? Was it . . . things I've been instructed not to comment on, so I won't comment on. So don't even ask me. I don't have a feel for that right now. I wish I had a better feel."Any concerns about the protection that Alex Smith received?
Harbaugh: "Yeah, there really both missed assignments. One by . . . uh . . . I'm not going to go into detail about. But we will with our team."What did they give for an explanation about the final seconds of the first half?
Harbaugh: "That they made a mistake."Was it their only one of the night?
Harbaugh: "Per instructions, I will not be commenting on the officiating."What did you like in this game? Were there bright spots?
Harbaugh: "I think there were. There were bright spots, guys competing. Guys were going against a good football team. There was good play. We'll see how much of it -- how much penalties there really was and wasn't. But there's always good. There's always some bad. Just keep climbing. That's the thing we need to do right now. Maybe we'll have more answers after really assessing it. Right now, I don't have a feel for whether it was the Texans? Was it the 49ers? Was it other things?"Do you view this as a step back from last week?
Harbaugh: "No, everything is . . . I don't have the answer for you. Was it a step back? It's a step. It's our second game, so it's part of the process we're going through. We'll assess it and see. Step forward, step back. We'll figure it out."You mentioned this week that Colin Kaepernick has emerged as the No. 2 guy. Do you still feel that way? Does tonight performance sway you one way or the other?
Harbaugh: "I don't come out of it feeling like anything's changed because of the way Colin played. I thought he played pretty darn good."Frank Gore made his first appearance of the exhibition season and had a big carry the first time he touched it. Does he look ready to go right now?
Harbaugh: "Yeah, he does. He's having a good camp. He looks spry as ever. I think we're right on track with Frank."Was Kendall Hunter one of the bright spots tonight?
Harbaugh: "He is. He ran effectively and had a nice kickoff return. One pass protection issue, but I think it was a real good night for Kendall."The fact that you didn't have either outside linebacker Aldon Smith or Ahmad Brooks, how big of an impact did that have in the pass defense?
Harbaugh: "I'm sure it has an impact. We're a little low on numbers at that position. But next guy up. You got to go with the guys you got and don't worry about the other stuff."Eric Bakhtiari played the entire game, are you impressed with his effort against the run?
Harbaugh: "Eric plays all-out every snap. I was very impressed. He had a couple that he'd like to have back, but it's a good step forward for him. It was good competition for a lot of our guys who were in there. It's tough to look at it as a step back. I have a hard time agreeing with that. Good play. Good competition. Good step. We'll learn from it and move on."Randy Moss had a catch on the first three drives. Was that part of the plan?
Harbaugh: "He's part of what they do. All our receivers. When you're running on every play. Everybody alert, everybody running. You can't really script it to say who's getting the ball. 'We're going to get Randy more balls than anybody else.' Maybe some teams do that, but it's not the way we do it."Did you have a nice angle on the Josh Johnson-to-A.J. Jenkins catch on the far sideline?
Harbaugh: "Yeah, pretty good."What did you see?
Harbaugh: "Good throw. Good catch. A.J. got a step and made a nice catch and kept his feet inbounds. Made a great route on the next play and it should've been a touchdown. I thought he did some good. Again, good competition. Good night to compete. Great things to be learned and gleaned from this."Were you pleased with the way the first-team defense allowed only one field goal tonight?
Harbaugh: "Yeah, they're never in until they're in. Our guys, as they do a lot, they tightened up toward the red zone and held them to field goals. Big interference call in third quarter was some big yardage on that drive. I don't know. It's interesting. I don't have the pulse on this game. What was it exactly? Us? Them? Some crazy, wild calls. Were they accurate? Weren't they? We'll see. I have a headache (from yelling), though. I have a darned headache. A lot them didn't seem like they were in the ballpark."