San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary has indicated that he’s likely to stay with Troy Smith as his starting quarterback, even if Alex Smith is healthy enough to play on Sunday against the Rams. But Singletary isn’t ready to come right out and declare Troy the starter.
Asked point blank on KNBR today to name his starter for Sunday, Singletary demurred.
“As of right now, Troy is taking the reps,” Singletary said, per the Press Democrat. “But in terms of who the starting quarterback is going to be, we’re just going to continue look at Alex and see what the trainers and the doctors say and we’ll just kind of go from there.”
Asked if Alex Smith’s health means everyone should expect Troy Smith to start on Sunday, Singletary again declined to give a straight answer.
“I think you should expect that sometimes before the game we’ll know who the starter is going to be,” Singletary said.
Singletary also said people have misunderstood his comments about needing more leadership at the quarterback position, saying that “Alex Smith is everything you want your quarterback to be.” And Singletary insists that his team is still fighting for a playoff spot, and that the quarterback situation won’t be a distraction.
"[W]hat we do not have here is a quarterback controversy,” Singletary said. “What we have is a team that’s 2-6, that’s competing for the division.”
