49ers would like to keep Gore fresh; he just wants the football

After selecting a running back in the third round, the 49ers indicated they would like to ease up on Frank Gore's workload.

Gore, however, is in no hurry to share.

"I feel like the more I'm in the game, the more I touch the ball, the better player I am," he said Tuesday.

Gore spoke shortly after the 49ers' second day of organized team activities. He said any talk of a two-back system with rookie Glen Coffee was news to him.

"I don't think we'll be rotating," he said.

Gore was standing in the precise spot outside the locker room where, about 24 hours earlier, Coach Mike Singletary talked about his desire to keep his running back fresh. Gore has had three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons but has seen his past two years curtailed by ankle injuries.
On Monday, Singletary was asked if he has talked with Gore about a reduced number of carries.

"Frank is smart enough to know that taking every snap, getting injured in the last couple years — a little nick here, a little nick there — it helps to have somebody in there who can give him a break, share some of that load," Singletary said. "So he's smart enough to know that that's going to help him as well."

In the copycat NFL, teams no doubt noticed the success of two-back systems last season. Five teams had two runners with at least 160 carries — and all five of those teams made the playoffs: Tennessee, the New York Giants, Baltimore, Carolina and Miami.

"That's just where people are moving," Titans Coach Jeff Fisher said near the end of last season. "Our whole plan going in was to keep them fresh for the final stretch of the regular season and hopefully the playoffs."

The Titans nicknamed their duo Smash and Dash. The Panthers had Double Trouble. The Giants went with Earth (Brandon Jacobs), Wind (Derrick Ward) and Fire (Ahmad Bradshaw).

So after the 49ers drafted Coffee, the most popular game in the pressroom was thinking of a new nickname for the hard-charging, power backfield. Smash and Gore? Coffee and Express-o? Frank and Beans?

But to hear Gore talk Tuesday, the T-shirt makers shouldn't get started quite yet. He turned 26 last week and said his body is in excellent condition.

The coaches have told Gore to be in "tip-top shape," which he says is a sign they are expecting him to be on the field as much as ever.

Plus, Gore said, he gets better as the game goes on. If the coaches want to give him an occasional breather, that's fine, but he wants as many carries as possible.

"As long as I'm in most of the snaps and getting in my rhythm, doing the best I can do to help my team win, I'm fine with it," Gore said.

What about avoiding injuries? Gore pointed out that his ankle problems the past two seasons stemmed from bad luck, not wear and tear. In both cases, another player rolled over his ankle, which cannot reasonably be blamed on too many carries.

"I felt like I was starting to get stronger in the game I got hurt," Gore said, referring to a Week 14 game against the New York Jets.

Gore's desire to stay on the field is in part because of the potential he sees in Jimmy Raye's offense. He said there are a lot of straight-ahead power counter plays, just as there were in Norv Turner's offense in 2006 when Gore rushed for 1,695 yards.

"I like to have my shoulders square," Gore said. "A lot of runs and a lot of running plays are going straight downhill. Let me just pick a hole and go."

(mercurynews.com)