For 49ers, time to clean up the mess
Dennis Georgatos
Mercury News
49ers Coach Dennis Erickson called Terrell Owens into his office Monday and warned him against any more sideline outbursts.
"It will no longer be tolerated, basically," Erickson said at his weekly news conference.
On Sunday, television cameras showed Owens berating offensive coordinator Gregg Knapp after a failed running play on fourth-and-one.
Owens said after the game he was furious because he had gotten single coverage on the play and could have gained the first down had the ball been thrown to him.
Erickson said no disciplinary action was planned. However, the coach added that Owens should consider this a warning.
"He understands where I'm coming from," Erickson said.
Even so, Erickson said he is not sure how Owens will respond.
"We'll see as time goes on," he said.
Owens was not available for comment Monday during the 45-minute open locker room session.
As it turns out, Owens' anger was misdirected. Erickson said he -- not Knapp -- made the call to run the ball.
"We'd done it before and had been successful," Erickson said. "It was a play we had practiced. They were in a short-yardage defense. Yeah, he was one-on-one, but we were going to run the football."
The coach added that quarterback Jeff Garcia was forbidden from changing the call at the line of scrimmage because the din of the Metrodome raised the risk of a miscommunication.
In the sit-down Monday, Erickson said he also addressed some of Owens' postgame remarks in which he had been critical of teammates. But he said any other details of his conversation with Owens were private.
Owens ripped the play of the 49ers' banged-up offensive line the previous weekend after a loss to Cleveland, and declared the team had "no heart" after the drubbing by the Vikings.
Garcia, whose relationship with the receiver has become so strained that the two did not speak to each other during a joint film session Monday, took exception with the latter of Owens' claims.
"One individual is saying that, that's his own opinion. He's entitled to that. That is not the character of this team," Garcia said. "This team has more than enough heart."
Linebacker Jamie Winborn said he did not think Owens meant the comment as an attack on the character of his teammates.
"I just think he wants everybody to care and feel passionate, the way he does," Winborn said. "And we do. But some of us express it in a different way."
Garcia remains concerned that Owens' harsh remarks could sow dissension. He said that during the flight home from Minneapolis, he met with Bryant Young, Jeremy Newberry and Ron Stone, among others, to try to quell the threat of more finger-pointing as the team prepares for its game Sunday against the Detroit Lions and former 49ers coach Steve Mariucci.
"In so many ways, this team has had the leaders that have allowed it to stay together," Garcia said. "I think, in so many ways, that sickness can spread. And we're trying to do our best possible job to not allow that sickness to spread."
