SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Alex Smith is receiving a big chance to resurrect his NFL career. All but forgotten, the former No. 1 overall draft pick is the San Francisco 49ers' new starting quarterback -- again.
"I don't know if I'd say surprised. I don't know if I was anticipating it, either," Smith said Monday after receiving the news from 49ers coach Mike Singletary. "It's the opportunity I've been waiting for -- happy."
Martz: This is the right move
NFL Network analyst
Mike Martz, the former offensive coordinator of the 49ers, has an inside perspective of the team's
QB situation and the move
to Alex Smith as the starter.
"I think it is the right move. Alex Smith looked like the former No. 1 overall pick that they hoped he would be in this game. He was nothing short of outstanding.
"I think the time away served him well. I think he had a chance to sit back. He was so stressed over that situation while I was there. Of course, he was injured, too. When I watched him in this game (against the Texans), he's having fun, and he turned the ball loose.
"He gives them the best opportunity because he takes the ball down the field. Those receivers have not had a lot of opportunities, and with Smith, I think they will have those opportunities." **Watch ...**
Singletary made the announcement after sitting down with Shaun Hill, who was benched after the first half of the 49ers' 24-21 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Smith, who hadn't played in an NFL regular-season game in nearly two years, came in and gave the 49ers' offense a much-needed jolt of energy and efficiency, and he nearly led the team back from a 21-0 deficit.
Smith completed his first six passes and finished 15 of 22 for 206 yards and three touchdown passes to tight end Vernon Davis. Davis is the first 49er since Terrell Owens in 2001 to have three TD catches in a game.
"As far as will Shaun Hill be back and all this other stuff, we're not going to be a flavor-of-the-month kind of thing where, 'Let's see, this guy will be this week, this guy will be next week,'" Singletary said. "I wanted to make the decision based upon who I feel gives us the best chance to win."
This Sunday, the 49ers will visit the Indianapolis Colts, coincidentally the same team against which Smith debuted in 2005. This will be his first start since Nov. 12, 2007.
"I think right now, overall, Alex Smith really just kind of fit the bill in terms of doing the things that we need to get done," Singletary said.
Smith, the No. 1 draft pick out of Utah in 2005, missed all of last season after reinjuring his surgically repaired throwing shoulder three days before the season opener. He was set to be the backup to J.T. O'Sullivan.
When this season began, Singletary decided that Hill was the best man behind center for San Francisco, a franchise desperate to end a streak of six consecutive losing seasons.
Smith, 25, has shown signs in practice of being more than ready to handle this role. It was Smith who spent several days during the recent bye week working with wide receiver Michael Crabtree, this year's first-round draft pick, to get him up to speed on the offense before his debut against the Texans. Crabtree, who finally signed his six-year deal Oct. 7, had five catches in an impressive first game.
Singletary, who insisted that his decision wasn't "premeditated," sensed a positive vibe from everybody -- save maybe for Hill -- with Smith's calm, confidence presence on the field. Not that Singletary didn't have a feeling Smith could take charge of his unit and lead the team again after all he has been through in his career.
Singletary has seen Smith's strides in recent months.
"Let him develop that hunger, let him get excited, 'Well if I get an opportunity again.' Let him develop some confidence, 'I think I can do that,'" Singletary said of the time that Smith needed to evolve. "Rather than just putting him in at the beginning of the season and if you don't have success right away, then it's, 'Same old Alex.' I don't think it's the same old Alex. I think Alex has matured, I think he's grown and I think he's ready to play. We're going to find out. We'll find out next week."
Not that Smith needed any more motivation: He knew he'd better take advantage if he ever received another opportunity. He knows he has done more to earn his spot this time around than as a rookie.
Smith doesn't plan to change now. And he no longer thinks about his shoulder.
"I've been out for two years now. I don't know if I was getting any hungrier," Smith said. "I've kind of been waiting. It's been frustrating and I've got a chance to get back out there and make the most of it."
Hill began the season as a starter for the first time in his eight-year NFL career and led the 49ers to a 3-1 start. He lost his job Monday, one year to the day after Singletary benched O'Sullivan in favor of Hill during the coach's debut against the Seattle Seahawks.
Hill struggled in the first half Sunday, when San Francisco had just 50 total yards and he was 6-of-11 passing for 45 yards.
"It's frustrating. It's upsetting," Hill said. "It's not going to keep me down. Nothing ever has, nothing ever will. It's the same thing he (Smith) went through, and it didn't hold him down, either."
Texans defensive end Mario Williams said he didn't know who Smith was when the quarterback came out to start the second half of Sunday's game. That's how far Smith had fallen off the NFL radar.
"When I look at Alex, I really didn't know what we were going to get when he went in," Singletary said. "I was hoping we'd get what we've seen out here in practice, and that's what we got. I was excited to see that, the excitement and the enthusiasm on the sideline, the excitement and enthusiasm on the defensive side of the ball, the receivers, the running backs, everybody."
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
