By Matthew Barrows - Sac Bee Staff Writer
At age 35, Trent Dilfer is one of the four oldest players on the 49ers' roster. But the 13-year veteran says he will start his first game in two seasons feeling like a 20-something again. "This is the best place I've been as far as in-season training," Dilfer said this week. "It doesn't kill you, but at the same time you feel like you're maintaining your strength or getting stronger throughout the year."As far as his health, Dilfer's low point came in 2002 when he was with Seattle. He suffered a knee sprain in the first quarter of the team's first exhibition game that cost him the rest of training camp. He then tore his Achilles' tendon in Week 7, an injury that lingered into 2003.
Dilfer compared his current health to that of 2001, when he started four games in place of Matt Hasselbeck and threw seven touchdown passes against four interceptions and had a 92 passer rating. He credited his freshness to 49ers coach Mike Nolan's practice of allowing the team's oldest players, such as Dilfer, Larry Allen, Bryant Young and Walt Harris, to skip a few practices here and there and to practice only once a day in training camp. "People kind of pooh-pooh at that, but that's huge," Dilfer said. "Because if Walt or B.Y. or myself, if we have to go twice during camp, it's not the hits, it's the pounding on your legs. The tendinitis and the aches and pains can become overwhelming." That's so Ravens. It has been 2 1/2 years since Marques Douglas arrived from the Baltimore Ravens. But the 49ers defensive end only recently has noticed a bit of Ravens swagger in San Francisco's defense.
Dilfer compared his current health to that of 2001, when he started four games in place of Matt Hasselbeck and threw seven touchdown passes against four interceptions and had a 92 passer rating. He credited his freshness to 49ers coach Mike Nolan's practice of allowing the team's oldest players, such as Dilfer, Larry Allen, Bryant Young and Walt Harris, to skip a few practices here and there and to practice only once a day in training camp. "People kind of pooh-pooh at that, but that's huge," Dilfer said. "Because if Walt or B.Y. or myself, if we have to go twice during camp, it's not the hits, it's the pounding on your legs. The tendinitis and the aches and pains can become overwhelming." That's so Ravens. It has been 2 1/2 years since Marques Douglas arrived from the Baltimore Ravens. But the 49ers defensive end only recently has noticed a bit of Ravens swagger in San Francisco's defense.
"I wasn't disappointed," Douglas said of past versions of the 49ers' defense. "I just didn't know what direction we were going. I didn't know, like a lot of other guys, whether we were going to be a 3-4 team or a 4-3 team. I didn't know how I could be aggressive in a scheme in which I had to be so vanilla at times. That was the mind-boggling question, I guess." The new 3-4 scheme has allowed Douglas to be aggressive to the point where he has six so-called stuffs -- when a defender tackles a rusher behind the line of scrimmage -- more than any other defender in the league."You have guys that care now," he said. "You have guys that are passionate about making plays. We don't want to be the guy that lets the defense down."
- Look for a defensive struggle. This will be a very low scoring affair with the least mistakes made being the difference. Both defenses are equally talented, but the nod on offense has to go to Baltimore, particularily if Steve McNair plays. If Dilfer manages a good game and Gore can gain some ground, mistake free, smart football will give the Niners a shot at the win.-
Baltimore Ravens @ San Francisco 49ers
1:00 pm (PDT) on CBS
Check back here for post game analysis
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