Harbaugh on Alex Smith confidence issues: 'Gobble-gobble-turkey'

Jim Harbaugh has Alex Smith's back in a most fowl way. (US Presswire)

Alex Smith completed a ridiculous 18 of 19 passes on Monday in San Francisco's dominating 24-3 win against the Cardinals, and if he would have made just one more attempt and completed just one more pass, he would have set the official NFL record for highest completion percentage in a single game.

Ultimately, he didn't -- though as we note here, Smith “broke Fran Tarketon's record for the most completed passes in a game in which he threw just one incompletion in the process” -- but quite clearly after throwing for 232 yards and three touchdowns, Smith continues to play well for the 49ers.

So, when coach Jim Harbaugh was asked Monday night about Smith's possible confidence issues, Harbaugh gave the sort of answer you would expect from a head coach talking about his quarterback.

OK, nobody could have expected THIS answer.

“It's a lot of gobble-gobble turkey,” said Harbaugh, who couldn't stop a grin from breaking out on his face. “Just gobble-gobble-turkey from jive turkey gobblers. That paints a pretty good picture.”

It does indeed. Especially if you, as I did, immediately thought of this clip from “Trading Places,” which is NSFW for the language.

Either way, it's nice to see Harbaugh, even if it makes no sense at all, adding a fowl new phrase to the lexicon.

For more NFL news, rumors and analysis, follow @EyeOnNFL on Twitter, and subscribe to our Pick-6 Podcast and NFL newsletter. You can follow Josh Katzowitz on Twitter here: @joshkatzowitz.