49ers Notebook: Alex Smith to Calais Campbell: 'Hate is a strong word'
 |
| Arizona DE Calais Campbell hates the 49ers with a passion. (US Presswire) |
Arizona DE Calais Campbell is frustrated.
He felt like he should have had four sacks in the Cardinals' 21-14 loss to Minnesota last week, instead, he settled for none.
“I got to make up for that this week especially going up against the 49ers, who I hate with a passion,” Campbell told SiriusXM's Tim Ryan and Pat Kirwan. “I can't wait to go out there and stick it to them and Alex Smith. I've got him down a few times, I know he's thinking about me a little bit.”
Smith found Campbell's comments more amusing than anything when asked about them Thursday.
“Hate is strong word. It's a strong word,” Smith said, holding back a smile. “I mean, they're a division opponent, obviously there's a lot of history there, we play them twice a year. Great rivalry, hate is a word I wouldn't use.”
As could have been expected, Campbell's comments made the rounds at the 49ers facility. No one -- at least not publicly -- seemed to care much about what was said.
OLB Aldon Smith played the sympathy card.
“I'm sorry he feels that way, first of all,” he said. “We're going to go out there and compete, whoever we play. We play the Cardinals on Monday so we're preparing to play them and compete hard.”
Not exactly fighting words coming from a player known for letting more than his play do the talking on game days.
Haggans to face former team: OLB Clark Haggans, who spent the previous four seasons with Arizona, said the 49ers coaching staff doesn't need his help to prepare for his former team.
“They have it all. They have it all down,” Haggans said. “Throw the ball to Larry (Fitzgerald). Run the ball. Try to beat us. That's pretty much it.”
It may be a tiny bit more complex than Haggans insinuated, but the point remains the same: there won't be many schematic surprises on Monday.
Haggans said he spoke with Cardinals LB Sam Acho a few days ago, just to check in. He said they didn't spend much time talking about the game.
Boone supports SF Giants: RG Alex Boone walked around the 49ers locker room wearing an orange panda hat Thursday in support of San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval. Sandoval became the fourth player in World Series history to hit three home runs in a game last night.
P Lee dealing with broke thumb: The extent of P Andy Lee's thumb injury sustained in the Week 1 win against Green Bay wasn't clear until Thursday, when Lee revealed the thumb was broken.
“The biggest issue that I had was catch the ball cleanly on holds,” Lee told a group of reporters. “Once I caught it, getting it down and messing with it wasn't a big deal.”
The injury occurred when he tried to tackle Randall Cobb on a punt return.
LT Staley not present at start of practice: Starting LT Joe Staley was not present for the start of practice on Thursday. The reason for the absence is unknown.
Follow 49ers reporter Kyle Bonagura on Twitter @CBS49ers and @KyleBonagura.
