49ers' Davis reminded often of last game against Seattle

By Daniel Brown

dbrown@mercurynews.com

It didn't take much to jog Vernon Davis' memory. Asked about the last time he faced the Seattle Seahawks, he smiled wide.

"That's the game where I went to the locker room, huh?" he said.

Yep, that's the one.

Davis committed a personal foul penalty against safety Brian Russell, and the rest is YouTube history. Mike Singletary banished Davis to the locker room and later the coach unleashed one of the great postgame rants of all time. ("I want winners!" might sound familiar.)

One of the reasons that Davis remembers it so well is that opponents won't let him forget. For the rest of last season, other players tried to bait Davis into losing his cool again.

"They tried every time," he said Wednesday. "They'd say, 'Vernon, go to the locker room!' People still say it."

But instead of getting mad, he stays even.

"I just laugh about it," Davis said.

That Seattle game last Oct. 26 marked Singletary's interim coaching debut. Much has changed since. Singletary is now the full-time guy — in no small part because of his tough, disciplined approach to players such as Davis.

Looking back, Davis didn't know how to react.

"This guy, wow, he sent me to the locker room," he said. "I didn't know what was going on or what to think. He didn't know me very well, and I didn't know him. We had to learn how to deal with each other."

York told hosts Tom Tolbert and Ralph Barbieri, "We want the kid to be here. And I'd love to have a chance to sit down and talk with him and his agent face to face ...

"It's one thing to have an agent say, 'This is what I want' and 'This is what he believes,' but so that it doesn't get personal — and so there's no miscommunication — I'd like to sit down with Michael" as well as general manager Scot McCloughan and vice president of football operations Paraag Marathe.

The Crabtree camp has yet to respond, York said.

Defensive end Justin Smith was held out with an elbow problem, but the team said it was precautionary. Smith, who has not missed a game since 2001, is expected to be on the field Sunday.

Receiver Brandon Jones (shoulder) practiced while wearing a black jersey, which told other players to avoid contact. It was Jones' first full participation in practice since suffering a fractured scapula.

Marcus Hudson (chest), David Baas (biceps), Aubrayo Franklin (shin) and Chilo Rachal (neck) made the injury report, but each participated fully in practice.