49ers Proceed Into Bye Week With Emotional Coach

And, boy, were his 49ers players entertained by it all.

San Francisco's emotional first-year coach is winning, and celebrating the team's turnaround in his unique style — even if he rubs people the wrong way in the process. The Niners are 5-1 heading into their bye week after a 25-19 victory over the previously unbeaten Lions.

"It's something you don't see every game. As a player, I was kind of pumped up about it," left tackle Joe Staley said, chucking. "They weren't fighting, they were just getting after it. It's an intense game and football is an intense sport with high emotions. It's just something that happened at the end of the game. Obviously you don't want to see a fight happen, but there was some yelling and stuff."

Harbaugh insisted before the trip back to Michigan, where he starred in Ann Arbor for the Wolverines, that he has no friends. He probably didn't make any at Ford Field.

And this isn't the first time. Something similar happened during his Stanford days with former Southern California coach and now Seahawks chief Pete Carroll. They have become bitter rivals.

In 2009, Carroll asked Harbaugh, "What's your deal?" when they met at midfield after No. 25 Stanford ran up the score on 11th-ranked USC in a surprising 55-21 rout, even attempting a 2-point conversion with the game way out of reach.

Harbaugh doesn't much care about that stuff. He is all about winning, whatever it takes.

Yet back in the locker room Sunday after the skirmish, the coach told his players he wished it hadn't happened and taken the focus off their monumental victory.

"He's a competitor," said tight end Delanie Walker, who scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:56 left. "And that shows a lot, you know. He was very emotional. It was a big win, we overcame a whole lot in the game and he kinda felt that — you know, he didn't play, but he coached the game. So I could see him acting the way he acted. Really wasn't no big thing, it was just a rough handshake, and I think it got carried out of proportion. But, you know, when he got in the locker room he talked about it, he wished it never happened because he didn't want to take away from our win."

Quarterback Alex Smith spent the moments after the game ended talking to former 49ers QB Shaun Hill, along with Staley. They all hugged.

"We had a slightly less physical handshake," Smith joked. "This team loves and appreciates the fact that our coach is fiery and a competitor. We like that. I don't think any of us hold that against him for what happened."

Schwartz on Monday said he regretted the incident, in which he chased down Harbaugh after the infamous postgame semi-greeting but was held back by players and team personnel.

Harbaugh had at least one supporter outside Santa Clara team headquarters, 3,000 miles away at that: big brother and Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh.

"I can tell you this, whoever was right or wrong, I know whose side I'm on. The same side I've always taken," John Harbaugh said Monday. "You know what? Everybody's got a lot to learn. I guess right now he's 5-1. If the biggest lesson he has right now is how to shake hands postgame after a victory, he's doing OK."

Some protocols of etiquette aren't clearly defined.

Titans coach Mike Munchak, who only saw a replay of the Harbaugh-Schwartz exchange, acknowledged that when people are passionate things like this can happen.

"I don't even know what the rules are and all that," Munchak said. "When I became a head coach, there were things I didn't know. I didn't even know if before the game you were supposed to go and shake. I was a line coach and I never went out to shake anyone's hand, or when I was a player, I never went out to shake anyone's hand. I very rarely like to do it after the game.

"It's good sportsmanship obviously, but I think everyone realizes how competitive we are, how hard you work. It's hard after a game to work that hard, 100 hours a week or something, especially some of the coaches and not play well or play poorly. But obviously, you could suck it up and go over and shake a guy's hand for 5 seconds or 10 seconds."

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis remembers Baltimore's lunchtime basketball games in 1998 with Jim Harbaugh and then-defensive coach Schwartz during Harbaugh's playing days for the Ravens.

"I think Jimmy and Jim both, I'm sure, wish things would have been different and it doesn't have to become such a big thing. But really, (there's) not much to it," Lewis said. "Schwartzy and I would be playing against Harbaugh all the time and we'd play lunchtime basketball and Jimmy was playing for us. Two competitive guys."

San Francisco's players talked about the run-in on the flight home from the Motor City, even with Harbaugh sitting among them in coach class and not in his first-class seat.

"It's almost like he's still playing football. He's with us," defensive tackle Ricky Jean Francois said. "Just to see a coach fired up, to see him jumping with you, slapping five, patting you on the back, telling you good job and stuff and he's into the game, that's our energy right there. We thrive off of him. It seems like he's still playing football but he's just doing it from the coach's position."

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AP Sports Writers David Ginsburg in Baltimore, Joe Kay in Cincinnati and Teresa M. Walker in Nashville contributed to this story.

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Packers: Rodgers & Emotional Game Days

Senior writer jclombardi highlights QB Rodgers & emotional game days.

Rodgers gets miffed at mental miscues: Getting on your teammates for mental mistakes is something every quarterback has done, but only some can actually do it and not risk mutiny within the ranks. On Sunday against San Francisco, Rodgers was very demonstrative in pointing out mental errors, dressing down fullback Quinn Johnson, chirping at tight end Quarless and in one instance, seemingly getting irate with wide receiver Donald Driver. Many a quarterback has blown off steam, but most have been careful to contain it. ”I think as a quarterback and as a leader, you have to find ways to get through to your teammates,” Rodgers said. “Some guys do better with a confrontation, some guys with a pat on the butt, some guys a one-on-one sit-down. I’m an emotional player, and sometimes I share my emotions on the field, sometimes I share them in public. But I think some of the mistakes we’ve been making are so correctable, it’s often most frustrating when I know those are mistakes that shouldn’t happen. And when you’re playing a tight game, you can’t have alignment mistakes.” Rodgers was speaking more of the mistakes by Quarless and Johnson. Rodgers patted Johnson on the helmet after chewing him out. Rodgers had to call a timeout because Quarless apparently wasn’t lined up right. ”Sometimes I say things,” Rodgers said. “I guess it’s frustrating when it’s a little thing and it shouldn’t be an issue. You’re probably talking about me getting on Quinn a little bit when he couldn’t line up in the right spot. To me, that goes back to preparation. To me, physical mistakes are going to happen. I’m going to throw a bad ball, guys are going to drop passes, might not be able to make a play at some point. But the mental stuff, I just have a really hard time with that. Because I just feel like the preparation should be the most important thing for these guys.” Driver said he accepts Rodgers for the kind of person he is. He admitted Rodgers is cocky, “but in a good way.” ”I’m cocky,” Driver said. “It goes hand in hand. I think I’m one of the best. He thinks he’s one of the best quarterbacks. That’s pretty good.”

Rodgers–’Sometimes I share my emotions on the field’: He’s an emotional guy with high expectations, and that’s not going to change. “I think as a quarterback and as a leader,  you have to find ways to get through to your teammates. Some guys do better with a confrontation, some guys with a pat on the butt, some guys a one-on-one sit-down,” Rodgers explained at his locker after practice, as the team prepared for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions. “I’m an emotional player, and sometimes I share my emotions on the field, sometimes I share them in public. But I think some of the mistakes we’ve been making are so correctable, it’s often most frustrating when I know those are mistakes that shouldn’t happen.” The most recent example occurred in last Sunday’s 34-16 victory over the 49ers. With the Packers trying to grind out as much clock with a 31-16 lead, Rodgers was facing a first-and-10 from the San Francisco 38-yard line and had to burn a timeout when fullback Johnson lined up incorrectly. Rodgers didn’t hide his irritation, and it was clear as he came off the field that Johnson was the target. “To me, that goes back to preparation,” Rodgers said. “The way I look at it, physical mistakes are going to happen. I’m going to throw a bad ball; guys are going to drop passes, might not be able to make a play at some point. But the mental stuff, I just have a really hard time with that. Because I just feel like the preparation should be the most important thing for these guys. There’s no excuses in my opinion to (have) that many mental mistakes.” Earlier, in the first quarter, Rodgers had to burn another timeout and appeared to be peeved at Johnson and rookie tight end Andrew Quarless. After the game, Rodgers suggested that a little more preparation might have prevented the mistakes. “When you’ve playing a tight game, you can’t have alignment mistakes,” Rodgers said. “Preparation is the most important thing because the little mistakes are amplified.” The most obvious example was at Atlanta, when Quarless and Johnson were both in the same area on a first-and-goal pass from the Falcons’ 2-yard line. Johnson leaped to try to catch the pass, which appeared to be intended for Quarless, and heard about it afterward. While Quarless admitted that it is embarrassing to be chastised in front of fans, he said he believes that Rodgers does it only because he sees potential in him. Rodgers does most of his criticizing in practice and the value he places on practicing well was evident in one of the things. In his response to a question about Starks, Rodgers praised injured running back Grant, injured tight end Finley and four of his five wide receivers for their practice habits. Since Rodgers rarely if ever says something without having thought it through first, his message was undeniable.

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