SANTA CLARA, Calif. – San Francisco quarterback Nate Davis, a former standout at Ball State, has dyslexia and often works for close to 45 minutes at night with housemate and San Francisco wide receiver Dominique Zeigler to master the system.
Davis’ learning disability often causes him to mix up basics like left and right – not a good thing in the football world when sets and blocking patterns depend on directions.
“I know what I’m doing out there. It’s just saying the play, that’s my main problem, getting the words out,” Davis said. “I made big progress from last year. I’ve just got to keep on working.”
Coach Mike Singletary said Monday that Davis isn’t coming along as quickly as the coaches would have hoped.
“He’s coming, not as fast as he would like, not as fast as the coaches would like, but he’s coming,” Singletary said. “I think the biggest thing with Nate is to figure out how he learns and get that burning desire to do whatever it takes to be out here and to get it done. I know he can do it, it’s just a matter of him doing it. Time will tell.”
Davis was told of his coach’s remarks for the first time after Tuesday’s practice – and he didn’t argue with the assessment.
“He’s the head coach. And now I’ve got to put more into it,” Davis said. “That’s what it all comes down to.”
Davis is hoping to win the backup job behind Alex Smith.
Tate warned after swiping pastries
Seahawks rookie wide receiver Golden Tate apologized and said he was “very embarrassed” after police in suburban Seattle gave him a warning for trespassing into a gourmet doughnut shop at 3 a.m. last weekend.
Tate says a friend took a couple of maple bars from the shop. Tate said “they are irresistible.” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll says he has talked to Tate, and agrees that maple bars can be irresistible.
Around the league
A toxicology report found no alcohol in Chris Henry’s system after the Cincinnati Bengals receiver died in December from a fractured skull and other head injuries after Henry fell out of the back of a pickup truck driven by his fiancée. … All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis returned to practice with the Jets, despite not having a new contract in place. … The Super Bowl champion Saints spent a day greeting fans in Fort Jackson, La., which has been a staging area for cleaning birds rescued from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
