Defense solid, but offense continues to look ragged

<p>SANTA CLARA — The 49ers’ defense might have gotten better Monday with the arrival of linebacker Takeo Spikes. But that still does not explain the sub-par showing of the 49ers’ offense.</p><p>The defense had a grand ol’ time at practice Monday, intercepting five passes and generally dominating action during the 11-on-11 portion of drills.</p><p>Coach Mike Nolan stopped practice at one point to issue a stern warning to the offense after a bevy of false starts, alignment errors and overall atrocious play.</p><p>The performance on the practice field was a step backward from the team’s exhibition opener Friday against the Raiders, a less-than-sterling 18-6 defeat. To wit, the 49ers committed four turnovers and their three quarterbacks posted a combined passer rating of 47.7 against the Raiders.</p><p>With the 49ers scheduled to open the regular season Sept. 7 against the Arizona Cardinals, the team’s defense looks to be in good shape. The offense, however, is a mess.</p><p>“I’m concerned about every aspect of the football team,” Nolan said. “It’s important that we have a very good offense.”</p><p>J.T. O’Sullivan took the snaps with the first-team offense on Monday, while Alex Smith lined up with the No. 2 offense. O’Sullivan threw two interceptions, while Smith was picked off four times. Shaun Hill did not take a snap for the second consecutive day, but Nolan says Hill is still in the competition.</p><p>“Every year in training camp, in most cases and on most teams, the defense is always ahead of the offense,” Nolan said. “It shows in preseason games. You see the scores, they’re always low.”</p><p>Perhaps contributing to the 49ers’ ragged practices on offense is a lack of continuity. Receivers Bryant Johnson (hamstring), Ashley Lelie (calf) and Jason Hill (groin) are out with injuries. Also, veterans Isaac Bruce and Arnaz Battle practice once a day.</p><p>“The lack of consistency in who’s out there practicing is what everyone faces, and we’re facing a little bit of this,” Nolan said. “It’s a normal thing. You work through it.”</p><p>There’s also the team’s tenuous quarterback situation. Because there is still a competition for the starting job, Nolan has decided to split up the practice snaps among three players — though O’Sullivan has gotten most of the action with the first-team offense over the past two weeks.</p><p>“If you do have one guy and you know it, obviously, you give him about two-thirds of the reps and the (No. 2 quarterback) gets the other ones,” Nolan said. “But in our case, we don’t know (have an established quarterback). We’re going through the process.”</p><p>The process includes a lot of fun for the players on defense. Spikes was signed Sunday evening to be a starter, but he worked with the second-team defense on Monday. Still, he liked the competitive nature he witnessed from his new teammates.</p><p>“I’ve been on teams to where you have guys on the back end, where they don’t compete at all,” spikes said. “They act like, ‘Well, we’ll turn it on in the game.’ It doesn’t work like that.</p><p>“You can’t turn playmaking ability on like a light switch. You can’t turn it on and off, and so to see guys like that, getting hands on balls, intercepting, knocking it down. That’s big to me. I like that.”</p><p>You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco at 521-5492 or matt.maiocco@pressdemocrat.com</p>