Isaac Bruce revered by his teammates

SAN FRANCISCO — The focus Monday night was on the 49ers’ young receivers.

Today, it shifts back to the old guy.

Receiver Isaac Bruce has been mostly quiet since signing a two-year, $5.5 million contract with the 49ers in March after the St. Louis Rams released him after 14 seasons.

Although he has blended in without much fanfare since joining the 49ers, Bruce figures to be the main attraction at Candlestick Park in a game featuring two 2-7 teams that have already been forced to make in-season coaching changes.

Bruce followed former Rams coach Mike Martz to the 49ers after his former coach was hired as offensive coordinator nearly two months earlier. Although he has yet to create a following with his new team, Bruce is dearly missed in St. Louis.

“It’s been an adjustment,” said Rams receiver Torry Holt, who teamed with Bruce for nine seasons. “But at the same time I can go back to the memories we had together and really get a smile and get my satisfaction from those memories.”

Bruce came to the 49ers hoping to create some new memories, but things have not worked out so well. Bruce played a key role in the 49ers’ Week 2 victory over the Seattle Seahawks with 153 yards receiving. But in his other eight games, Bruce has averaged a pedestrian 32.3 yards.

Bruce, who will play against the Rams for the first time in his career, said it was not difficult to part ways with the only franchise for which he had played. And he said he does not expect it to be strange to go against many of his former teammates.

“I’ve practiced against them for 14 years, so there’s no difference,” he said.

Bruce is revered in St. Louis, where he played a huge role in the high-flying offense known as “The Greatest Show on Turf.” His 73-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter proved to be the Rams’ game-winning play of Super Bowl XXXIV against the Tennessee Titans.

He led the Rams in receiving three times in his career. He was a four-time selection to the NFC Pro Bowl team. Bruce ranks statistically among the all-time NFL greats. He is third all-time — behind Jerry Rice and Tim Brown — with 14,520 receiving yards. Bruce is fifth with 966 receptions, and tied for ninth with 88 touchdown catches.

Bruce currently ranks second this season on the 49ers with 25 receptions for 413 yards and four touchdowns. He is on pace for his lowest NFL output in a full season.

“I think a concerted effort is being made to get me the football,” Bruce said. “But when I get it, I can only do what I do. I’m not the quarterback or the coordinator.”

He said he does not “lose sleep” over his lack of production, and he is “not at all” frustrated with the 49ers’ six-game losing streak.

“Frustration has never added anything to my life, so I don’t allow frustration to be a part of my life,” he said.

So how does he look at the team’s lack of success?

“I look at it as a work in progress,” he said.

The 49ers’ receivers showed a lot of progress last week, as the team turned to youngsters Josh Morgan, Jason Hill and Dominique Zeigler against the Arizona Cardinals.

Morgan, who is out indefinitely with a groin strain, caught his second touchdown pass of the season, as he has emerged as a starter. Hill caught a career-high six passes for 82 yards, and Zeigler made his NFL debut with a 22-yard reception.

The taciturn Bruce has a lead-by-example mentality. The young players watch how diligent he approaches his work and try to mimic that dedication.

“He doesn’t talk much, but when he does talk it’s important,” Zeigler said. “I try to listen to everything he says. Actually, before the Monday night game, he came up to me and said, ‘You know you can do this, right? It’s just like practice. Do what you do in practice.’ ”

Today, Bruce might be whispering those same words to himself.

For more on the 49ers, go to Instant 49ers at pressdemocrat.com/49ers. You can reach Staff Writer Matt Maiocco at 521-5492 or matt.maiocco@press

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