SANTA CLARA – Greg Roman spoke in the media tent Thursday afternoon. Here is a transcript.

ROMAN: I know how hard it is to play down there in the dome. They’ve been very successful down there. Their defense is playing at a very high level right now, ranked very high in a lot of different categories. They play complementary team football with their offense and an aggressive scheme. They’re very interesting in the sense that they can play you as basic as they want to, or they can get as exotic as they want to. Really just requires us to have a great week of preparation. There is a lot to look at, a lot to study, a lot to decipher. And then head on down to New Orleans, get on a plane and go win a game. Any questions?

Q: You’ve played them the last couple of years. Last year, they were one of the worst defenses ever. What has changed this year?

ROMAN: Very good question. If you go back two years and look at what they were doing and who they were doing it with, their personnel hasn’t changed a whole lot. I think they’re back more to playing a style of defense similar to what they played two years ago – that, plus some. They’ve been very opportunistic. They play hard. They play with a lot of confidence.

Q: Scheme-wise?

ROMAN: It’s a totally different scheme from last year. Totally different. A little bit more similar to what they were doing the year before with Gregg Williams.

Q: Are you looking to incorporate more three-wide-receiver packages and expand the overall multiplicity of the personnel going forward?

ROMAN: We’re always looking to do that. I think when we had two tight ends go down the other day, based on that game plan than was not ideal. But you’ve got to deal with it. The things we did in the game we had practiced. As we keep getting receivers back, we’ll probably be a little bit more of a two, three-wide-receiver unit. But the bottom line is, irregardless of circumstance you’ve got to find a way to execute and get it done. And these were things we planned for, but that particular game, it was a very high percentage of tight-end-oriented things. I hope that answers your question.

Q: You guys were the No.32 ranked pass offense last week, but it really wasn’t that big of a deal until you had 46 net yards passing in a loss to the Panthers. How much of the blame should be on you for that?

ROMAN: I think it starts with me. I think any time we don’t have success, it definitely starts with me. And we’ve got to get it fixed, and it’s something we’re working hard to do, our guys are working hard to do. I don’t think there is any question, any time we fall short I’m looking at myself first and foremost. Got to get things fixed.

Q: Is it an easy fix?

ROMAN: Nothing in the NFL is easy, but if we work hard at it, focus on it, it will continue to improve. And at the same time, we want to look at that game in and of itself and see why things worked. Was it a good call? If a call doesn’t work, how do you make it work? Or are you just better off having a different cal??

Q: After a game like that do you second guess yourself and say this is how we can do better next time?

ROMAN: Without question. Win, lose or draw, you’re going to look at every play in the game and you always decide, was that a good play for this game for us relative to the opponent? Some yes, some no, some maybe. Some of them no, but they worked out and you say, “Boy, we got lucky on that one,” or, “This guy bailed us out on that one. Man, he just made a play.” Some of them: “That one should have worked. Look at this, it should have worked. We’ve got to execute it better.” That’s why it always comes down to formulating an appropriate plan and working extremely hard on it, trying to leave no stone unturned and going out and executing it on Sunday.

Q: How is Michael Crabtree coming and when might we see him out on the field?

ROMAN: Mike’s coming along. He’s day to day. It remains to be seen if he’s going to play this week but he’s looking really good.

Q: Did he practice yesterday?

ROMAN: Pardon me?

Q: Did he practice yesterday?

ROMAN: I mean, he was out here.

Q: But he didn’t practice?

ROMAN: I mean, he was out at practice.

Q: But he didn’t practice?

ROMAN: Do we want to keep going with this? He was out here.

Q: We’re more than halfway through the season and Jon Baldwin has received only a handful of snaps. Is there a reason for that?

ROMAN: No, he’s doing a good job, Jon is. We’ll continue to incorporate him into what we do. But he’s doing a very good job and just needs to stay on course. Comes into work with a great attitude every day, works real hard, had a great practice yesterday.

Q: How challenging has it been considering so many wide receivers are gone – Marlon Moore, Kyle Williams and A.J. Jenkins?

ROMAN: I think every team probably has their own set of circumstances. You need to deal with them and make it work. Certainly, you lose continuity, but it’s our job to get continuity and to get it done.

Q: You guys weren’t very good on third down on Sunday, probably because you had a lot of third-and-longs. Is there any one thing you can point to – execution or play-calling – that led to all those third-and-longs?

ROMAN: Negative plays in that game. It was very uncharacteristic. It was a very unique set of circumstances throughout the game that led us to have some negative plays. We’ve got to be better in the third-and-short situation. We’ve been really, really good at it this year up until last week. We need to be better there. Any time you’re in third-and-ten-plus, it’s not where you want to be.

Q: How does Kaepernick cope with a loss when he’s with you studying tape or in meetings?

ROMAN: He breaks it down step by step. He looks at everything and is very methodical about studying it, much like a coach would.

Q: Given Crabtree’s injury and the timeframe, do you guys have to be very careful about bringing him along slowly so he doesn’t have a setback?

ROMAN: With Michael and with anybody that is injured, it really goes through our medical staff. Once they clear them, we’ll always be in real close contact with Fergie and the medical staff and the doctors on what he can do and when he can do it and that really goes for anybody.

Q: He hasn’t had any setbacks?

ROMAN: None that I know of. He’s progressing nicely.

Q: Vernon Davis said he’ll go through contact tomorrow. Is that an encouraging step or just a test?

ROMAN: It’s part of the protocol. We certainly look forward to having Vernon Davis back out there on the field. He’s one of the best tight ends in the NFL.

Q: Now that LaMichael James will be active the rest of the games, will it be easier for you to incorporate him into the game plan knowing he won’t be inactive?

ROMAN: LaMichael is a very important part of the offense. I think he brings a different dynamic to what we do. He gives us the opportunity to implement him in different ways. There are some real similarities between him and Frank Gore as well in terms of inside vision and whatnot. But every running back is unique and they all bring a different style. LaMichael brings a unique style. I’m glad he’s one of us.

Q: Kaepernick has played about one full season. Is that the stage where you start to see defenses recognize what he’s good at and what he’s not good at, and counter that? Is that where Kaepernick is in his development right now?

ROMAN: Colin is progressing very nicely. There is still an element of, “I’m seeing something for the first time.” Obviously, there was a lot of that last year, and very similar this year. I definitely think there is a punch-counterpunch thing, as there always is.

Q: You say that he’s progressing nicely and Jim Harbaugh said the same thing. Fans can’t see that and the stats don’t necessarily support that. What are you seeing that makes you say that?

ROMAN: I get to see him every day. I know what we’re trying to do and I know what he’s supposed to do and how he approaches his job. Looking at just the number or the result or the stat, that’s a little bit of in the category of, “Don’t have all the information.” We all know it’s results-oriented. It takes 11 guys on the field doing their job to get it right. It really starts with me when we fall short.

GC: Your offense is toward the bottom of the league in sack rate. Do you think you should be rolling Kaepernick out by design more often, or is that not the issue?

ROMAN: It’s something we talk about every week. It’s an interesting question in the sense that, yes, there are opportunities to do that. But do you want to roll him out into an overload blitz over here? Do you want to roll him out into an overload blitz over there? But it’s something that he’s good at, throwing on the move.

SANTA CLARA — Jim Harbaugh spoke in the defensive meeting room Monday afternoon. Here is a transcript courtesy of the 49ers’ P.R. department.

How do you explain what’s happened, as far as the passing game goes, last ranked in the league coming into this game and just really not ever being able to get anything going against the Panthers?

“Well, if you look at the last four quarters of this game, offensively, not getting into a rhythm there, moving the ball, picking up consecutive first downs enough. We didn’t play well enough. Came up short there.”

There’s been a lot of chatter since the game about QB Colin Kaepernick’s ability, or inability, to go through his progressions in the passing game. Where is he in that regard as far as his, the evolution of Colin Kaepernick?

“The way we look at it is as a unit. The unit, offensively, we didn’t play well enough to win the game. Now, across the board, we think about accountability for that we’ve got fingerprints on it. I’m not going to go through, dissect, position by position, raking anybody over the coals. Don’t think that’s the best thing for us. We’ve got a tough game coming up and we’re not going to wallow in it. We’re going to move onto New Orleans.”

Not to rake him over the coals, but is that something that a young quarterback is always working on, always improving upon? That seems to be one of the toughest parts about playing quarterback is that something that naturally a young guy has to continue to get better at.

“I understand. I understand what you’re doing, what you’re trying to do and glomming onto somebody’s opinion, but I think it’s whatever they think. The main thing is that we’ll look at it and talk about it with our players and see the areas that we can improve. Just dissecting it as a unit, we had too many negative plays in te game, too many negative plays, loss of yardage plays, penalties, sack, turnover, that we’ve got to get better at. We didn’t do a good enough job.

Not to use it as an excuse, but it seemed like when TE Vernon Davis was out against the Colts and when Vernon left yesterday, the offense really stagnated. How vital is he to the offense, particularly with his ability to kind of stretch the field with his speed?

“I think that definitely contributed to, one of the things that contributed to the rhythm of the offense and no I’m not going to use any excuses or is anybody going to alibi. But, we did lose two tight ends in the game, [TE Garrett] Celek before Vernon and that contributed.”

How encouraged were you by WR Mario Manningham’s season debut almost 11 months after he’d played?

“It was very encouraging being back in the fray, being back in the fire and had some opportunities to contribute and I think it’s a positive.”

Carolina Panthers LB Luke Kuechly made a nice play on that ball. Was that something that you’d expect TE Vance McDonald to come down with?

“Again, we could go through this really across the unit. Our staff, everybody involved that touches the offense, up and down the line. We’ve all got plays in there and when it’s all said and done you look back and say, ‘that was the winning edge.’ We could have made plays offensively. We could have eliminated the error, the negative plays and it would’ve been a better outcome for us. It would’ve been a winning-edge outcome for our team. We didn’t get that done and I’ll take responsibility for it, but can’t wallow in it because we play too good of a team this week. I think any time spent there isn’t going to be productive. Outside of the fact, I think it was a good game to learn from and we’ll do that.”

S Eric Reid suffered his second concussion in two months. What extra precautions does he need to go through maybe to get cleared? Are there extra, is there anything extra in the protocol having two in a season and how’s he doing?

“He seemed to be doing good after the game. To answer your question, I don’t know the answer to that in terms of extra protocols.”

Did he have to go to the hospital or anything like that after the game?

“Not that I’m aware of.”

You might just say this is glomming on, but just generally, how do you think Colin has played this season? Last year, he drops right in the middle of the season and the numbers are fantastic. This season has been not the same. Do you think he’s been as good as he was last year or is this just what happens to a quarterback sometimes?

“Just talk about this offensively. There’s been tremendous play by our quarterback. There’s been tremendous play by our line. There’s been tremendous play by our backs, tight ends, receivers. That’s all taken place. That’s occurred. There’s been great play-calling. There’s been exceptional work and everybody involved with it is working harder than you can imagine to get it to be the kind of winning edge that we need to it to be championship type of football. We didn’t get that done this week. We didn’t play championship football offensively. That’s always what our aim is. That’s what we strive for.”

The offense ran one screen. It was a pass to WR Kyle Williams in the second quarter on a 3rd and 20-something. Why not call screens more often in this game and in general?

“That’s not a bad point. Point well taken.”

What were you saying in particular, if anything, on the third downs and that lack of consecutive first downs that you mentioned was a big hole for you guys yesterday?

“What did I say? What would I say?”

What were you saying, looking back on tape that maybe they were doing or maybe you guys weren’t doing on third downs to not get those consecutive first downs that you pointed to?

“Well, we were in some third down and long yardage situations due to some negative plays early in the down and we didn’t convert also on some short yardage third downs. And we didn’t convert on some second downs, second down and ones that resulted in negative plays and then a longer third down play. So, there’s quite a bit of circumstance and situation to each and every one of those. Not going to go through them specifically.”

Not just talking about yesterday’s game, is there a reason Colin is not running as much this year, not using his legs as much? He’s had some games where he–.

“Yeah, we’ve covered it in plenty of press conferences where we talked about how well he’s used his legs, how well he’s run the ball. And that’s back to the earlier point.”

If Vernon and Celek can’t play Sunday, is TE Derek Carrier ready to be elevated from the practice squad?

“We’re looking at some options right now and there’s some decisions to be made. You wait until you get the medical results back and then have more evidence to make those decisions.”

Is it possible to bring someone in from the outside?

“I think the first step is just wait to get the medical results and get those guys examined and have more data.”

Are those today? Are they both going through some tests today?

“Yes.”

After the game you talked about, I think, regroup, refit, a few other re-things. Do you have to also–?

“Reorganize.”

Reorganize, thank you. Do you have to readjust maybe, you’re two games behind Seattle, I know you can’t just throw away the division, but do you have to change your thought thinking about this a little bit? Say maybe the division isn’t exactly what you’re focused on?

“The thought process there, no it doesn’t change. Our next game is our biggest and most important game.”

Kaepernick bootlegged twice, I believe, against the Panthers. Why not move the pocket more frequently, especially considering how fast he is?

“It’s something that’s always in our game plan and that’s another area we didn’t have a good result. You bring up a great point, which frustrates everybody. Everybody involved in the unit. When you’re not in the rhythm picking up first downs and being able to get in deeper to your playbook, get into the screen, get into the movement game, keep things off-balance, it’s frustrating to all.”

Will LB Nick Moody be on the 53-man this week?

“Again, decisions are being made. I anticipate that though, yes.”

Were there any things you saw that the offensive line had trouble with yesterday?

“Like I said, across the board up and down, we’re all taking accountability and looking at those situations, but we’re going to meet on it. We’re going to get the feedback of the players involved too, which we have not yet done as a group.”

Ultimately, what was the decision on LB Aldon Smith? Why have him play, I think it turned out to be 18% of the defensive snaps? Was it just, was he just not physically fit enough to play an entire game or just what was your thinking on why limit his pitch count?

“It was our plan to go in as a, much like we did when he started his rookie year, to play in the nickel. This was abnormally low amount of nickel that was played in the game. And [LB] Dan Skuta’s doing a heck of a job in the base. So, that was the plan this week. That doesn’t mean that’ll be necessarily the plan next week. All those options will be open.”

Do you think that was Carolina’s plan to keep you guys in base, to not trot out their multi-receiver package to keep Aldon off the field?

“They have been predominantly more of a base offense, but there’s been some games where they’ve been higher in the nickel. It has not been something that’s been set per standard for them.”

How did you think Aldon played?

“Fine. Good to have him back out there. He’ll continue to get re-acclimated and things are going well. And continue to keep it on a day-to-day basis. Defensively, I thought it was obvious we played extremely hard, played extremely well. Definitely had a winning edge there, defensively, and going to need that again this week.”

What does senior offensive consultant Eric Mangini do during the game to contribute to the game execution?

“Several things, not going to go into all of the assignments for all the coaches on a week-to-week basis, but he does several things for us.”

This was the most we saw RB LaMichael James, not only just with kickoff return, but also on offense. Is that something you’re going to gauge week-by-week? You had said earlier this season there would be a time for him, is this that time you expect to get him about that amount of touches for the rest of the season?

“Yeah, all those options will be open. We’re not really going to talk about, for any position, how they’re going to be used or how much a certain player is going to be used. But, I thought his effort and his performance was fine yesterday and solid, and another weapon there to be implemented.”

I sensed frustration yesterday by the offense. How is their mindset? Do you feel the need to boost their spirits or anything at this point? Your motivation skills are well known. How do you sense their mindset is about what happened and what you need to do looking ahead?

“I think their mindset will be what it’s always been. It’s a blue-collar mindset. And that involves fixing things, building things, sutures in our hands and the weapons are in our hands, our fate is in our hands and that’s our mindset.”

The organization has transformed over the last few years, can you talk about chief executive officer Jed York and how he’s contributed to that transformation and how he contributes to your success?

“Continuous and always. He’s the captain of the ship. Does a tremendous job giving us the tools to be successful.”

You had a chance to meet Sergeant Alfredo Gutierrez yesterday. As today is Veterans Day, what struck you about him when you met him and what lessons can you learn from his life experience?

“So many things, discipline, selfless. There’s things that he is, in terms of country unit, that are bigger than himself. And I think those are the things we can learn the most from. And he’s a fine person and good friend. And we drew much inspiration from him and the selfless act that he did for his country in serving, which we all respect. Also, that he gifted us his purple heart. It was a great pleasure as an organization and as a team to honor him and present that back to him at the game. That was quite a moment.”

Might we see WR Michael Crabtree this weekend? Is it too soon or could that happen?

“We’ll see.”

Did former 49ers WR Terrell Owens joke with you about asking for a workout or anything? He kind of played around with that, he still thinks he can play.

“Yeah, I think he mentioned it. Yes.”