Carlos Rogers spoke on KNBR Thursday evening. Tom Tolbert asked Rogers if he felt sorry for Alex Smith. Here’s what Rogers said.

Q: Knowing what Alex Smith has gone through here in San Francisco, and seeing what he’s done, and seeing what he had to go through to get to the NFC Championship game and then being the fifth rated passer this year in the NFL, do you sit back and think I know how he feels, and I can sympathize with a guy like that, who had to go through what he had to go through and then got relegated to second string because he got hurt?

ROGERS: “I sat around and thought about that. I looked at it many different ways, just on how Alex feels.

“No.1, this is a business. We can’t never mistake that this is a business. Coaches, owners, players – you’re going to do what’s best for yourself, what’s best for the team, what’s best for your family. One thing I was always taught when I first got in the game is you’re going to love the game – you love playing football, you’ve been doing it since, I mean, I was eight – but the game don’t love you back like you think it do. It’s nothing against nobody – that’s just how it is. It’s a business.

“I felt bad for Alex and what he’s been going through in San Fran in his years, but you can look at it different ways:

“Alex has been going through a lot.

“Alex has had a lot of chances that some other players, some other coaches, some other quarterbacks would never get.

“Just being in Washington where they talked about how bad Alex was – and I don’t know, I was on the outside looking in – he’s still here. They still stuck with Alex. A lot of people never would have got them chances. They talking about how bad you are, how bad you been playing or how bad the team is – being that he was a top pick – they usually get rid of those players. They usually get rid of those quarterbacks. And this organization, this team has stuck with Alex throughout thick and thin.

“And now, it’s just a decision that Coach made. He was a quarterback. He played for years. He knows quarterbacks and he’s with those guys. That was his decision. I’m glad that he’s in that situation where he can make that call so he can answer all the questions and take all the pressure. That’s something that us players can’t do. We can only rally around whatever player is out there playing, and go forth and try to make the best of it.”

Steve Young just spoke on KNBR. Here’s what he said about Colin Kaepernick, Alex Smith and Jim Harbaugh.

YOUNG: I played a long time, and this is a big boy league, and it’s a tough league, and you get paid a lot of money, and there are huge expectations, and nothing is easy and nothing is guaranteed.

So, in those terms, the basic fundamentals here are: “We’ve got this young kid. We think he’s the star. We think the locker room will rally around him. We think he’s going to be able to handle it. We’ve got a great team that will support him, so that he can make mistakes and still win enough games. We believe he can go the distance, and you’re benched.” That’s what this is all about. This is the big boy stuff.

Alex is going to man up. It’s going to be brutal – I’m sure these are some of the most brutal days of his career. Despite all the things that he’s seen, this is a hard, hard time. To walk into work and see that your job is gone and still stay strong, do the work, be ready to play, not let the resentment get to you, not let the double talk that you’re getting from the building get to you – because they don’t know how to say it. They don’t know how to tell him. You set the record for most consecutive passes without an interception in franchise history, you ran up the most yards the offense has ever had in 49ers history this year, you were 18-of-19 – the best completion percentage in the history of the 49ers this year, we’re 7-2 and running away with the division, but you’re benched. That’s a tough one.

For Colin, can you imagine how much you must mean to this coach and to these guys and to this team? Despite all of that context, you’re the man. Go get it done. We believe in you. Go win a Super Bowl.

Because in many ways, if they go to the playoffs and they lose, they’re going to be in a tough spot, but there’s no turning back. Colin Kaepernick is the quarterback for the 49ers barring him imploding.

They’ll protect him enough him with a great running game, a phenomenal defense, everything about this team that’s going to protect him, put a cocoon around this kid.

And they believe he’s up to being able to get through that and go the distance. Because if they don’t go the distance, there’s going to be a ton of blowback, but I don’t think they care. I think they think: “Here’s the kid that’s going to do it. If we get blowback, we’re going go to the offseason and he’ll get better and better, and off we go.”

And that’s the tough reality for Alex right now. It’s over. It might not be over day to day, and it might not be over game to game, but unless Kaepernick implodes, they’ve made the decision, and it’s a big one, and it’s a precipitous one, and it’s a meaningful one, and it’s a painful one. I’ve been through enough to know that that’s the facts.

Obviously, for Colin, this is unbelievable, and a wonderful opportunity. And for Alex, a bitter, bitter pill. I can promise you that despite all the struggles Alex has had through his career – not many of them his own making – this is by far the most bitter and difficult thing he’s been through.

I thought to myself, “Is Jim up to this?” Bill Walsh was…you have to be very dynamic, very savvy to actually pull it off with your players, to actually maintain that authority that you want to have with your guys.

The players have watched him pounds Alex’s pads before games and develop a relationship with him. Players watch closely. Most coaches lose the respect of their players because at some point they see that it’s not authentic. And the one thing Jim has with them is he’s completely authentic.

And so this one’s a tough one. It’s going to test Jim to see if he can maintain that same authenticity.

Bill Walsh had a really sharp knife. You’d go meet with him, and you’d think things were going pretty good, and you’d leave and blood is dripping down your side. You guys know Bill’s history – he was the one that always got rid of people a year before they were ready. You do that enough, you build up a lot of resentment. But because he was so successful and so sure about it and so consistent – he would look you in the eye and say, “I know you don’t think you’re done, but you’re done.” And then off you’d go bleeding.

Bill was phenomenal, if that’s the word, at dealing with these difficult situations, and I’ve seen a lot of guys fail miserably when they’ve got to these white hot tough spots. It takes away from their authenticity. Jim can’t just go, “Gobble gobble turkey” on this one. He’ll have to work through it, but the good thing is he has a phenomenal locker room. A lot of mature, great young leaders that are going to be around a long time, and they truly do believe in him. He has a lot of built up equity with the guys in the locker room. That’s what he really has going for him.

SANTA CLARA — Alex Smith just spoke in the locker room. Here’s what he said.

Q: How was the news delivered to you yesterday?

ALEX SMITH: It sucks. I don’t know what else to say.

Q: Did Jim tell the two of you together?

ALEX SMITH: Yeah.

Q: Were you prepared for it?

ALEX SMITH: For sure. I knew just based off the way things have gone the last couple weeks. Didn’t know what was going to happen, but knew that was a possibility.

Q: Is there anything you can say in terms of stating your case?

ALEX SMITH: No. I don’t think talk is the way to do it. You state your case with your play, and I think I’ve done that. I feel like the only thing I did to lose my job was get a concussion.

Q: Do you hold any resentment toward Jim Harbaugh for making that decision?

ALEX SMITH: No resentment. I don’t get to make those decisions. That’s what he gets paid to do. He’s the coach. I play football. I’ll continue to get ready and make the most of my next opportunity.

Q: Are you believer in the adage that you don’t lose your job to an injury?

ALEX SMITH: That’s not something I really think about. This game is about opportunities and making the most of them.

Q: Do you think you’ll be given another opportunity this year?

ALEX SMITH: I have no idea. All I can do is just prepare and get ready.

Q: Does it make it easier or more difficult the way this happened, considering you last full game you were offensive player of the week?

ALEX SMITH: Yeah, it’s tough. You kind of state your case with your play – I feel like I’ve done that. So, in that sense it is tough.

Q: In the past, there have been coaches who have told you there are better quarterbacks for the job. Does the fact that it’s Harbaugh saying it make it sting more?

ALEX SMITH: I don’t know about that. It stings the most because I really feel like there’s something special going on here. You sacrifice and invest so much time. Like I said, I really feel like I haven’t done anything besides get a concussion to really facilitate this. Feel like I’ve been playing good football.

Q: How will you handle this going forward?

ALEX SMITH: I’m in the middle of it right now. I just found out a couple days ago. It sucks, to be honest.

Q: Did you get a full explanation from Harbaugh?

ALEX SMITH: Oh yeah. It wasn’t a one-sentence thing. He explained where he was coming from. Felt like it was a difficult situation, but wanted to go in this direction.

Q: Did you try to talk him out of it?

ALEX SMITH: No. What’s talk going to do? Felt like he made up his mind. He’s not a guy who didn’t put thought into it already.

Aldon Smith is six sacks away from tying Michael Strahan for the the single-season record. Here’s what Harbaugh said about that on Monday, courtesy of the 49ers.

LB Aldon Smith is six sacks away from tying Michael Strahan for the all-time NFL record. How cognizant are you of that? How much would you want to see him get there?

“We’re always happy for the other guy’s success. The thing that really gets you excited when you start talking about the history of the game or the history of the franchise, that’s something that’s accomplished by very few people or very few units. Happy for Aldon, happy for our defensive unit, happy for that team effort that those men have done on that side of the ball. It’s really a team thing too, if you were to break it down to its fundamental core. It’s that team that puts you in the situation that you can have that kind of success. Proud as heck, proud as heck for Aldon and let’s keep on trucking.”

I don’t know if you remember when Strahan got his final sack, to get that, Brett Favre laid out and sort of let him have it. I don’t imagine you would be in favor of that type of thing, I would suspect you would want him to get it a little more organic way. What is your thought on setting things up so he can get the record?

“I think I’ve told you what I think of team effort and records and it doesn’t need to be compared with anything that happened previous years or with previous great players. I mean you’re talking about great players that accomplished great things. It’s great to be mentioned with that, but I think I could speak for Aldon if I could for minute. Statistics aren’t what motivates him, it’s winning games.”

NEW ORLEANS – Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said after the 49ers beat the Saints 31-21.

Q: Is Kaepernick your starting quarterback going forward?

HARBAUGH: Colin played well in a tough environment. He acquitted himself very well.

Q: Do you expect him to start next week?

HARBAUGH: We’ll address that at a later date.

Q: Was Alex able to play today?

HARBAUGH: Yes, he was cleared yesterday

Q: How do you think he played today?

HARBAUGH: I thought he did a great job managing the game, calling the game and moving the team in and out of the huddle. We were a little slow getting back to the huddle. That adjustment really helped us – speeding the tempo up.

Q: What did you think of your defense’s performace?

HARBAUGH: Big plays by the defense really swung the game. For us, two interceptions for touchdowns. Great job by Ahmad. It looked like he was shot out of a canon after he intercepted that ball. Donte Whitner, also a great job getting that touchdown.

Q: Kaepernick made a lot of third down plays. Can you talk about that aspect of his game?

HARBAUGH: It was a big part of the game – third downs on both sides. I haven’t looked at the statistics but I feel like we won those battles (49ers were 6-for-13, the Saints were 3-for-11).

(Kap) did a really nice job extending plays and we were cut at the knees with penalties in the first half, couple of throws he made getting out of the pocket.

Q: Why is he so effective on read option?

HARBAUGH: He’s got a real knack for it, he’s got a special ability, honed it in college and he’s taken it to the pro level. He can cover ground real fast. He’s got an eye for making the read. He came with that ability. I take no credit for that one.

Q: Why make QB change?

HARBAUGH: The injury and the fact that Alex had symptoms seven days later, eight days later from the concussion. Not going to put a guy back out there who has symptoms like he had. He eventually got cleared. The thought was to rotate him into the action but not all the way to the front line. Give him a chance to get cleared up completely.

Q: Why are you still hesitating naming Colin the starter?

HARBAUGH: I have nothing to explain. You call it hesitation. I don’t feel any hesitation. We’ll look at the game. We’ll make the best decision for us going forward.

Q: Did Brooks’ TD turn the game?

HARBAUGH: It was one of the big plays. It definitely turned some momentum. They had intercepted the ball, and the interception turned into a touchdown and we come out with seven.

Also, I think coming out after halftime – that was a huge drive and a big momentum swing for our team. Late in the game we had another long drive. Didn’t get the touchdown and made it a two score game.

Q: Why didn’t Ginn return to the game?

HARBAUGH: He had an issue with his wrist and hand.

Q: How important was that drive to open the second half?

HARBAUGH: It was big. It was a clean drive, cleanly executed, no penalties. It showed what our team was capable of doing.

Q: What happened on Kaepernick’s interception?

HARBAUGH: He got a low snap. That was part of it. When his eyes came up he worked the high-level read when he he probably should have just brought it down to the lower-level read. He had a high low read on that play and didn’t see the corner.

SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Jim Harbaugh said at his press conference Friday afternoon about LaMichael James, courtesy of the 49ers.

I understand that RB LaMichael James has been playing the role of RB Darren Sproles in practice this week?

“Sproles, yeah.”

That’s a pretty good comparison, those two?

“Yeah, it really has. LaMichael’s really benefitted a lot from … he’s been a wide receiver a lot of times in practice and running back coming out of the backfield. His hands have improved so much and his route-running ability. I think it was quite a good look for our defense this week with LaMichael.”

How’s he doing catching the punts?

“He’s still coming along, still coming along. But, his hands overall are definitely getting better and he’s been working at it every day, every week. Kickoffs are a little easier than the punts.”