SANTA CLARA — Alex Smith spoke at his locker Thursday afternoon. Here’s what he said about his injured finger, and the perception that he has lost confidence.

Q: After the Seahawks game, there were a couple of national stories written about you and your confidence.

ALEX SMITH: How’d they say it is?

Q: Not good.

ALEX SMITH: Oh, OK.

Q: They said your confidence was shaken in that game. What’s your reaction to that?

ALEX SMITH: I think people are just reading into a lot of different stuff and have no idea of what’s going on around here. My confidence is no different than it was a week ago, than it was a month ago, than it was a year ago. No different. Games change week-in and week-out. There are people who expect the same thing over and over again. That was a good defense we played on Thursday night. We played them on a short week. Look at what they did against a lot of good quarterbacks this year. Look what they did against Aaron [Rodgers]. They beat Tom Brady. Look at what they did against [Tony] Romo. I think people are thinking…I don’t know what they’re thinking. [My confidence is] no different.

Q: How about your finger? How is that doing?

ALEX SMITH: Getting better. Getting better every week. It’s just something you deal with. It’s not something I think about a whole lot out there, or try not to.

Q: Is it able to improve given that you have extra time off this week?

ALEX SMITH: For sure. Not having to do a ton with it, letting it rest over the weekend was nice.

SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Vic Fangio said Tuesday about the 49ers pass rush.

The sack numbers are down, but yet you guys rank, I think, second in the league in passing defense. How do you view how things are happening up front as far as the pressure on the quarterback?

“Well, I think you answered your own question there when you said we were ranked second in pass defense. And pass rush is a part of pass defense. So, although we don’t have the sack numbers, which a lot of people want to sink their teeth into, fantasy players want to sink their teeth into sacks. That’s not the only measure of good pass rush. And right now to this point, I haven’t seen pass rush as being a weakness for us.”

Was that a case for Sunday against the Giants?

“Yes. Now we didn’t have a good rush on one of the passes they completed for good yardage. But, that’s going to happen some. But, I don’t see our pass rush as being an issue right now.”

Are offenses playing differently? Are offenses playing your pass rush differently causing you to adjust more this season?

“At times they’ll be chipping us, keeping extra guys in, or throwing it quicker. I think it’s on their mind. And again, I think that plays into the pass defense, which is what we’re all concerned about here, being pretty good because when they do that, they limit themselves also a little bit.”

As fantasy folks, they like to argue the point but will say, but they only got one hit on Giants QB Eli Manning.

“Well, that’s not a correct stat.”

No?

“No.”

OK. What was it? What was the headcount?

“I don’t know exactly. But, I can remember at least three.”

But overall, you were even-pleased with the pass rush against the Giants? Is that what you’re saying?

“Overall, yes. There were some plays where it wasn’t what we’d like it to be. But, again like I say, that’s going to happen some every game, even if you have a game where you’re getting a bunch of sacks. And they only threw the ball 28 times last week. And it sounds like that’s a low number these days.”

Is that needed to be able to get turnovers though, or the takeaways I should say?

“To a degree it does. Obviously I think if you were to do a study, more turnovers happen on passing plays. Obviously the interceptions can only happen on a passing play. The sack-fumble can only happen on a passing play. Receivers catching the ball, getting stripped can happen. There are more turnovers that do happen on a passing play, no question about that.”

You talked about some of the different things the linemen are doing, as far as the chipping or whatever. Are teams trying to get the ball out quicker against you this year, too?

“Yeah, that’s what I had said earlier. The ball’s coming out pretty quick at times, not all the time, but at times, it is coming out fairly quick.”

Do you agree or disagree with Fangio? Is the 49ers’ pass rush an issue?

SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Vic Fangio said about the 49ers’ upcoming opponent, the Seattle Seahawks, at his Tuesday press conference, courtesy of the 49ers.

What are you doing over in the meeting room this week? Is it less about the Giants and more about the Seahawks?

“Yeah. Very little about the Giants game. We spent 10 minutes on it yesterday in the meeting and moved right on to Seattle. No time this week.”

What are some things you’ve been seeing from Seattle QB Russell Wilson?

“Been very impressed with him. He’s obviously very athletic, very fast. He’s got 4.52-speed in the 40, which is extremely fast for a quarterback. He’s elusive. He’s a creator when he’s moving. When things will break down, you’ll see him move all the way around, go anywhere on the field. And he’s got a strong arm. He throws the deep ball extremely well, as you guys saw last week against New England. And he’s been doing that all year. So, I’ve been impressed with him. I think he’ll be their quarterback for a long time and credit to them for seeing through his height and picking him.”

So much was made of his height. Can a defense take advantage of a quarterback’s lack of height?

“No. Immediately the thought process is when you see a guy at his height, you think he’s going to get a lot of balls batted. But, I haven’t seen any more balls of his being batted than I do of anybody else in the NFL.”

This may be a stupid question, but I’ll try it. So much is made of his intangibles, his leadership and his character. Does that show up on film in any way? Just the way he conducts himself?

“I think he’s a pretty confident and poised guy. He handles the situations good. I think he handles if he’s ever involved in a bad play, he comes right back. He had great experiences in college playing in two different places, playing in front of big grounds. He’s got that, like you said, it’s hard to measure or quantify it, but he’s got the intangibles.”

How much of their offense goes through RB Marshawn Lynch as opposed to maybe last year?

“A good bit of it does. Their running game is the bread and butter of their offense. And everything works off of that. He’s one of the best backs in the league. He’s the best back we played last year by far. He broke more tackles than any back we played against last year. He broke the most against us. Runs hard. He’s a slasher. But yet, he’s got really good cutting ability. So, when he’s coming off his cut and maybe you don’t have a clean, full shot at him, he’s strong through the arm tackles.”

SAN FRANCISCO — Here’s the transcript of Alex Smith’s post-game press conference, courtesy of the 49ers.

Can you put your finger on how things can change so quickly? Last week, from 621 yards to this week?

“It’s a fine line. They are a good team, good defense. They don’t give up anything easily. We forced some things tonight. I feel like I forced some things. We, uncharacteristically, turned the ball over. Any time you turn the ball over like that, it’s tough to win. When we did get down to the red zone… in that first half, we thought that we were moving that ball down the first two drives but ended up kicking field goals. You can’t do that all the time.”

Was your finger an issue?

“No, it was fine.”

In the interception was it them cutting into the route, or you  just not seeing them?

“They were all different. On the first one, I stepped up in the pocket and didn’t have great visibility but was trying to let [TE] Delanie Walker make a play, and they made a play on the ball. It was a force, trying to get a shot down field. The second one, on the third down, I believe the second one was on the slant. The ball just got up on me. I was trying to work [WR] Mario [Manningham] on the slant there, I felt like he was getting grabbed, try to make the throw to see if he can get the call. All of a sudden the ball gets up and picked off. The third one, yeah, they got me in a good play, coming down, stepping in front of [WR Michael] Crabtree. Once again, third and long, you’re trying to make a play and forcing it.”

How much did the Giants pressure affect you?

“They are tough. They are good up front, so you can’t be back there just hanging out. You have to be efficient, get the ball out, be good in the pocket. They are good, they get their hands on balls. First half, a couple tip balls. I mean maybe I rushed a couple. Hindsight makes it easy to say that.”

Was this game surprising, the way it went?

“It’s tough to speak on any other facet. We made it tough on the defense tonight. Short field a lot of the time. But as far as offensively, yeah, for sure, they are a good team. They played well. They made some great adjustments to us. I think we will have time to learn from it. It’s a short week so I don’t know how much we’re going to get done, maybe after the Seattle game. But it didn’t get done in a lot of areas, you’re right.”

Is it hard, when you’re playing from behind?

“Eventually, you do get to a point where you have a make or break point there. You have to force some balls and throw some balls. It’s tough to always figure it out and gauge that.”

On the third interception: 3:17

“Yeah, the safety made a really good play on it. They kind of okie doked me. Kind of looked like Tampa 2, Mike [Crabtree] was running high, he held his depth until I came back to throw it, and jump the route. It was a good play. I didn’t see it.”

Are you still adjusting to playing with backup QB Colin Kaepernick?

“Yeah, when it’s working, it’s great. It’s like everything when we’re winning. He’s coming in to change up, for the most part, I don’t know about today. Part of this is that it had been efficient. With Kaepernick going in there, he had been playing well.”

There was so much buildup about today, did you feel that there was too much?

“I know a lot was made of it, for sure. I think at the start of the week, obviously, pretty jacked up. But at the same time, it was another game. It wasn’t a playoff game. It was a conference opponent. It was a chance to get another win. I think there is a little more in the sense that two things, one you played them twice last year so you’re pretty familiar with them and then they’re the defending Super Bowl champions. I think anytime you play them, it’s a chance to say something. It didn’t get done today.”

Did it feel flat?

“It’s tough to get up when you’re not executing. I think that’s what comes first. I didn’t feel flat at the beginning of the game, I don’t think anyone did. It was more of a sense of, when things aren’t going well it’s tough. You’re out there grinding, you’re out there trying to make things happen. When it’s not working and you’re not playing well, it’s not easy to be up.”

SANTA CLARA — Here’s what Justin Smith said about Eli Manning Friday afternoon.

Q: How good is Eli Manning?

JUSTIN SMITH: He’s a good quarterback. A lot of people don’t give him the respect he deserves. I think he’s definitely one of the top three, four quarterbacks in the league. It’s going to be a tough game. He’s going to do what he comes here to do, and that’s move the ball, move the chains and try to score some points.

Q: He’s not overly athletic but he’s only been sacked four times this year. What is it about him that allows him to avoid sacks?

JUSTIN SMITH: He’s getting rid of the ball. Quarterbacks keep doing a better and better job of getting rid of the ball, knowing where to step up in the pocket. He’s definitely one of the best at doing that.

SANTA CLARA — One Bay Area reporter asked Mario Manningham at his press conference Thursday afternoon why he’s so good catching passes along the sidelines. Here’s what he said.

MANNINGHAM: When I was little, our yard wasn’t very big. Most kids when they’re little, they play one foot in. We always played two feet in, knowing that the yard was a little bit snug. If you didn’t get two feet in, you weren’t getting in.

Q: How old were you?

MANNINGHAM: Oh man, I was knee-high to a duck. I was like six or seven. Real young.

Q: Front yard or back yard?

MANNINGHAM: I lived in the projects – one building. It was a front yard, basically. Imagine, it was as wide as this tent and we were playing six-on-six. It was a little bit cluttered. We knew how to make it work.

Q: On your touchdown catch against the Bills, did you set up the cornerback?

MANNINGHAM: I kind of set him up, made him think I was going inside. He fell for it, so I just made sure I came out my route flat. Alex threw a good ball.

Q: You were wide open.

MANNINGHAM: Yeah, they were joking around saying the dude wasn’t even in the screen. They didn’t know if he blew the coverage or something. I was pretty wide open.

Q: Is that area of the field wider than your front yard growing up?

MANNINGHAM: Yeah, it was (laughs).