On Thursday, the San Francisco 49ers fought to a close loss against the Baltimore Ravens, but in one area in particular, they were thoroughly dominated. Every player on the starting offensive line - and one backup - were assaulted from the very beginning. Chilo Rachal, filling in for the injured Adam Snyder, was particularly beaten with regularity. In fact, a good deal of the pressure came from the right side, and that means Anthony Davis had a rough outing as well.
Davis hasn't played up to expectations, but he hasn't played too poorly, either. He was drafted just outside of the top ten in 2010, and was immediately inserted into the starting lineup along with fellow first rounder Mike Iupati. He has, at times, played well, played poorly, made no impression and made a very bad impression. The latter two are referring to his attitude. He has no locker room problems, or at least there are none reported, but he's been considered immature, probably because he entered the draft at just 21 years old.
He's been a guy who frequently gets into Twitter disputes, whether it be with other players or fans, and has quit the service on another occasion for one reason or another. His interview answers have never really felt as though they were really thought out, but he did have a notable answer in talking to the Bay Area media on Wednesday at his locker, kudos to Grant Cohn for transcribing:
Q: How did having a short week affect the game against Baltimore?
ANTHONY DAVIS: It didn't affect it. We went out, we played, and we lost. Get back to work. No excuses.
That's a fantastic answer to an easy question - one that would rarely reveal such an answer. It's likely that the "get back to work, no excuses" bit would appear, but the first bit is a rare bit of personal honesty. That being said, it's clear that it affected plenty of things from a gameplanning standpoint and, more than likely, Davis was affected by the short week and the long trip. The trip itself was a bad case of ratings-obsession by the NFL, and while it's not a total excuse for the loss, it had an affect.
Still - it's nice that the complaining and the finger pointing is left to a writer like myself, and the player is ready to assume responsibility and get right back in the thick of things.