SANTA CLARA -- At the risk of inflating their egos, the 49ers' reputation as a physical team has preceded their visit to Houston for Saturday night's exhibition.
"They're a very good, physical football team," Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson told Houston-area reporters. "They're physical on both sides of the ball. They like to run the ball on offense. They play very physical on defense."
The 49ers parlayed their physical nature into 38 takeaways last season, tied with the Green Bay Packers for the league's most. Last preseason, the 49ers gave a preview of that physical prowess with eight takeaways, tied for fifth most.
From Justin Smith's forced fumble at Philadelphiain Week 4 to Donte Whitner's fumble-forcing hit at the 49ers goal line in a playoff-opening win over New Orleans, the 49ers indeed earned that let's-get-physical reputation.
"Won 13 games in this league and they're very, very physical," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said Wednesday. "They present a lot of problems for you offensively ... They've added some big weapons to their offense, and they run the ball very well."
Don't expect Kubiak to hunt down Jim Harbaugh and form a gentlemen's agreement about how to approach their exhibition matchup (see: the 49ers' 2011 exhibition opener at New Orleans, where coach Sean Payton reportedly was miffed that Harbaugh didn't call him before the game).
"Well, you bait me on that question; you can't talk to coaches about
preseason games," Kubiak told Houston reporters. "That's against the rules. No, they're a hell of a football team and everything they do, they do well."Both the 49ers and Texans are considered contenders in their conferences. The 49ers are hoping the addition of Randy Moss can enhance their chances of reaching Super Bowl XLVII on Feb. 3.
"I've been a big fan of Randy Moss since he was in college at Marshall," Johnson said. "I used to watch a lot of his games and things like that. I've been a fan of him since I've been in the NFL. (He's) a tremendous talent, something that doesn't come around very often and what he has done over his career just shows what type of talent he is."
Johnson is a five-time Pro Bowler entering his 10th season with the Texans. Johnson is hoping to play against the 49ers, after a sore groin kept him out of their exhibition opener Saturday at Carolina, a 26-13 Houston win.
Before starting his Texans career, Johnson went to the University of Miami to follow the lead of elite receivers such as Michael Irvin. Moss also started his college career in Florida (at Florida State) before transferring to Marshall in 1996.
Johnson recalled: "When Randy Moss came on the scene, he just kind of caught everybody by storm with some of the stuff he was doing, and then for him to be at the college that he was at doing it. I think it just kind of surprised a lot of people."
-- Reliant Stadium's roof is slated to be closed for Saturday's 7 p.m. (CDT) kickoff.
-- The 49ers practice today from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
-- Wide receiver Michael Crabtree, cornerback Carlos Rogers and offensive coordinator Greg Roman will address the 49ers' media from 12:45 p.m. to 1 p.m. It will be Crabtree's first trip to the media tent this training camp, although he spoke outside the locker room last week to reporters for the first time since Jan. 23.
-- Kubiak turned 51 on Wednesday and the Texans' rookies sang "Happy Birthday" to him, according to the Houston Chronicle's John McClain.
For more on the 49ers, see Cam Inman's Hot Read blog at blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CamInman.
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