Jim Harbaugh, the San Francisco 49ers coach, has accused Kevin Gilbride, the offensive quality control coach for the New York Giants of making inflammable and provocative comments about Justin Smith, the all-pro defensive end.
Harbaugh alleged that this was done with an attention of influencing the officials prior to the game on Sunday between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers at the Candlestick Park.
Less than a year ago, Harbaugh was involved in a confrontation with Jim Schwartz, the Detroit Lions coach.
When asked about the 49ers' impressive frontline, Gilbride said: "Smith is a beast on the inside, he's strong, he does as good a job of grabbing a hold of offensive linemen and allowing those twists to take place.
"He never gets called for it so he gets away with murder. That, in conjunction with the ability level they have, makes them as formidable as anybody we go against, and we go against some pretty good ones in Dallas' and Philadelphia's. They're as good as anybody up front."
Harbaugh not amused by the comments, hit back. "Kevin Gilbride's outrageous, irrational statement regarding Justin Smith's play is, first, an absurd analogy," he said. "Second, it is an incendiary comment targeting one of the truly exemplary players in this league.
"It's obvious that the Giants coaching staff's sole purpose is to use their high visibility to both criticize and influence officiating."
Meanwhile, Smith seemed unperturbed and said such statements did not bother him.
"Hey, better than getting caught with it," Smith said. "I mean, I really don't know what he's talking about, to be honest with you. But if he's trying to talk himself, get some bulletin board stuff, good for him.
"Whatever they need to do. It doesn't bother me. I'm going to have him look him up and see who it is. Hey hold me. I mean, they hold me. So, whatever. That's the first I've heard of it. That's the first time I've heard of an offensive coordinator complaining about it.
"I mean, they hold me. They just hold. They're born that way (laughs). I mean I really don't know what he's talking about."
Alex Boone, the Niners offensive lineman too feels that Gilbride was wrong in calling out Smith.
Boone said: "A lot of people can get called out for a lot of things. You just don't do it. It's not the way football's played. So I don't really care about it. If they're holding, it's pretty blatant and you see it. Everybody's always moving around and you can't really get away with stuff like that."
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