San Francisco 49ers: Vernon Davis, Anquan Boldin Discuss Upcoming Season

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The San Francisco 49ers finished the 2014 season with an 8-8 record, but towards the end of the season and during the offseason, the 8-8 record felt much worse than it actually was.

The 49ers have experienced quite the downfall in such a short amount of time, as they’ve lost several key players to retirement and free agency, they’ve done a complete rehaul of their coaching staff, and because of all of this, the impression of the organization has gone down significantly.

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The 49ers can truly only go up from here. Both Vernon Davis and Anquan Boldin believe that too and are actually looking forward to this upcoming season.

Both players spoke recently about the upcoming season for the 49ers, which will be highlighted by a comeback campaign from Colin Kaepernick, who visibly regressed last season, and the first year under the helm of new head coach Jim Tomsula.

This 49ers team will certainly look different this upcoming season, but Boldin believes that the team is better than a typical 8-8 team and that the team is focused on moving forward, working together, and improving together.

Boldin spoke about this during a recent interview on The SiriusXM Blitz:

"“For us, we just have to move forward,” Boldin said this week on The SiriusXM Blitz. “We just have to improve on what we did last year. We can’t let last year be a repeat this year because we’re better than that.”"

Boldin also believes that Tomsula will be able to effectively lead this revamped 49ers team, which he also spoke about in the same interview.

"“I’ve always thought he was very energetic,” Boldin said. “I thought he was very detailed in what he did and how he coached the defensive line. And he was a guy who let them play but had parameters built in. He communicated well with the defensive line.“Everybody who played for him, they busted their butt for him. He went to bat for his players, so that’s something you’re excited about. I think he’ll do well as a head coach because I think he deals with different personalities that guys bring to the table, he deals with that quite well.“That’s the characteristic you have to have when it comes to being a head coach.”"

As mentioned earlier, the 49ers’ pursuit of improvement won’t just fall on Tomsula’s shoulders in 2015 though. The 49ers will also need Kaepernick to show significant improvement in all facets of the game. Kaepernick worked with Kurt Warner this offseason in order to improve his mechanics and learn more about the mental side of being a quarterback. Both Warner and Kaepernick saw improvement in Kaepernick’s game, even though they only had 10 sessions together.

In addition, Davis has seen improvement too, even just while working with Kaepernick in the 49ers’ voluntary offseason program. Davis spoke about this with Matt Maiocco of Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area:

"“When I saw him yesterday, I didn’t even know that was Colin,” Davis said Friday after the final day of the first week of the 49ers’ offseason program. “Seriously, he was working on his drop-back. ‘Who was that?’ You guys are in for a treat. He looks like a totally different guy.”"

Kaepernick will need to lead the 49ers back to the promised land, but he will need his teammates to buy into Tomsula’s new system and want to win, like Davis has said he wants to do. He’s hoping to build more chemistry with some of his teammates in the offseason program, and he believes his teammates truly want to be here. Maiocco again with the report:

"“I’m here this year because I want to get better,” Davis said on Friday. “I want to win. I want to develop some chemistry amongst my teammates and get to know the guys. There are a lot of new guys here. And you just never know when this game is going to be over for you.“Patrick Willis put everything in perspective for a lot of guys around here with him retiring. That just gave me some insight and put a good taste in my mouth, as far as my approach toward the game and giving this game all I can give it and taking it one day at a time and giving my best.”…“Guys don’t want to leave,” Davis said. “I’m here. I’m still here. Normally, I’d be out of here. I just feel some great energy and working with the guys. It’s just been great, just being back here. It’s been a little while since we’ve all been together. I’m just having a great time learning as much as I possibly can from the new staff and taking it all in.”"

Even though Davis is coming off his worst season in the NFL, he is still one of the faces of the 49ers, along with Boldin. These two, along with Kaepernick, have to step up even more than they normally would this upcoming season since Frank Gore, Patrick Willis, and possibly Justin Smith not returning to the team this year.

The 49ers have a long way to go in order to return to NFL dominance and re-gain the respect that surrounded such a storied franchise, but it’s a good sign that two of the leaders of the team are expecting big things from the team this year and are motivated to get back to being a winning team.

Next: 49ers: 3 Crazy Trades That Just Might Work

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