2012-GameRelease-Divisional

Ahmad Brooks Builds Confidence at OTAs
By Taylor Price, 49ers.com
Player Feature Story
Months after signing a six-year contract extension that’ll keep him with the San Francisco 49ers through
the 2017 season, Ahmad Brooks continues to push himself like never before in offseason workouts.
The 27-year-old outside linebacker continues to train as if he never got a new deal.
“I feel real confident going into the season,” Brooks said on Tuesday, following the team’s most recent
Organized Team Activity in Santa Clara.
“I got the contract done, that’s a relief off my shoulders, but I still have to prepare as if I never got it. I still
have to prepare like I never saw a play on an NFL field before.”
The underdog mindset has been with Brooks for the duration of his six years in the National Football
League, and has been especially prevalent in the past four seasons he’s spent in San Francisco.
“Every year you’ve got to prove yourself and make a statement, and that’s what I’m trying to do,” Brooks
said.
Coming off a career year, one in which he set career highs in starts (16), tackles (59), and sacks (7.0),
Brooks is using offseason workouts to get himself more prepared for even bigger and better things in
2012.
Not satisfied with a new contract and an established three-down role as a starting outside linebacker in
Vic Fangio’s 3-4 defensive scheme, the 6-foot-3, 259-pounder is using OTAs to work on his movement
skills.
For every OTA session under the watch of position coach Jim Leavitt, Brooks and the 49ers linebackers
work on pass coverage movements, in addition to hauling in passes being rifled at them by defensive
assistant Peter Hansen.
In some cases, the linebackers don’t even see the passes being thrown in their direction. Some of the
drills have the linebackers doing an about-face towards Hansen where they’re quickly testing hand-eye
coordination and the linebacker’s ability to track the football in the blink of an eye.
Brooks and the 49ers linebackers love such drills. For Brooks personally, it’s another opportunity to stand
out amongst a competitive group.
“It’s fun when you have a linebacker core like that,” Brooks added. “It just makes it more fun when you
see Aldon Smith make a play. That gives me more energy to go out there and make a play myself. And
then you got Bo (NaVorro Bowman) and Pat (Willis) flying around, it’s fun being out there.”
Not lacking confidence in his hands, Brooks freely admits he has the best in the bunch. However, Brooks
quickly noted that each linebacker probably feels that way.
“That’s just the competition that we have within the group,” he said. “I’m pretty sure all of us could go out
there and play some position on offense.”
Though Brooks has one career interception in 58 career games, the statistic could increase based on the
number of snaps he played last season. Brooks was a big part of the 49ers defense, and as it evolves in
year two under Fangio’s guidance, the outside linebacker eagerly anticipates bigger plays from last year’s
second-best scoring defense.