Alex Smith says he got carried away talking about Cam Newton

Alex Smith took a half-step back from the comments he made about Cam Newton earlier this offseason when he said that the rookie quarterback’s impressive rookie statistics had nothing to do with wins.

Specifically, Smith said that passing yards and victories don’t necessarily go hand-in-hand and that is accurate.

“Obviously I got carried away there,” Smith said about the remarks referencing Newton, according to Cam Inman of the San Jose Mercury News.

“I was going after more of the passing-yards statistic and I don't really believe there's a great correlation to winning in the NFL. I don't. I don't buy it. If you're looking for a statistic that has a better correlation to winning, it's probably yards-per-attempt.”

Smith threw for a career-high 3,144 yards in 2011 when the 49ers were a surprising division champion with a 13-3 record. Newton passed for 4,051 yards for the Panthers, who finished 6-10, a difference of more than 900 yards.

“I said the same thing last year when we played the Saints in the playoff. Yeah that offense is pretty prolific and (Drew Brees) threw for 5,000 yards,” Smith said. “For me, I'm trying to score more points than the other team. I don't really care how we do it.”

The 49ers have worked to upgrade Smith’s cast of wide receivers this season with the goal being to score more points. We’ll see how he responds with a deeper group to work with.

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Brad Biggs covers the Bears for the Chicago Tribune