My birthday was yesterday. I just turned 28 but I feel like 35 in dog years. Playing this game you’re never too old to learn. Our special teams coach is Jeff Rodgers, and he was my special teams coach with the 49ers, too. A lot of the things that he had repeated to me over the years, now I can actually see how they work and try to play it out on the field the way it should be played, the way he wants to see it played. As I get more experience I see that nine times out of 10 he’s telling me the right thing to do, now that I’m getting older I’m finally starting to see it and recognize how doing it that way gives you opportunities to make plays.

In football just like life, the more you see, the more you know, the more you can make adjustments.

Also, with experience you learn better how to take care of your body and how to treat the game like a business. With age comes wisdom.

This team is down in the dumps, man. It seems like we’re playing the same game week in and week out. Individually I think every player is doing what he can. It’s one of those barriers that we have to break down, figure out what’s wrong and turn this thing around.

We have the talent to play with the best teams. Every guy here has made it to the NFL so we know there’s talent in the locker room. But as our head coach always tells us, we have to play smarter football.

I won’t say that we’re too young or inexperienced, though as I said with age comes wisdom. We haven’t seen enough mentally to know that we have to take advantage of every opportunity to make a big play, because any one of them could turn around a game. But we’re not seeing those opportunities until they’re gone. And that goes for offense, defense and special teams.

Marcus Hudson is a defensive back with the Carolina Panthers. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.marcushudson.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcushudson23.

We keep shooting ourselves in the foot. Just when we get ourselves in position to win, it seems that we make critical mistakes at critical times.

You just have to keep fighting, though. It’s not hard to get motivated. What else are we going to do? We’re not going to go out there every Sunday and just lay down. We don’t know anything else to do but fight for wins. We have to figure out a way to take care of the ball more, and we have to bring the basics back to the game. We’ve all been playing football for a long time, there are adjustments to make and I don’t think we’ve made enough plays on special teams, offense or defense.

I know I’m going to give it all I’ve got. I feel like I started the year off fast, and I’m starting to see a lot more double teaming so my production has kind of slowed down. I think I need to make more plays, find a way to create turnovers and put our offense and defense in the best position we can.

I definitely think I can step my game up. Either way you have to fight, there’s always a way to beat somebody. You just have to find that extra motivation.

I’m happy that the Pro Bowl ballot has my name on it under special teams (http://www.nfl.com/probowl/ballot). Make sure you log on and vote for me, I appreciate all of your support in helping me make the Pro Bowl squad.

I guess I’m doing something right but I know I have to keep improving and do better. Every week I’m searching for ways to get better, and I’m pretty sure the other guys on the team are doing the same thing.

One more thing: Shout out to my North Carolina State Wolfpack for beating Florida State. Go Pack!

Marcus Hudson is a defensive back with the Carolina Panthers. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.marcushudson.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcushudson23.

We were very disappointed with our play in New York. All of us wish we could take that game back, but in the NFL you only get one chance. It left a bad taste in our mouths because we wanted to start the season off fast as opposed to last year. But it is what it is. This is a blow and something we all have to learn from.

Right now we’re just looking forward to playing Tampa Bay. There’s no doubt that the secondary will have a better performance this week. We just missed some simple assignments against the Giants, nothing we can’t correct. I know for a fact that the team as a whole is going to play better than what we displayed last weekend.

On a personal note my wife and I welcomed our third son on Monday. Skylar was born the day after the Giants game, so it’s time to reset myself for patience and understanding with a baby in the house. I’m excited and can’t wait to see what he turns out to be like. I’m still just trying to make him smile, he’s just looking at me all the time.

Football is a violent game but it’s also a violent game when I come home. My two older sons already think they play football, they’re trying to duplicate what I do on the field. It’s funny to watch. They’re definitely excited about having a little brother.

I was afraid that the minute I left for New York last week my wife would go into labor. The last thing I told her was to hold on until I got back. I just crossed my fingers that nothing would happen until I got back to Charlotte. I guess I’m going to have to give him a bonus to his allowance for waiting for me.

Marcus Hudson is a defensive back with the Carolina Panthers. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.marcushudson.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcushudson23.

Special teams ace is a role I’m honored to play and I’m going to take it on full force.

The Panthers have a special teams honor called Top Gun. You get points for every play you’re in on special teams and bonus points for every time you make a tackle, force a fumble or make a nice play. You might get 2 or 3 extra points for a tackle. You can also get points taken away, though. My goal is to get Top Gun every week. We have a little competition going on right now, me and Jordan Senn, Gary Barnidge and Charly Martin. Wallace Wright would have been in the running, too.

My goal is to be Top Gun every week. There’s no prize or anything at the end of the year, but everyone in the organization will know who wins it.

I wasn’t worried on cut day, this is the place I wanted to be all along. I knew I would find my place here. I was taking some reps with the 1s, though I had most of my reps with the 2s and 3s so it was like doing double duty. The important thing is the coaches tell you what’s going on so you can prepare for whatever happens.

I don’t know how much playing time I’m going to get against the Giants outside of special teams. They have me in on one of the third down packages. But I will most definitely be out there every special teams play.

Right now I’m just waiting for my third baby to drop. My next little man is due on Sept. 11. Another boy – I’m batting 3-for-3.

Marcus Hudson is a defensive back with the Carolina Panthers. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.marcushudson.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcushudson23.

I am loving it here so far, there’s been a lot of home away from home love because I went to school in Raleigh two hours away. There are a lot of NC State fans. I’ve been recognized walking into a couple stores and gotten a lot of love.

As far as being with the Panthers, everything has been a smooth transition so far. I’m getting along and bonding real good in the locker room, we all laugh and joke a lot. We’re building that chemistry. No hurdles to jump over, just a smooth walk through the park.

On Fridays we play Ultimate Frisbee and Jon Beason was covering me. It was a pretty good game but they blew us out. They scored like four touchdowns in the first 20 seconds. It’s a crazy game. I was surprised by how fast Beason is. He’s got a motor on him.

Mini-camp went real good for me. They have me playing safety and it’s not a difficult system to learn. I think there’s an opening for a nickel spot and I feel like I’m going to take it.

I found a place to live, renting from a guy who’s an NC State alumni. My wife Remi came up and looked at the place and we moved in. We have a baby on the way due in September so we just found an OBGYN. We’re still trying to find our way around Charlotte. So far everything is good, just remembering how hot it is on the East Coast, we’ve been in California so long.

I’m crossing my fingers for a boy, but everyone is jinxing me for a girl because we have two boys already. My mom wants a girl, her mom wants a girl, her grandma wants a girl. Everybody I can think of is telling me we’re going to have a girl this time.

Marcus Hudson is a defensive back with the Carolina Panthers. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.marcushudson.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcushudson23.

I got into Carolina on a Sunday and met with Coach Fox. The Panthers had an offer on the table for me, so I went there to see how the chemistry felt. I knew the system they run pretty well. Their Special Teams coach worked with the 49ers so I fit right in pretty much immediately.

I signed the contract that day and I'm excited to get rolling with my new team. I went to college there so I'm real familiar with the area. I love the people here and it's a great community. I have a lot of family and friends back here too.

I don't know what my exact role will be on the team, but I will go wherever they put me. I can play the corner or safety positions. I'm sure I'll have a prominent role on the Special Teams too.

Since coming here I've been embraced with open arms. I'm working out with my college teammate Tank Tyler who is now on the Panthers too. Right now I'm just doing a lot of running and trying to maximize my strength to get ready for training camp.

I'm looking for places to live, but it's tough right now. I've been working out so much that I don't really have the time to really look. The fan response to me has been great. I got a lot of love from the people because they know me back from my NC State days.

I'm just happy to be a Panther. I look forward to matching up with Steve Smith in practice. There's no better way to improve my skills than by going up against the best in the game. We have a lot of really good players here and hopefully I can help get this team back into the playoffs where it belongs.

Marcus Hudson is a defensive back with the Carolina Panthers. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.marcushudson.com.Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcushudson23

It's great to get away from football for a while and spend some quality family time with my wife and kids. I got my oldest signed up for baseball for the first time. He's all about football and he wants to play, but until he's old enough I'm trying to get him involved in other sports too.

As far as football goes, I am a restricted free agent. I haven't had any official talks with any teams yet, but I have spoken to several teams interested in me. Whatever happens happens, but I would like to stay in San Francisco. I understand that this is a business, though and I have to treat it as such.

The Combine is going on right now for all the new players coming in from college. I remember my Combine experience. I treated it like I was holding a once-in-a-lifetime lottery ticket. Performing well in the Combine was all I could think about.

But I got injured during the Senior Bowl. During the Wednesday practice I came out of a break and pushed off. I felt something click in my left knee. I ended up slightly tearing my LCL. I was pretty much only able to bench for the scouts at the Combine as a result. I didn't have the chance to show everything I could do and as a result I went from being a predicted third rounder to a sixth rounder.

The biggest thing in my life right now is that my wife and I are expecting our third child. I came from a family with five boys, so I expect it will be our third boy. My wife doesn't want to know beforehand, but I'm going to pull the doctor aside and find out. I want to know.

The contract situation will play out however it plays out. I know all the schemes here in San Francisco and all the plays, so my desire is to come back. But as long as I'm out there playing ball I will be blessed.

Marcus Hudson is a defensive back with the San Francisco 49ers. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.marcushudson.com.Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcushudson23

It's difficult to really judge our season so soon after it ended, but we definitely feel that as a team we fell short. We know we're better than a .500 team but we didn't go out and prove it on the field. We let some games slip through our fingers and that's what hurts the most right now.

A lot of people think that the Vikings game was the most painful loss of the year, but not for me. The Seattle game in Week 13 was the one we had to win. If we had come out and won that game we would have been 6-6 and in really good position for the playoffs. We should have won but just didn't. That ended up being our only division loss this season.

The 5-1 division record is something positive for next year. We know we can compete with and beat anybody in our division. We beat the Cardinals twice, so that's a confidence builder. A couple things could have gone our way and we might have won our division.

I wish we were still playing, but I am going to make the most of my offseason. I'm planning two vacations. Gonna drop the kids off with grandma and take off for a couple weeks with my wife. When I get back it'll already be time to work back into shape. You have to be in such good shape to play football that you have to stay active even in your down time.

I'm a restricted free agent so my future is still up in the air at this point. I want to remain a 49er but we'll see what the offseason has in store for me.

Marcus Hudson is a defensive back with the San Francisco 49ers. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.marcushudson.com.Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcushudson23

We lost another close game last week to the Seahawks and it's becoming a recurring event for us. It's s frustrating because we know we're a better team that we're showing on Sundays. We still have a playoff chance, but that loss lessened it significantly. It was a good thing that we didn't fall behind early, but some late turnovers really hurt us. We failed to make some plays and that gave them hope. They went out and capitalized on our mistakes.

One thing that is great to see is the continued progress of Alex Smith and the pass game. It's a big boost to morale that we have so many options on offense. Teams can't just stack the line to try and stop Frank Gore anymore. We have weapons at receiver and tight end as well as Gore out of the backfield and teams know that now.

As far as playing on Monday night goes, we just have to treat it as an opportunity to show people that we're better than our record suggests. People who follow us know that we're better than this and there's no better time to show it than when all eyes are on us.

I've been dealing with a bulging disc in my back that has caused me some problems. I've gotten some extra massages in on it, so hopefully I can get back to 100% pretty soon. I feel good enough to practice, so if they need me on Monday I'll be ready to go.

Marcus Hudson is a defensive back with the San Francisco 49ers. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.marcushudson.com.Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/marcushudson23

The win on Sunday against the Jaguars was huge. It helped a lot in keeping our chances at the postseason a reality. For the first time in a while we came out and played like we're supposed to. We've had trouble starting out games so it was great to have a lead at halftime.

I can't tell you how different it is for a defense that has a lead to protect instead of one that is trying not to fall further behind. It allowed us to make more plays and everyone was more comfortable out on the field. The offense maintained drives and put points on the board. The best defense is having a great offense.

Our win mixed with the Cardinals loss puts us right back in the division race. Knowing that we play them again at home is huge for us. Against Seattle in week 2 we played great football. We were disciplined and believed in the system we had in place for the game. Frank Gore ran for 207 yards in that game, but now with the addition of our passing attack I feel we can open up holes for him again. We have to have the same mentality we had back when we faced them earlier.

Justin Forsett has really stabilized the Seahawks rushing attack recently, so it will be important to try and control him throughout the game. He's built like Maurice Jones-Drew so we're going to have to be on our A game and be where we're supposed to be on defense.

It's been a tough few games for us and the number one thing we need to do is start games quicker. We've been putting ourselves in a bad position by falling behind early and we can't do that. At 4-6 we're still in the playoff race, but if we're gonna stay there we have to start quicker and put some points on the board early.

Most of our losses have been close. It's not like something has drastically changed since our 3-1 start. Looking back at the recent losses it's tough because I know that most of them could have been wins. Seeing a couple plays that went against us that could have gone our way is the difference between winning and losing.

We face another great running back on Sunday in Maurice Jones-Drew and the most important thing is that you have got to tackle that dude. If you don't wrap him up he will run through you. Our run D has been pretty good, but we've been missing some tackles recently that has led to some big plays.

I always look forward to Thanksgiving. My wife always cooks way too much because she loves it. She's a great cook, but it's just the two of us and our two boys so it's just too much food. There's always leftovers for about a month afterward. I'm allergic to turkey and chicken, so my Thanksgiving always consists of honey glazed ham, mac & cheese, yams and a biscuit. This year she did it just right though. She cooked just enough for us and it was great.

It's been a tough last three games for us. After our 3-1 start we have lost three in a row. I don't think we've been playing bad, we just need to work on being able to finish games, simple as that. With the exception of the Falcons game, all of our losses have come down to the wire.

Against the Colts our approach was to try and get Peyton Manning off his game and we did that early. Everybody knows how good that guy is and that he's basically an on-the-field coach, so the fact that we disrupted him early helped us get out to the early lead.

The play that ended up beating us was a halfback pass from Joseph Addai. It was a great call. There was nothing in our scouting report that said they even had that play in their playbook. It was a great call at the perfect time and it was really surprising. None of us even knew that Addai was a lefty. As a defense we still have to take the blame for it because we all had our assignments, but our thought process didn't expect that play at all.

I think our offense is a lot more dangerous than it was a couple weeks ago. Vernon Davis has always been a guy we can count on to produce and he and Alex Smith have a great connection out there. Michael Crabtree has played real well in his first two games, so I think the passing game is more of a threat now.

The Titans are an interesting team because now they are led by Vince Young and he poses a completely different threat than Kerry Collins. We have to contain him. His game is to use his legs to move the offense and we can't let his scrambling ability become a factor. We also have to slow down Chris Johnson and the running game. All we can do is try to play sound D and go where we're supposed to go. Our run defense has been pretty solid so we just have to trust that guys will make plays.

We messed up a lot of stuff in our game against Atlanta. Obviously that was not the way we wanted to head into our bye. Losing 45-10 is definitely not what we had in mind. There was a lot of miscommunication going on on defense. It left a bad taste in our mouth, but we can always learn from our failures.

Matt Ryan is a great quarterback, and he capitalized on a lot of our mental mistakes. He is real accurate and puts the ball right on the receivers' hands, so if you make a mistake he's probably going to make you pay. That's what he did all day Sunday.

Losing going into a bye is never good because you have to sit there and think about what you could have done differently for an extra week. There's really no way to get that loss off your chest until you play the next week.

The Texans are another really good passing team so it's time we get back to basics on defense. We need to know our assignments and communicate with each other out there or Schaub will throw all over us too. We can have success against them if we bring the intensity that we played with before the Atlanta game.

It's great that we added another weapon on offense in Michael Crabtree for the game against Houston. We have accepted him as a teammate right away. There is no room to worry about what he missed or any of that. We believe that he is going to be a great receiver and I can't wait to see what he can do for us. I want him to show why he was a 1st-round pick. We all expect him to be good.