It's practically part of his name these days. Mention quarterback Shaun Hill and the phrase that inevitably follows is: "He manages the game."

Coach Mike Singletary said it. His 49ers teammates say it.

Just about everybody says it . . . except Shaun Hill.

Manage the game?

"I really don't know what that means," he said with a laugh Tuesday. "I just play the way I see it and the way I've been taught. And if they say at the end that I managed the game well, I guess that's a compliment. Most of the time anyway."

Hill spoke after his first practice since being installed as the new starting quarterback. Starting Nov. 10 in a Monday night game against the Arizona Cardinals, he will take over for J.T. O'Sullivan, for whom the phrase "manage the game" was never applied.

Sometimes, O'Sullivan hit it big. He amassed 28 passing plays of 20 yards or longer, the third-highest total in the NFL and a mark that ranks ahead of notable passers such as Kurt Warner (21), Peyton Manning (20) and Brett Favre (20).

But the high-stakes gambler could never figure out when to fold. O'Sullivan threw an NFL-worst 11 interceptions (tied with Favre), endured an NFL-worst 32 sacks and fumbled an NFL-worst 11 times (six lost).

Hill might be a little more vanilla, but Singletary was tired of the rocky road.

"We are going to keep this thing together and we're going to cut down on the mistakes and the turnovers," the coach said. "Let's give ourselves a chance to win."

Hill, 28, went 2-0 as a starter near the end of last season. He completed a terrific 68.4 percent of his passes, most of them the dink-and-dunk variety.

Hill showed the same strategy in relief Sunday. On his first drive against Seattle, he eked out 56 yards in 14 plays.

The completions on that drive went for, in order: 8, 6, 4, 10 and 14 yards. That's why it took 7 minutes, 22 seconds to move just over half the length of the field.

"If the first read is not there, he'll just check it down," running back Frank Gore said. "He keeps his head on."

The question is whether Hill's guarded style will mesh with coordinator Mike Martz's aggressive nature. Martz liked O'Sullivan's deep-threat ability because it helped spread the field.

Hill, though, throws more jabs than haymakers. He has 102 career pass attempts and zero completions of 40 yards or longer.

"I think he really tries to find and take what the defense has given him rather than trying to force it," Singletary said. "His decision-making process is good."

Hill said: "The structure of the offense is going to be the same. (But) guys see things different out there. It'll just be different, that's all I can tell you."

The official quarterback change, announced Monday night, represents the final chapter in the O'Sullivan story. He rose like a Cinderella but sank like a cinder block.

This was his first starting opportunity after bouncing around with seven previous teams before coming to San Francisco.

But the magical ride lasted only eight games. In half a season, O'Sullivan threw eight touchdown passes, with 1,678 yards and a 74.0 quarterback rating.

"I'm disappointed," he said. "But I understand that the season's not over. My job might not be the same, but I'm going to prepare just like I'm going to go out there and play."

—As the Vernon Davis situation simmers down, Singletary was asked again why he was so public in his critical comments after the tight end's unsportsmanlike-conduct penalty Sunday.

"It's the way I felt and I wasn't thinking about being politically correct," Singletary said. "Now, if it was something private that he did, if it was something that was no one else's business, that's something I wouldn't do.

"But, to me, the team needs to know that it will not be tolerated. Everybody needs to understand that if this is the course you take, chance are this is the way we're going to deal with it."