New York Giants' offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride believes 49ers' defensive tackle Justin Smith gets away with penalties in his effort to create havoc on the line of scrimmage.

"Smith is a beast on the inside," Gilbride said to reporters on Thursday. "He's strong, he does as good a job of grabbing a hold of offensive linemen and allowing those twists to take place.

"He never gets called for it so he gets away with murder."

Jim Harbaugh took exception to Gilbride's comments about Smith.

“Kevin Gilbride’s outrageous, irrational statement regarding Justin Smith’s play is, first, an absurd analogy," said Harbaugh.

"Second, it is an incendiary comment targeting one of the truly exemplary players in this league. It's obvious that the Giants coaching staff's sole purpose is to use their high visibility to both criticize and influence officiating."