Although 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh did not provide any details about Patrick Willis' MRI at the Monday morning press conference, some news is leaking out. Matt Maiocco reported that Patrick Willis' strained hamstring would not require surgery, but that he is expected to miss practice time and probably Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals. Adam Schefter followed that up with a tweet that it is a grade two strain on a scale of one to three and that he could "miss a little time."
Given all that information, it seems as though it would be pretty surprising to see Willis playing this Sunday. Losing Bamm Bamm for any stretch of time is no fun, but Larry Grant looked very solid in his place on Sunday, finishing the day with a sack and tied with NaVorro Bowman for the team lead in sacks tackles.
The 49ers are not in a position to go into any sort of cruise control with the number two seed up for grabs. At the same time, it is much more important to get Patrick Willis healthy for the playoffs. If a hamstring strain doesn't heal all the way up, it can easily be aggravated. At the same time, it remains to be seen what exactly a "little time" means. We'll likely have to wait for the Week 15 practice participation reports before we have a better handle on his availability.