The San Francisco 49ers activated outside linebacker Aldon Smith on Friday afternoon, and Tuesday afternoon he took part in his full team practice session. The 49ers had two "opportunity practices" last week, but they came before Smith was activated from the NFI list. He has reportedly been able to get in some workouts, but Tuesday marked his first team session.
The 49ers will release their first practice participation report of Week 10 Wednesday afternoon, and it will be interesting to see how Smith appears on it, if at all. That applies to everybody that was activated to the 53-man roster (Crabtree will not appear as he is still on the PUP list), but Smith would seem to be the most intriguing. Following practice, he told the media he was not aware of his status for Sunday's game. He had a few other comments as well.
#49ers LB @AldonSmith on playing this Sunday: "I'm taking it one day at a time."
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 5, 2013
#49ers LB @AldonSmith: "I've grown a lot."
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 5, 2013
#49ers LB @AldonSmith: "Bettering myself as a person seemed like the best thing to do."
— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) November 5, 2013
Aldon Smith, sans Jheri curl, said he worked out a few times a week during his time away.
— Taylor Price (@TaylorPrice49) November 5, 2013
Trent Baalke and Jim Harbaugh have said the team will take things day-to-day as they figure out what is best. There has been talk of Aldon needing to "earn" his role back. Plenty of people assume he will slide right back in to the roster. It would be a bit of a surprise if he was not playing on Sunday, or if he was in a limited role. It's easy to assume he will slot right back in, but you never know how it will play out. For now, he is back at practice, and that's a start.
Here is a quick shot of Aldon Smith meeting the media, with a newly shaved head.
Aldon Smith meets the media. #49ers pic.twitter.com/WWpixSuDs4
— Eric Branch (@Eric_Branch) November 5, 2013