The 49ers claimed offensive tackle Kirk Barton from the Miami Dolphins earlier today, placing Shawntae Spencer on injured reserve to make space on the 53-man roster.  Barton was a seventh round draft pick by the Bears and after being part of the final roster cut in training camp, he was claimed by Miami.

Mike Nolan was asked about why grabbing a tackle and he said:

“We weren’t trying to look. We weren’t looking for position. We were just looking for a player we thought had an opportunity to - We’ve had the spot as we’ve had along with Shawntae and basically we were just waiting if something became available that we were interested in. That’s what we were kind of waiting for. We didn’t want to force the issue or anything. This is a player that Scot [McCloughan] was interested in, so we claimed him.”

Along with the news of Barton being signed, Jonas Jennings is likely to be listed as doubtful for Sunday's game.  Jennings sat out practice yesterday and today with his shoulder injury.  In other injury news:

49ers
Limited Participation in Practice
LB Manny Lawson - Hamstring
FS Mark Roman - Knee (missed all of Wednesday's practice)
CB Donald Strickland - Hip

Giants
Did not Participate in Practice
LB Antonio Pierce - Quadricep
LB Gerris Wilkinson - Knee

Full Participation in Practice
C Shaun O'Hara - Toe

Nolan said that Lawson was likely to be probable for Sunday's game, so we might get him back in action.  Given the big time running game of the Giants, we're gonna need a lot more linebackers than normal.  Of course, if we stick with the "Big Dud" defense, we really won't need Lawson.