The theme of this week has been injuries, injuries, injuries. Sometime later tomorrow or early Saturday we'll have final word on the actual probability of the players below playing. For now, we at least know how much they practiced the last couple of days.
49ers
C Eric Heitmann - Did not participate in Wednesday or Thursday practice sessions with the shoulder injury suffered Sunday against the Cardinals.
CB Donald Strickland - Did not participate in Wednesday or Thursday practice sessions with a knee injury.
If I was a gambling man (which I tend to be), I'd guess both guys will be listed as questionable and be "game-time decisions." Hopefully Heitmann is just resting the shoulder and will be fine on Sunday. The same holds true for Strickland as he is quickly proving to be a very solid option as a 4th cornerback.
If Heitmann could not play, I'd imagine Tony Wragge would play center, David Baas would play right guard and Adam Snyder would play left guard. That would leave Chilo Rachal as the sole backup at guard. While you can't keep too many players due to roster restrictions, this goes to show the importance of Tony Wragge's versatility. They're stuck with a rookie backing up at guard, but considering he's their third option when everybody's healthy you can't really complain too much.
If Donald Strickland couldn't go on Sunday and was deactivated, it'd be a battle between Tarell Brown, Marcus Hudson and Reggie Smith for that extra DB spot. Smith is probably the first one out of those three as a rookie and it seems like Hudson is a guy they really like, so I'd say Hudson would be active. We'll see.
Seahawks
WR Bobby Engram - Out - Shoulder (definitely will not play, as opposed to DNP in practice which means he could still play this Sunday).
RB Maurice Morris - Out - Knee (see above)
T Sean Locklear - DNP Practice - Knee
WR Deion Branch - Limited Participation in Practice - Knee - Scoresandodds.com has him down as doubtful and as far as I know he's not playing this Sunday.
LB Lofa Tatupu - Limited Participation in Practice - Knee
CB Marcus Trufant - Fine on Wednesday, but limited participation on Thursday with a hand injury after colliding in practice with Tatupu. Rotoworld says he appeared fine in the lockerrom, but did have on a protective guard.
DE Baraka Atkins - Full participation in practice in spite of a back injury.
As we've discussed many Seahawks injuries ad nauseum, there's not a whole lot left to say with this injury report. Tatupu and Trufant will probably go on the injury report as probable, but obviously will be playing. If they're in the lineup, this defense presents a real tough challenge to the 49ers. I'd expect a lot of pressure all day long. This will be a big test of J.T. O'Sullivan's pocket presence and ability to make things happen when chaos is unleashed around him.
Over at Field Gulls, John Morgan discussed the importance of smart blitzing this weekend. If the 49ers are going to have success on offense it will take a balanced attack and some very solid pass protection from the offensive line. The talent is there, it's just a matter of execution.