Maiocco and Barrows have posted injury reports, so I thought I'd pass along some of that information and look ahead to what means next week and beyond. After two relatively injury-free games to start the season, the 49ers leave Minnesota a little more banged-up up than before.
The big injury was to Frank Gore. As Persiflage stated in the recap thread, an NFL Network person is reporting it's a high ankle sprain, although nobody can confirm that one yet. High ankle sprain usually means 3-4 week absence, but even if it's just a simple ankle sprain, the odds of Gore playing against St. Louis next week can't be good. Of course if Gore will be out, one would imagine Kory Sheets will be added to the 53-man roster fairly soon. We never want to see Gore go down, but I have to admit that I'm intrigued to see what Coffee and Sheets can do together in the backfield. And heading into a home game versus the Rams, it could have been a lot worse of a matchup.
The offensive line suffered a loss of Joe Staley to a leg whip-induced right knee contusion and David Baas to a sprained ankle. Baas did return and it sounds like Staley should be fine. However, it's safe to say none of us ever want to see a left side of the line containing Barry Sims and Tony Wragge going forward.
Dre Bly and Reggie Smith both left with injuries before returning. Mike Singletary usually has a press conference Monday around lunch time so hopefully we'll get an update on Bly and Smith. Reggie Smith hasn't exactly been awash in playing time, but depth is always a concern.
In the end, Frank Gore remains the main concern. The Rams may be awful, but a Gore-less 49ers team for an extended period of time is a significantly weakened squad. If Gore is going to miss a few weeks, now is probably the best time for it, as SpurredOn pointed out in the recap thread. The 49ers host the Rams and Falcons and then have a bye week. The Falcons are obviously tough, and the Rams fall in the "Any Given Sunday" category, but it could have been much worse timing.