The San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals released their first practice participation reports of the week and there were no real surprises. Frank Gore sat out practice because of a knee bruise. The good news is he wasn't also listed for his ankle injury, so hopefully that's good to go. I'd imagine he'll be limited tomorrow and Friday and listed as questionable for the week.
For the Cardinals, Kevin Kolb was limited this week and it sounds like he is unlikely to play this Sunday. Kolb did some work today but they are waiting to see how he responds tomorrow. He has been out since October 30 and naturally the Cardinals have won some games since he was sidelined. They almost beat the Baltimore Ravens in his last game, but under John Skelton they have pulled off wins against the St. Louis Rams and Philadelphia Eagles the last two weeks.
Against the Eagles he was a bit all over the place, but he made enough plays to overcome some fairly ugly mistakes. It helps having Larry Fitzgerald at wide receiver, but Skelton still had to make his share of plays.
Naturally this creates a bit of an issue for the Cardinals since they backed up the Brinks Truck to acquire and pay Kevin Kolb this offseason. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt mentioned in a conference call today that Kolb was still their guy moving forward. If you want to hear him get a little snippy with the 49ers beat writers, you can listen to the call at 49ers.com. It's fairly early in the call as he is asked several questions about the quarterbacks. Good times.
49ers
Did Not Participate In Practice
RB Frank Gore (knee)
DT Justin Smith (not injury related)
Limited Participation In Practice
LB NaVorro Bowman (neck)
WR Michael Crabtree (foot)
CB Chris Culliver (shoulder)
WR Braylon Edwards (knee)
DT Ray McDonald (hamstring)
Full Participation In Practice
CB Shawntae Spencer (toe)
Cardinals
Did Not Participate In Practice
TE Todd Heap (hamstring)
TE Rob Housler (groin)
LB Joey Porter (knee)
S Kerry Rhodes (foot)
RB Chris Wells (knee)
Limited Participation In Practice
CB Michael Adams (hamstring)
LB Stewart Bradley (ribs)
T Brandon Keith (knee)
QB Kevin Kolb (toe)
LB Paris Lenon (groin)
RB Anthony Sherman (ankle)
KR LaRod Stephens-Howling (shoulder)