I'm about to hop on a plane back to San Francisco but I wanted to get some news updates posted before I head out. It's been an under-the-radar busy day for the 49ers as they deal with injury and roster decisions.
According to Matt Maiocco, practice squad receiver Joe Hastings is expected to get the promotion to the 53-man roster in place of Braylon Edwards. Terrell Owens shot out a tweet to Donte Whitner earlier today indicating interesting in joining the 49ers, but the 49ers appear to have worked out no veterans to replace Edwards. If you're wondering why the team would go with Hastings over TO or any other veteran, MM properly verbalizes many of the reasons for going with Hastings:
- He's been studying the playbook for 22 weeks and worked with Alex in training camp
- He's healthy
- Can contribute on special teams
- Ran low of 4.42 in Pro Day workout
I know some people think TO is an "obvious" upgrade, but Football Ops (and the rest of the NFL) disagrees with that. I would have been intrigued by at least a workout, but if they think they know what's what with TO, then so be it.
In other news, Matt Barrows tweeted that 49ers players indicated tight end Delanie Walker currently has his jaw wired shut and is on a liquid diet. This is further confirmation he suffered a broken jaw when he was inadvertently kicked in the jaw during last weekend's 49ers-Seahawks game.
There is still no indication of when Walker might return, although a broken jaw is a tough one. Basketball players have played with broken jaws before, but there are no such similarities that I can find with football. Coach Harbaugh said Walker would be reevaluated next week, so we'll have to wait and see on his playoff availability. The team has held off placing him on IR as they think he can be back in time for playoff action. If next week the delay looks to continue, the team might have to bite the bullet and IR him to bring up a guy like Konrado Reuland for the playoffs.