I'm not quite sure what the 49ers players were up to other than watching wild card football, but I believe it was a bit of off time over the weekend, with the players returning to the team's Santa Clara facility today to continue preparations for the New Orleans Saints.
Coach Harbaugh is expected chat with the media at 11:00am today (we'll have a live stream, hopefully) and hopefully we'll get some injury updates. As I don't expect a whole lot of details, we'll likely have to wait until Wednesday's practice participation report to get a better handle on a few players.
As it currently stands, I would suspect Delanie Walker will not play on Saturday. That is not exactly shocking information, and the real question will be if the team is prepared to place him on injured reserve. Walker was reportedly cleared last week to being light conditioning. If Konrad Reuland is the most likely replacement, the 49ers can afford to keep the Saints guessing since Reuland has the playbook and knows what is up. In the meantime, Justin Peelle remains the primary backup and the guy who would come in for the 49ers two tight end sets.
The good news this past week was that Kyle Williams and Ted Ginn Jr. both got back on the practice field this past week. There is no word whether they were limited or full participants, so we'll find out more on Wednesday. Either way, it is an important step forward and essential to getting them back this weekend.
Ray McDonald is also expected back on the field this Saturday after a reported aggravation of his hamstring in Week 17. He suffered the injury late in the fourth quarter and spent last week's two practices rehabbing on a side field. it sounds like he expects to go, but I would imagine we will see him on the injury report.
For the New Orleans Saints, the most significant injury would appear to be Lance Moore's hamstring. Moore did not practice last week and Saints head coach Sean Payton ruled him out on Friday for the Lions game. He hurt the hamstring in Week 16 and it does not sound like he will be back anytime soon.
The Saints appeared to emerge mostly unscathed from their victory over the Lions. They will miss Lance Moore to some extent, but as they have shown all season long, they have plenty of weapons to make up for Moore's absence. Jimmy Graham, Marques Colston and Darren Sproles are the most prominent, but they can still roll out a Robert Meachem or Devery Henderson as needed.