49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh just got finished chatting with the media and he dropped some intriguing information about Delanie Walker that could be read in a couple different ways. Coach Harbaugh was asked about whether the team would make a roster move to replace Walker and he said they would not make a move, but would instead keep the spot open for Walker. Coach Harbaugh said the team had received some great news about Walker last Wednesday and that he had made tremendous progress and had great powers of healing.
There are a couple ways to look at this bit of information. The information does not guarantee that Walker will be available this week, but if the 49ers think he could be back playing next week, it makes sense to keep him off injured reserve. The 49ers do use a lot of two tight end sets, but if the team is content with Justin Peelle as the backup tight end, I'm not sure adding Konrad Reuland or a free agent would make a much of a difference in such a short timeframe.
Tre9er had an interesting comment on Twitter as well. Coach Harbaugh was quite enthusiastic about Walker and one has to imagine part of that might have been for show. After all, if the Saints have to prepare for the 49ers coming out in their traditional two tight end sets, it opens up some modest advantages in game-planning. Coaches will play a lot of games with injury news and it would not surprise me if that was part of what was going on now. That's not to say Delanie Walker won't play this weekend. Rather, it's just one more part of the puzzle to consider.