49ers injury update: Alex Smith concussion means we wait

The big news to come out of the 49ers 24-24 tie with the Rams (well, aside from, you know, the tie) is that Alex Smith suffered a concussion. Smith suffered the concussion on the quarterback sneak he ran on 4th and less than a yard. Initially, the belief was that he suffered the concussion on the Jo-Lonn Dunbar hit on an earlier scramble, but Jim Harbaugh clarified the hit in his post-game press conference. Smith reportedly told the coaching staff that he was dealing with blurry vision, and that precipitated the change to Colin Kaepernick.

Smith will now go through the league's concussion protocol in order to be cleared to play. This includes being cleared at rest and after exertion, and being cleared by two separate neurologists, including an independent one. Once he all that clearance happens, he will be allowed to play again. The 49ers play on Monday Night Football, which pushes the practice timeline back one day, so that gives Alex an extra day to get ready. We won't really know more for certain until probably Wednesday or Thursday.

It is also worth noting that Frank Gore made a visit to the x-ray room after the game. According to Gore, he is very sore, but will be fine. This generally seems to be the case with Gore who takes a pounding each week due to his bruising style. He'll get an extra day to rest up and get ready for the Bears tough defense.