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The 49ers and Seahawks released their Wednesday practice participation reports for Sunday's Week 16 matchup, and it is not particularly surprising to note that defensive lineman Justin Smith sat out practice. Reports on Twitter indicated he was in uniform without an elbow brace during the morning walk-through, but he was a DNP in the afternoon.
Coach Harbaugh was asked if Smith would play and he said "if it's humanly possible", followed by "We'll see how he feels today and tomorrow." Patrick Willis spoke with the media as well, and he seemed a bit more inclined to believing Ricky Jean-Francois would be getting the start in Smith's place. While RJF has shown he can play some solid ball, losing Smith had a fairly noticeable impact on the defense in the second half of the Patriots game. While it is true the Patriots made adjustments, and the defense did step up late, the impact was still there.
On the Seahawks side of things, the most notable injuries to track will be Marcus Trufant and Walter Thurmond. Brandon Browner is sidelined with his suspension, and Richard Sherman's status is up in the air pending his appeal hearing on Friday. The Seahawks cornerbacks are hurting for depth, so we'll see if Trufant or Thurmond gets some practice in this week.
49ers
Did Not Participation: LB Clark Haggans (shoulder), DT Justin Smith (elbow)
Limited Participation: LB Ahmad Brooks (shoulder), CB Tarell Brown (shoulder), LB Tavares Gooden (ribs), WR Mario Manningham (shoulder), RB Bruce Miller (shoulder), LB Aldon Smith (shoulder), DT Will Tukuafu (concussion)
Full Participation: K David Akers (pelvis), G Alex Boone (knee), LB Navorro Bowman (shoulder), RB Frank Gore (wrist), G Mike Iupati (shoulder), CB Carlos Rogers (knee), LB Patrick Willis (shoulder)
Seahawks
Did Not Participation: DT Alan Branch (ankle), DE Jason Jones (knee) WR Sidney Rice (knee), CB Walter Thurmond (hamstring), CB Marcus Trufant (hamstring), RB Leon Washington (knee)
Limited Participation: RB Marshawn Lynch (back)