The San Francisco 49ers conducted an afternoon practice yesterday, and it appears we have some further shakeup in the team's injury report. Rookie outside linebacker Cam Johnson was in shoulder pads at the portion of practice open to the media. Johnson has missed much of the preseason with a knee injury, but indicated he planned on playing tomorrow against the Chargers. I have to wonder if the 49ers have been hiding him a bit in order to slip him through waivers. He was considered a high potential guy in the draft who slipped because of injury and inconsistent play. If there's little to no preseason film on him, it would seem less likely that a team would roll the dice on him for their 53-man roster.
The outside linebacker ranks remain a walking wounded however, as Parys Haralson and Eric Bakhtiari missed practice. Bakhtiari took a knee to the head on Sunday, so the absence is not surprising. There is no explanation yet for Haralson's status. On a positive note, Coach Harbaugh did say that he expects Aldon Smith to play tomorrow. If Smith can go, he will start opposite Ahmad Brooks tomorrow. If Haralson and Bakhtiari can't go, Demarcus Dobbs and now potentially Cam Johnson would join Ikaika Alama-Francis in the mix for OLB and nickel defensive end work
Finally, LaMichael James was at practice and getting some opportunities to field punts. With Ted Ginn Jr. dealing with an ankle injury, Kyle Williams would be the primary punt returner, and James would back him up.