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Jim Harbaugh met with the media on Friday, and the 49ers head coach had a chance to provide an update on Mario Manningham's status. Harbaugh said Manningham will be activated soon, but it was not likely to happen between now and this Sunday.
The 49ers wide receiver has been practicing with the team since early last week, and on Thursday Greg Roman indicated he was getting work with the first string offense. The 49ers hit their bye next week, and then face the Carolina Panthers in Week 10. The 49ers have to activate Manningham by Tuesday November 5, which would get him on the roster for that Panthers game.
It is interesting that he is taking those first team reps but is unlikely to be activated this weekend. That in and of itself tells you just how much they think of the non-Anquan Boldin receivers. I believe there is some rotation of the starters, but when you're mixing in a guy that won't play this week, well, I think we know what the thoughts are on the rest of the receivers.
Assuming Manningham is active in a couple weeks, it will be just over ten months since he tore his ACL and PCL. Back in April, socalisteph put together some thoughts on both the physical and psychological aspects of Manningham's recovery. It will be great to get a veteran receiver like Manningham back on the field in a couple weeks, but it will be interesting to see what kind of impact he can make right off the bat. I am going in with relatively low expectations for the first few weeks, but maybe he'll surprise us.