The San Francisco 49ers have their Week 10 matchup with the Carolina Panthers to think about, but there is some interesting news about their Week 12 contest against Washington. Shortly after Washington's Week 9 win over the San Diego Chargers, the stadium operations crew quickly began the process of re-sodding the field between the numbers. You can see a whole host of pictures tweeted out from this exciting process. I wonder if people will tweet the growing grass, so we can literally watch grass grow?
Washington is in the middle of a two-game road trip, which is providing this opportunity to re-sod the field. This is a big deal because FedEx Field has a reputation for having fairly awful field conditions. It came to a head last year in the playoffs against the Seahawks as the field was chewed up in short order. Candlestick Park is no day at the beach, but few sites in the league compare to FedEx Field.
This is interesting to consider because it could impact when a guy like Michael Crabtree returns to action. He can be activated anytime between now and November 26, which happens to be the day after the game in Washington. It seems unlikely he will play this week. Next week, the 49ers are in New Orleans on the Superdome turf. Crabtree will have to play on turf at some point again during his career, but I'm not sure I use this game to bring him back. The 49ers will need plenty of offensive weapons, but I also think there is a bigger picture to consider.
If Crabtree does not come back against the Saints, I'm not sure I see him coming back against Washington. The field will have new grass, but given the problems they've had in the past, I'm not sure it's the wisest course of action. If that's the case, the team can bring him back at home against the St. Louis Rams, a week before what should be a very physical Week 14 game with the Seattle Seahawks.