49ers injury update: Patrick Willis status unknown, Stevie Johnson not ruling himself out for Broncos

The San Francisco 49ers put together a strong second half performance to defeat the St. Louis Rams 31-17, but they suffered several notable injuries in the loss. Jim Harbaugh and Stevie Johnson updated on his situation, but the others remain a bit more up in the air.

Stevie Johnson took a shot to the hip during the Rams onside kick late in the game. Here is a picture of it:

Full force knee to the hip of @StevieJohnson13 pic.twitter.com/jcL71kmUS5

— Jennifer Chan (@jenniferleechan) October 14, 2014

After the game, Jim Harbaugh said he thought it was just a knee to the hip, but he would not commit to anything with regard to Stevie. Johnson spoke with the media after the game:

WR @StevieJohnson13 is "feeling good" and says injury on onside kick is not serious. #49ers

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 14, 2014

WR @StevieJohnson13 added that he's not counting himself out against Denver on Sunday.

— San Francisco 49ers (@49ers) October 14, 2014

Coach Harbaugh would not update Patrick Willis's status. He suffered a toe injury, and was spotted in an orthopedic boot during the second half.

Patrick Willis blamed toe injury on turf and will learn severity of it tmw

— Cam Inman (@CamInman) October 14, 2014

If the injury is turf toe, it could lead to a multi-week injury. We still have not gotten "official" word on Brock's injury, so I'm not expecting anything specific anytime soon. If Willis out, Chris Borland will take his place in the starting lineup. The 49ers did fine with Borland in that position in this game, but it will be interesting to see how Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos potentially game-plan a starting Borland.

Jimmie Ward departed with a quadricep injury. There is no word yet on his status. His departure led in part to Dontae Johnson's pick six. Chris Cook moved into the nickel lineup, taking over outside with Perrish Cox moving inside. When the 49ers went with another defensive back, that got Dontae Johnson on the field.

Mike Iupati suffered a concussion, which means he will have to go through the NFL's concussion protocol. That requires no concussion symptoms at rest, then again after exertion. He would have to pass a basic contact test after that in order to play on Sunday. Joe Looney came on in place of Iupati, and would get the start if Iupati did not get through the protocol this week.

The 49ers will issue their first practice participation report on Wednesday, for Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos. We'll start to get a better idea then where the team stands. They will likely be short-handed in some way, which makes SNF against the Broncos that much more of a challenge. We'll see how it shakes out.