49ers-Seahawks injury report: Vic Fangio downplays Justin Smith injury appearance

The San Francisco 49ers have rested Justin Smith for every Wednesday practice session this season, sometimes mixing in a day off on Thursday. This week, the team gave him Monday off, but listed him as having a back injury, as opposed to the usual "not injury related" designation. Vic Fangio was asked about the injury during his Tuesday press conference, and Fangio said, "News to me." He was asked if he expected Smith to play on Thursday, and he said, "It'd be news to me if he didn't."

The 49ers generally play things close to the vest with injuries, but with this Fangio comment, I would presume everything will be OK. Matt Maiocco reported Smith was getting treatment for lower back stiffness. According to the beat writers, it sounds like Smith was not practicing today, but again, I am not overly concerned.

This is a short week, and Greg Roman already said there would not be contact in practices. This is just about implementing the game plan and getting everybody as rested as possible before Thursday. Players normally have a full week to get their bodies right for football games, but appearances on Thursday drastically decrease that. The way I look at it, there is almost no reason for Justin Smith to get on the practice field in a short week.

49ers injury report

Seahawks injury report

STATUS DEFINITIONS:

BOLD-Indicates change in status

Out - player definitely will not play
Doubtful - at least 75% chance player will not play
Questionable - 50-50 chance player will not play
Probable - virtual certainty player will be available for normal duty