The 49ers will keep an eye on thrice-concussed safety Michael Lewis another week. He has been declared out for Sunday's game, Mike Singletary said, as has another safety, Reggie Smith, who has had a slow return from a groin injury. Smith has been running with strength and conditioning coach Duane Carlisle this week on an adjacent practice field. What this means is that Mark Roman will start at strong safety and that rookie Curtis Taylor stands to see time in the team's third-down packages, This has to give coordinator Greg Manusky some worry, especially since they are playing a Texans team that is ranked No. 3 against the pass.
Nate Davis will not be making the trip to Texas. Davis has been sidelined by an illness, and no, it's not swine flu. Alex Smith will be the back-up QB, but the No. 3 guy could be Arnaz Battle, Michael Robinson or Micheal Spurlock.
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With Michael Crabtree set to make his debut Sunday, the Merc's Dan Brown - he always has the best story ideas - has been asking players and coaches their recollections of their first games. Brown prompted a funny anecdote from Singletary today ...
"That's a bad question. My first game, I played the first play of the game and called a timeout and got sat down, got benched for the rest of the game, and we won the game. It was the longest day of my life. Long day. Very embarrassing."
Why did he call time out?
"I called a timeout because Buddy Ryan told me the night before, 'Whatever I tell you to call, that's what I want you to call. If you call anything other than what I said, then we're going to have a problem.' So, Gary Fencik was the safety, been there for years. Well, I got the call from the sideline, and I called 2 Z. Gary Fencik thought it was 3 Z, and I said, 'No, it's 2 Z.' So, he and I are arguing, and so I called timeout because I'm doing what Buddy told me to do. I go to the sideline, he tells me to sit down, curses me out and I didn't get up for the rest of the game."
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Here's the full injury report:
49ers:
Out: QB Nate Davis (illness), S Michael Lewis (concussion) and S Reggie Smith (groin).
Probable: RB Frank Gore (ankle, foot), CB Tarell Brown (illness), DE Ray McDonald (ankle) and CB Marcus Hudson (shoulder).
Texans:
Out: S Nick Ferguson (knee).
Doubtful: LB Jamie Winborn (calf).
Questionable: LB Brian Cushing (foot), DE Mario Williams (shoulder).
Probable: K Kris Brown (right ankle), S Bernard Pollard (illness), LB DeMeco Ryans (chest).
-- Matt Barrows
