The 49ers emerged from Saturday’s 28-24 victory over the Raiders without any major injuries. That being said, Brian Westbrook and Joe Staley were a bit banged up and both left the game early as a precaution.
Staley sprained his right knee, which is the same knee that caused him to miss extended playing time last season. He appeared to be up and moving around without a limp as the game went on, so it would seem that his removal was a precautionary measure. The team replaced him with Barry Sims, who had a strong half season in place of Staley last year. The team also has Alex Boone on the roster, but seemed to show a bit more trust in Sims last night.
The other injury was a hamstring cramp for running back Brian Westbrook. Westbrook has had a long injury history, so I’d imagine the team wanted to make sure he didn’t aggravate the injury any further last night. Anthony Dixon replaced Westbrook, and I’d imagine Dixon will get a decent amount of playing time in 2010 because of little injuries like this that Westbrook might continue to suffer.