On Thursday, the 49ers will wrap up their last game of the 2010 exhibition season when they host the San Diego Chargers in their annual preseason meeting. Tomorrow we'll have a full preview for the game, but for now a couple notes to go on.
Wide receiver Michael Crabtree may go 0-8 for preseason, having missed all of last year's due to a contract dispute and now having missed the first three of this preseason due to a minor injury. If it had been the regular season, Crabtree would have been playing on Saturday, but the team elected to keep him fresh. In game four, you typically see a lot more starters resting and it's probably safer for the team to leave him out.
For more on injuries pertaining to the 49ers, you can go to our stream here.
The team will likely take a longer look at the backup quarterback situation, with Alex Smith likely getting very few snaps. The team is less-than-convinced that David Carr is a great quarterback, but they did announces him as the primary backup, and will look to see much more of him on Thursday.
On defense, expect to see a lot more of Taylor Mays and Reggie Smith with veteran Michael Lewis taking a pay cut. It's up-in-the-air when it comes to Aubrayo Franklin, who only recently re-joined the team. He's probably not going to play at all, and if he does, it won't be for long. They'll see more Ricky Jean Francois at the position before he reverts to a permanent backup for the season.
There are plenty of key battles to look forward to, at fullback, wide receiver, offensive line, defensive line, corner and even more. We'll have more on those battles leading up to the game.