Alex Smith injury: 49ers quarterback improving after concussion

After leaving the second quarter of the San Francisco 49ers game against the St. Louis Rams with a concussion, quarterback Alex Smith is feeling much better just a day later.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh said Smith got a good night of sleep and his symptoms were "positive" today. Smith must be cleared by an independent neurologist before he plays again. The good news for the 49ers is they'll have an extra day to get Smith cleared because this week's game against the Bears is on Monday night.

Smith sustained the concussion on a fourth-and-short quarterback keeper in the second quarter and came up with blurred vision after the play. He finished the drive with a touchdown pass to Michael Crabtree but stayed on the sidelines thereafter. Harbaugh told reporters Smith thought a few minutes sitting down would help his vision.

He felt it would go away and he came over to the sideline and sat down. And felt like it was something that would go away, and it didn't. Then, he told me he had blurred vision, and that's when we made the move.

Back up quarterback Colin Kaepernick finished the game for the 49ers. He completed 11 of 17 passes for 117 yards and ran for 66 more on eight carries in the 49ers 24-24 tie with the Rams.

This story originally appeared on SBNation.com.