The San Francisco 49ers opened their Levi's® Stadium locker room doors on Thursday afternoon. Here's what we came away with...*
Observations
1. As we were walking into the locker room, which is situated inside of the stadium's wide service corridor, right guard Alex Boone was parking a long, red cart near the front door.
- On the ping-pong beat: A fullback Bruce Miller-struck forehand sent his opponent, safety Craig Dahl, into a TV camerman's gear as Dahl went to retrieve the ball. Both Dahl and the camera came away unscathed.
3. Punter Andy Lee was seen sitting in front of his stall reading an old *Gameday *magazine. Maybe Lee already longs for home games; the 49ers are in the second week of a six-week stretch in which they'll only play one game here in Santa Clara.
- Defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey was observed working hard on an elliptical machine behind the office of Jeff Ferguson, the team's vice president of football operations and sports medicine. Dorsey, who was jamming out on his headphones as he worked out, is currently on the Injured Reserve/Designated for Return List.
- Haddaway's "What Is Love?", a song you might remember from "A Night at the Roxbury," somehow made it onto the locker room juke box.
- Rehabbing running back Kendall Hunter (knee) was wearing a T-shirt that read, "Run Fast Live Fearless."
- Inside linebacker Joe Staley was seen walking with a boot on his left foot, while cornerback Tramaine Brock (toe) was running to a meeting in his flip-flops. Full injury report here.
8. Cornerback Perrish Cox, who could slide into the slot position if Brock is able to return from his five-game absence, said he would welcome the challenge of covering a smaller, faster wideout like the Denver Broncos Wes Welker.
9. Of the injuries to his defensive back corps, coordinator Vic Fangio told us that Jimmie Ward (quadricep) has the most serious situation.
- Safety Antoine Bethea said he picked the brain of Peyton Manning when the two were teammates with the Indianapolis Colts, but he laughed at the suggestion that Manning ever needed his advice.
- Thursday's quote of the day being displayed on locker room TVs: Nelson Mandela's line, "It always seems impossible until it's done."
--Reporting from Andrew Pentis (1-2, 6-11) and Taylor Price (3-5)*
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