49ers running back Frank Gore is expected to face the Eagles on Sunday afternoon, but he will likely have a reduced workload. Gore is dealing with an ankle injury. Fewer carries for Gore would mean more carries for running backs Kendall Hunter and Anthony Dixon.

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, coming off a concussion and a bruised non-throwing hand, has vowed to play against the 49ers on Sunday. However, San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh suggested otherwise in a rare moment of humor. "He's a great player," Harbaugh said. "I think with the (concussion) he had two weeks ago, with the hand injury this week, it would probably be the prudent thing to rest him for a week."

49ers running back Frank Gore isn't sure about his availability heading into this weekend's game against the Eagles. Gore suffered a right ankle sprain in the second quarter. He remained in the game, but didn't have much success running the football. "I kind of tweaked and I couldn't go the way I wanted to," Gore said. "Yeah, I couldn't be myself. Some of the runs, I couldn't make the cut I wanted to make. Hopefully, I get better this week." When asked if he'd be able to play next week, Gore answered, "I can't tell until tomorrow. See how I'm feeling."

The AFC The Buddy Nix Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings: “Though the Buffalo Bills are 2-0, the team's defensive performances have been decidedly mixed to date this season. In a 41-7 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, the defense looked great, but the Chiefs also haven't been able to get out of their own way yet this year.” The Jeff Ireland Armando Salguero of The Miami Herald: “The idea, obviously, is that [Reggie] Bush is a potentially dynamic player and it would be a waste to have him on the sideline serving as a spectator while [Daniel] Thomas runs the football. I figured, find a way to use him as a third-down guy. Use him as a punt returner. Use them both in the backfield and perhaps move him out to the slot -- thus forcing the defense to defend Bush with their base unit.” The Jonathan Kraft Shalise Manza Young of The Boston Globe: “Patriots quarterback Tom Brady yesterday had some harsh words for his former teammates who took to the airwaves last week to criticize his current teammate, receiver Chad Ochocinco.” The Mike Tannenbaum Gang Green Nation: “This is a key point. [Plaxico] Burress can be effective when he is not catching balls if he is drawing double coverage. Taking two guys out of the play opens things up for other guys.” The Ozzie Newsome Bruce Raffel of Baltimore Beatdown: “The average family of four will pay the sixth-highest prices in the NFL this season to attend a Baltimore Ravens game at M&T Bank Stadium. However, according to a story in the Baltimore Business Journal, the $486 price tag for that game is virtually unchanged from 2010 prices.” The Mike Brown Jason Garrison of Cincy Jungle: “In his first two seasons, defensive end Michael Johnson has started in 10 of the 32 games he played in. He had 52 tackles, 5.5 sacks and nine passes defensed in his first two years. For somebody as physically talented as Johnson, he just didn't dominate like many hoped he would.” The Tom Heckert Chris Pokorny of Dawgs By Nature: “The defensive line has been pretty impressive for the Cleveland Browns through two games, but I'm sure many of you noticed something different this past Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts: our defensive ends were at different positions.” The Kevin Colbert Michael Bean of Behind The Steel Curtain: “We're only two games into the '11 season, but so far so good for No. 17. Wallace has recorded consecutive 100-plus yard receiving games to start the season. That's now five straight regular season games that Wallace has reached triple digits in receiving yards.” The Rick Smith Battle Red Blog: “Last year, [Brian] Cushing served a four-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs. When he came back, he had to get back into game shape, but that plan was derailed when DeMeco Ryans went down with a season-ending injury.” The Chris Polian Stampede Blue: “Football aside, I think everyone wants Peyton [Manning] to heal up and get better so he can enjoy life. Thus, some happy news that he is walking around, smiling, joking with people is very welcome.” The Gene Smith Alfie Crow of Big Cat Country: “Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio met with the media today for his annual Monday press conference. Obviously, he was dominated by questions about the quarterback position. Del Rio opened up his press conference by saying the Jaguars broke down in two areas in the 32-3 loss against the New York Jets, special teams and the passing offense.” The Mike Reinfeldt Jim Wyatt of The Tennessean: “Cornerback Cortland Finnegan helped set the tone for the Titans against the Ravens. He broke up a pass intended for Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin on the first series then smacked tight end Ed Dickson on the second. Later he deflected a pass that was intercepted by cornerback Jason McCourty.” The Brian Xanders Aaron Wilson of Scout.com: “The Denver Broncos auditioned former New England Patriots running back Thomas Clayton and former Baltimore Ravens running back Jalen Parmele [Monday].” The Scott Pioli Patrick Allen of Arrowhead Addict: “Don’t blame Romeo Crennel for the Chiefs’ defensive woes, blame Todd Haley because it was his ridiculous approach to the preseason that caused his team to forget how to tackle. I am sure you have seen the bumbling Chiefs defense running around the field trying to make tackles the last two weeks. You may have noticed that they are really bad at it.” The Al Davis Rich Langford of Silver And Black Pride: “Raiders' rookie Denarius Moore had himself a day against Buffalo. It was so good, he has apparently muscled his way into some more playing time.” The Dean Spanos Tim Sullivan of The San Diego Union-Tribune: “[Mike] Tolbert’s fourth-quarter fumble had helped turn a one-possession game into a quickly lost cause, and that critical error was compounded by his earlier stop on fourth-and-goal from the Patriots’ 1-yard line. Seven days after trampling the Minnesota Vikings for three touchdowns in the season opener, Tolbert experienced the flip side of football fame.” The NFC The Stephen Jones Blogging The Boys: “It is very early in the 2011 season to think anything is certain. But for nearly a year now, fans have debated the team's pass rush ability. Last season, DeMarcus Ware carried the team with a league leading 15.5 sacks yet the team ranked in the middle of the pack at sixteenth in the league. But with one game to play in Week 2 of the 2011 season, Ware is currently the sack leader and the Cowboys also lead the league with ten sacks.” The Jerry Reese Ralph Vacchiano of The New York Daily News: “The Giants got a healthy Hakeem Nicks back last night. Now they have two other receivers to worry about. Both Domenik Hixon and Mario Manningham were injured in the Giants' 28-16 win over the St. Louis Rams last night, though it doesn't sound like either injury is serious. Both players were lost late in the second quarter, though Hixon did make an attempt to return.” The Howie Roseman Bleeding Green Nation: “Falcons safety Kelvin Hayden intercepted Michael Vick in the third quarter of last night's game or at least, that's what the refs called it. Several minutes later, NBC finally got a replay of the pick and it clearly showed that the ball hit the ground and bounced into Hayden's hands. The Eagles did not challenge the call simply because they had no replays to show otherwise.” The Bruce Allen Kevin Ewoldt of Hogs Haven: “I thought after two weeks of solid play, I'd collect all the Redskins stats and take a litmus test to measure how we compare with the other teams in the league. It's about what one would expect: Middle of the pack. However a few stats jump out including the Redskins ranking #1 in time of possession 35:33. That's how you win games!” The Jerry Angelo Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune: “Seven times in 91 seasons, the Bears offense has run the ball 12 times or fewer in a game. Four of those have come during the career of Matt Forte that spans 50 games, most recently Sunday in a 30-13 loss at New Orleans when offensive coordinator Mike Martz called 52 pass plays (45 Jay Cutler passes, six sacks, one scramble) and 11 handoffs.” The Martin Mayhew Brendan Savage of MLive.com: “The Detroit Lions understand why so many people are excited about their hot start. After all, coming off the most lopsided victory in franchise history -- Sunday's 48-3 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs -- they've got a chance to start the season 3-0 for the first time in 31 years. Their victories came against teams that had 10-6 records last season. “ The Mark Murphy Acme Packing Company: “It was a quiet game for Green Bay Packers WR Donald Driver against the Panthers. He only had 1 reception for 10 yards, after a 4 for 41 yard game against the Saints, but that one catch was a memorable one. With the catch, Driver moved out of a tie with James Lofton for the most receiving yards in team history and now owns the record with 9,666 yards.” The Mark Wilf Mark Craig of The Stair-Tribune: “With time to think about it, it's not exactly surprising -- or at least it shouldn't be -- that players are still figuring out how to get lined up in an offense they've been running for less than two months. Because of the 4 1/2-month lockout, Aug. 1 is when this offense got together for the first time. New system, new coordinator, new quarterack. Very few full-speed, full-padded practices.” The Thomas Dimitroff Dave Choate of The Falcoholic: “When the Falcons signed James Sanders and Kelvin Hayden just a few short weeks ago, it seemed they were ticketed for reserve roles early in the season. After all, they were cut from their previous respective teams recently. Surely they weren't starters? Well, that conventional wisdom went out the window in Week 2.” The Marty Hurney Bill Voth of Cat Scratch Reader: “A week after he debuted with a 422-yard performance in Arizona, [Cam] Newton threw for 432 yards against the Super Bowl champion Packers. Newton's the first NFL quarterback to start his career with two 400-yard games. Only six other quarterbacks in NFL history have gone over 400 in back-to-back games.” The Mickey Loomis James Varney of The Times-Picayune: “Facing a coaching quandary nothing short of delicious, New Orleans Saints Coach Sean Payton acknowledged Monday the team still wrestles with working three talented running backs into its game plan each week.” The Mark Dominik Bucs Nation: “[Raheem] Morris went on to credit Blount's effort, and said it was the way he should run the football every single week. He also gave credit to Freeman, and especially to the surprisingly effective play of Preston Parker. Morris noted that the Bucs are tied for the division lead, which is their goal, so right now he says the team is in good standing.” The Rod Graves Tyler Nickel of Revenge of the Birds: “During Sunday's game, an altercation broke out in the first quarter between a Washington Redskin and a couple of Cardinals players. Tim Hightower and linebacker Paris Lenon got into a bit of a tussle after Hightower pushed Lenon after a play was over.” The Billy Devaney Bernie Miklasz of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “With offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels adding more flair to the game plan, the Rams tried to join the movement on Monday night at MetLife Stadium.” The Trent Baalke Niners Nation: “The San Francisco 49ers suffered a heartbreaking 27-24 loss to the rival Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. And as much it would relieve me to rant about the number of mistakes they made, I still believe this is an improved unit from last year and have to take the good with the bad. And while the Niners seemed to have taken a step forward overall, the pass defense continues to be a serious issue.” The John Schneider Thomas Beekers of Field Gulls: “Brandon Browner had the ugliest game of all Seahawks defenders, which isn't saying all that much since a lot of Seahawk defensive players had less-than-ideal games.”

The 49ers are going into the theme park business, investing in a $70M deal to buy the Great America theme park -- and bumping out of the way one of its biggest opponents to building its new stadium in Santa Clara: the park's current owner. Jed York, the 49ers president, cheered the deal in a statement Monday, saying it creates "great synergy and collaboration between two of the largest family entertainment destinations in the region."

Playing with a fractured rib, Tony Romo hit Jesse Holley on a 77-yard completion on the Cowboys' first play of OT that set up Dan Bailey's winning 19-yard field goal, and Dallas rallied for a 27-24 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Dez Bryant is inactive for Sunday's game against the 49ers. Bryant suffered a thigh bruise while returning a punt last Sunday against the Jets. Michael Crabtree is inactive for the 49ers.

The Bengals' home opener against San Francisco on Sept. 25 will be blacked out on local television, the fifth straight home game that Cincinnati has failed to sell out. The club announced on Saturday that there are so many tickets left that it has no chance of selling out the 65,500-seat stadium.

49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree had X-rays on his left foot after Sunday's win over the Seahawks. The tests were negative. "It hurt so bad I was concerned," said Crabtree, who was taken out of the game in the second half by coach Jim Harbaugh. Crabtree had a procedure in July to repair a broken bone in his left foot. After missing the first five weeks of 49ers practices, he returned last week and went through three full sessions. He did not start on Sunday, but he was in the huddle on the team's second offensive snap and ended up playing 16 snaps.

Hanging inside each 49ers locker this week was a blue, gas-station work shirt with a personalized name patch. It's a familiar look for a Jim Harbaugh-coached team. "He wants us to be a blue-collar team and work hard every day," said rookie tight end Konrad Reuland, an undrafted Stanford product on the practice squad. Harbaugh unveiled the shirt's at the end of Saturday's team meetings, once the roster was pared to the 53-man limit. He wore his blue garb underneath a black sweatshirt at Thursday's practice, and special-teams coordinator Brad Seeley donned his own Friday. "I love 'em. They seem to love it to, as you see the guys wearing it," Harbaugh said. "It's not real complicated what it stands for -- a motivational symbol, if you will."