"I'm going to tell you really clearly that I'm not going to answer any questions about where it's going to be in the future," 49ers coach Mike Nolan said. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. My focus is on Seattle. If you want to talk about Seattle, let's do it. Otherwise, I'm pretty much done."

--Smith's injury was originally considered a non-contact injury to the coracoid process, but that doesn't seem right, either.

"In theory, just throwing would be really hard to do," Smith said. "It's kind of a freaky deal. They said it couldn't happen - kind of impossible. So I don't know if I did do something getting hit. But I cannot remember taking anything even close to a major blow in the preseason. So nothing I can even recall - even feeling anything. So I don't know."

How freaky is it?

"As far as I understand, very," Smith said. "Very, very, very."

--Veteran quarterback Jamie Martin, whose history with 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz stretches back to when Martz was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Rams in 1993, was signed to take Smith's roster spot.

Martin received the call at his home in St. Louis on Monday morning. He flew to San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday and underwent a physical.

"You pack to stay and you see what happens when you get out here," Martin said. "I was hoping to stay because I had to pay the $50 for the extra bag on Delta."

--It wasn't until a media member asked Mike Nolan about the defensive coaches' ability to make halftime adjustments because of an elevator malfunction at Candlestick Park did Nolan fully understand something that defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said to him.

Manusky had to run through the stands to get into the locker room. He spent no more than five minutes in the locker room making his "adjustments."

"That explains what he said to me about an hour ago," Nolan said. "I wasn't sure what he meant because I knew our elevators are always a little bit off. ... He said, 'Get something done about the elevators.'"

--WR Isaac Bruce has not gotten off to a graceful start with the 49ers. After being held to no catches while playing all but two of the team's offensive snaps, Bruce curtly declined comment to the media. It's uncertain whether he is already upset with his role in the team's offense. Bruce has been held without a catch just seven times in his NFL career.

--The Elias Sports Bureau decided to give full credit to Justin Smith on a sack during Sunday's game against the Cardinals. Therefore, Smith now has half of his sack total for his entire 2007 season with the Cincinnati Bengals. Also, Parys Haralson's sack total was officially reduced by a half-sack to two.

--Veteran outside linebacker Tully Banta-Cain was inactive for the season opener behind Haralson and Roderick Green, who enter the game in pass-rush situations.

"The players who are ahead of him (Banta-Cain) right now give us more of what we're looking for at those positions," Nolan said. "But at the same time, I know it's important to him that he wants to play. He came in the other day. He spoke with me, and that's good."

BY THE NUMBERS: 28 - Number of fewer offensive plays the 49ers ran last week against the Cardinals, and they still managed to outgain Arizona 291-285.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "You can't. The amount of money we're going to invest in him, he'd have to be proven that he's the guy. When we get to the offseason, he'd have to be the guy for next year" -- 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan on the possibility QB Alex Smith could return next season as a backup with his scheduled $9.625 million salary.