Smith's timetable for return is not affected by the procedure, performed last Thursday by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. Smith should be available to throw passes during the offseason camps.

But will he be throwing passes for the 49ers?

In September, 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan stated that Smith would not return to the 49ers if he did not establish himself as the starting quarterback this season. But, now, the 49ers seem to be keeping an open mind.

Smith certainly will not be back under his current contract. Smith is scheduled to make $9.625 million salary next season. He would probably have to cut his salary to a figure near the league minimum.

If Smith wishes to accept a dramatic pay cut to remain with the 49ers, the ultimate decision will probably fall to whomever the 49ers hire as their permanent head coach.

--In his first game, 49ers interim coach Mike Singletary benched tight end Vernon Davis, who was called for an unnecessary-roughness penalty. Singletary then banished Davis to the locker room early in the fourth quarter. Afterward, Singletary blasted Davis, saying he was not a team player.

Singletary has since backed off of those comments.

"Vernon is not a bad guy, OK?" Singletary said. "Vernon is one of my favorite people - one of my favorite players. I'm very excited about Vernon and the things he can bring to this team. Understand what happened on the field, that's it. It's over."

--Originally, Singletary wanted to place a lot of focus on finding out who leaked the information about his pants-dropping episode at halftime of the 49ers' loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Oct. 26. Singletary admitted to the embarrassing incident, saying he was trying to dramatize how the 49ers were getting their butts kicked.

But Singletary said it is prudent for him to turn the page. "The best thing is to let it go. I'm not going to really look into who did it," Singletary said. "The most important thing for me is to make sure that I focus on the football team. And that's why I'm so excited to get back (after the bye weekend) because that's what I'm here for. I'm not here for anything else other than to help this football team be the best football team we can be the second half of the season."

Plus, Singletary intimated karma will take care of the guilty party.

"I'm a firm believer that whatever happens in life, whoever did it, I feel bad for them, because it will always come back on the person that did it," Singletary said. "I really believe anything that happens to me will happen for the better."

--Singletary has taken a special interest in rookie offensive lineman Chilo Rachal. Singletary has mentioned Rachal several times in speaking to the media over his first week on the job. Rachal was a second-round pick who has yet to play in a game.

Singletary said he sees a lot of potential in Rachal, who bypassed his final season at USC to declare for the NFL draft.

"I think more so than anything else, he's a good football player. He's a good kid. He wants to play and he wants to do all the right things," Singletary said. "And when you see that as a coach you really want to come beside a guy and try to point out things that he needs to do more of, less of and continue to make those contributions.

"He'll have a chance at some point - at some point in time."

--The 49ers got in a "bonus" day of practice on Tuesday. The 49ers had the bye week, followed by a Monday night game. Therefore, Singletary decided to revert back to training-camp mode for some work matching the No. 1 offense against the No. 1 defense.

The teamwork concluded when running back Frank Gore caught a short touchdown pass in front of Mark Roman and spiked the ball. That was not received too well by the defensive players.

"There's obviously some trash talking that goes on when you get the ones vs. the ones and all that," quarterback Shaun Hill said. "All of that adds to it."

BY THE NUMBERS: 5 -- The number of turnovers the 49ers committed (without any takeaways) in a 23-13 loss to the Cardinals in a Week 1 game at Candlestick Park.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "They're playing with a lot of confidence. They're doing some good things and we've got a heck of a challenge on our hands and we're excited about that - having a chance to go there and compete. And may the best man win." - 49ers coach Mike Singletary on facing the Arizona Cardinals.