Unless you have decided that it makes no sense to follow training camp news before one preseason game has been played, you know full well that the San Francisco 49ers are dealing with some injury issues.
It started during the offseason program when Michael Crabtree went down with an Achilles injury and continued with news that Patrick Willis fractured a bone in his arm and Chris Culliver tore his ACL.
While Willis will be back by Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers and doesn't really need practice, the losses of both Crabtree and Culliver hurt.
That's San Francisco's No. 1 wide receiver and best young cornerback.
The 49ers can overcome Culliver's lost, mostly due to the play of veteran Nnamdi Asomugha in camp. They will likely sign Eric Wright prior to the start of the season.
In addition, Willis will be ready to go against Green Bay in early September. That's not really a worry at this point.
The biggest issue here is at wide receiver.
Mario Manningham is returning from a torn ACL and might not be ready until October. The veteran recorded 42 receptions in 12 games, but was used all over the field and made a solid impact.
Kyle Williams tore his Achilles against New Orleans in 2012, but seems to be ready to make an impact when the regular season starts. The issue here is that Williams is injury prone and can't be relied on to make a consistent impact.
General manager Trent Baalke and head coach Jim Harbaugh fully understood the need to bring in talent at wide receiver, mostly due to lackluster training camp performances from youngsters and myriad of injuries.
Enter into the equation Austin Collie and Lavelle Hawkins, who both signed with San Francisco on Friday.
Collie, who has a history of concussions, missed all but one game with the Indianapolis Colts last year. The 27-year-old receiver did put up over 50 receptions in each of his first three seasons with the Colts and received the highest grade of any receiver in the NFL from Pro Football Focus back in 2010.
If healthy, Collie will provide Colin Kaepernick with a consistent veteran to team up with newly acquired Anquan Boldin. At the very least, he'll be a solid slot guy until Mario Manningham returns from injury.
Hawkins was selected in the fourth round of the 2008 draft by the Tennessee Titans. He's a local kid from CAL and has had some past success in the NFL. Hawkins put up 47 receptions for Tennessee back in 2010. That being said, he's failed to make any impact in four of his five seasons up to this point.
It could be said that Hawkins is more of a depth signing and might not make the team. Of course this all depends on how the youngsters perform in the preseason.
If healthy, a top-three wide receiver group of Boldin, Collie and Williams isn't too shabby to start the season. Get Crabtree and Manningham back at some point during the season, and San Francisco will be just fine at wide receiver.
These signings may, however, tell us a story about how San Francisco feels A.J. Jenkins has progressed in his second training camp. If the former first-round pick had actually upped his game from a disastrous rookie season, there wouldn't have been a reason to go out and sign two veterans.
Could we be looking at Jenkins being shown the door prior to the start of the regular season? Is it too early to call him a bust? These are two questions that will likely be answered during San Francisco's four preseason games. As it is, no one in their right mind currently believes that general manager Trent Baalke and Co. made the right decision to select Jenkins in the first place. After all, the next few picks at skill positions in the 2012 draft look like this:
31. Doug Martin, Running Back, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
32. David Wilson, Running Back, New York Giants
33. Brian Quick, Wide Receiver, St. Louis Rams
34. Coby Fleener, Tight End, Indianapolis Colts
43. Stephen Hill, Wide Receiver, New York Jets
45. Alshon Jeffery, Wide Receiver, Chicago Bears
This may be one case of Baalke whiffing completely with a draft pick, and he might be in the process of coming to that very same conclusion after signing these two veterans. It is, however, a good sign that he can move on from perceived mistakes and find other avenues to build talent/depth on the roster.
San Francisco's receiving situation will be settled by the time it takes on Green Bay at Candlestick early next month. I wouldn't worry too much about it at this point.