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On Wednesday, RB Maurice Hicks was still wearing No. 43, despite his temptation to switch to No. 22, his old number in high school and college.

"I kind of made my name in the NFL with No. 43," Hicks said.

When he considered changing numbers, he also cited his respect for Terry Jackson, who had been the 49ers' No. 22 since he was drafted in 1999. Two lockers away, RB Frank Gore voiced the opinion that Hicks should change his number.

"That's an ugly number," said Gore, adding that little, quick guys shouldn't be wearing such a large, unsightly numeral.

That's about the time that RB Michael Robinson, whose locker is situation between Hicks and Gore, entered the conversation. Robinson said he disliked No. 35, the number he wore during the exhibition season. On Wednesday, he debuted his new jersey, No. 24.

"Thirty-five is a fat dude's number," he said.

When I asked about good numbers for running back, they all said numbers in the 20s are preferable. Gore was No. 3 at the University of Miami. But the NFL has rules that running backs must not have single-digit numbers. He took No. 21, because 2 plus 1 equals 3, he said.

That when I interjected my thought that 29 is a pretty ugly number, I nearly got my head bit off.

"That's Eric Dickerson!" Hicks and Gore said simultaneously. It was time to go somewhere else.

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CB Shawntae Spencer went to college at Pitt with Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald, and the two guys know each other very well. (Although Fitzgerald said he hasn't spoken to Spencer in a while because he keeps changing his phone number.)

Spencer said he and Fitzgerald will undoubtedly both be making adjustments and changing their games to try to stay one step ahead of each other on Sunday.

"That's part of watching film," Spencer said. "He might say, 'Shawntae is not doing this this year, so I'm going to do this. He knows some of the things I do and I know he's adjusted his game.

"He's going to watch film of the Chicago (exhibition) game and games from last year and he'll see exactly what I'm doing. He can take this into the game. I'll watch film of myself, too. If he seems I'm a little weak there, he can attack me there."

Spencer said his hamstring injury prevented him from working on things during training camp and adding wrinkles to his game. He sustained the injury Aug. 16 in practice and missed the final three exhibition games.

"Training camp is a chance to develop old tools and new tools," Spencer said. "I try them in a preseason game first. It matters, but if you get burnt or bit, I can say, 'OK, I can't do this in the regular season,' or 'I can take this with me into the regular season.' I didn't get that opportunity to do that. I have to take the most out of practice to try to get there as fast as I can."

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The 49ers open the season without many injury concerns. Spencer (R hamstring) practiced Wednesday at full speed. Although he is listed as questionable, Spencer is expected to start. TE Delanie Walker (R shoulder separation) is expected to miss 2 to 4 weeks. And LB Parys Haralson (L foot strain) did not practice. Coach Mike Nolan expects Haralson to be able to play in perhaps the third game of the season.

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Backup QB Trent Dilfer said he is certain that the 49ers are going to have a good offense, but he's a little unsure when that's going to happen.

"This is going to be very good offensive team someday," Dilfer said. "I don't know if it's going to be tomorrow or eight weeks from now. I have no idea, but it's going to be good - I'll bet my life on that. This is going to be a very, very good offensive football team."

And what makes him so sure?

"We have explosive athletes at the skill positions, athletic offensive linemen and we have a very, very, very good tailback," Dilfer said, referring to Frank Gore.

Dilfer threw only 17 passes in the exhibition season, but he said he'll be ready to go if he's needed to come in for Alex Smith.

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Now a couple questions from the studio audience:

Question: Matt could you explain the NFL's "practice squad" and how it applies to the teams? (Dean)

Answer: The practice squad is comprised of eight players. To be eligible for the practice squad, a player must have no more than three years' experience and must not have suited up as an active player in more than eight games in any previous season. Practice squad players earn $4,700 a week. They are not part of the team's 53-man roster. These players generally work during practices on the "scout team." During the season, a team's first-unit offense and defense will practice against the scout teams, which run the same schemes as the upcoming opponent.

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Question: Matt, I see that players are waived all the time with "Injury Settlements" and I was wondering what the compensation is for those players? Thanks for the great blog!

Answer: An NFL player can't be waived when he's injured unless he and the team arrive at some sort of settlement. Typically, what happens is the team will pay the player how much money he would've earned had he been on the roster for as long as the injury is expected to take to heal. Players only get paid for the 17 weeks of the regular season. Therefore, a minimum salary of $275,000 is $16,176 a week. Players with little NFL experience will generally sign split contracts, which calls for a lesser amount to be paid in case of an injury.

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