"Alex Smith had a vision of his former self with his less than stellar performance in Detroit, and that's why the seven-year veteran threw often during the bye week. Even though the 49ers beat the Lions with a 6-yard pass from Alex Smith to Delanie Walker in the final two minutes, Smith wasn't pleased with his performance. He told general manager Trent Baalke after the game he could have played much better.

Smith completed 17-of-32 passes for only 125 yards, a touchdown and an interception. His passer rating for the game plunged to 60 after being over 100 for the previous two games. Many of his incompletions came on high passes.

"Yes, Alex participated in our opportunity practice last Tuesday," coach Jim Harbaugh said. "He threw again on Thursday. Don't know if he threw yesterday. I believe he's going to throw some balls around today. … He's working at it. Keep staying sharp. I didn't think he wanted to go any longer than two, three days without throwing the ball. That's what he told me."

Here are some other highlights from Jim Harbaugh's Monday afternoon conference call:

-He called the Browns defense, "salty." He also said their secondary is aggressive. "A lot of good, aggressive movement with the corners. They'll take chances. They'll break on the ball. They'll press you. They play very well on the back end.""