Jimmy Smith returned to action Sunday, but still isn't 100 percent.
The cornerback was in for only 12 defensive snaps (16 percent of the plays) and two on special teams in his first game back Sunday against Denver. He made two tackles.
Smith wasn't thrilled with his return debut.
"Rusty. Very, very rusty," he said. "My quickstep isn't really there. But I got in there and there weren't any setbacks. I didn't re-hurt myself, so it's a positive in that light to me."
Cornerbacks Cary Williams and Corey Graham, who replaced Smith when the former first-round pick suffered the injury, were still the starters.
Veteran free-agent addition Chris Johnson was first to enter the game as the team's third cornerback. Johnson and Smith traded series early on as the first cornerback off the bench.
"The plan today was just to go in there, get moving around, get used to the movements again," said Smith, who had missed five straight starts.
"Because you know even though you practice and you run, the movements in the game are just very different. You torque and jerk your body in certain ways, and with those [surgery] incisions it's just a little difficult sometimes."
Smith said his plan is to increase his workload over the next couple weeks, which may put him at full strength in time for the playoffs. Harbaugh took a wait-and-see approach when asked if Smith will get a bigger workload this week against the New York Giants.
"He wasn't a 100 percent out there, and that's something that you really don't know until you get into the game," Harbaugh said. "Unfortunately, he wasn't as quick as I would have hoped he would be. We'll just have to see how he does this week. Sometimes in practice it's a little harder to judge that."
