Niners' Davis not impressed with Bears

Ultra-talented 49ers tight end Vernon Davis is well on his way to a career year, with 42 catches for 477 yards and 7 touchdowns already, and he evidently believes he'll be able to pad those stats Thursday night against the Bears.

"I think we can destroy their guys up front," Davis told Bay Area reporters Tuesday. "I don't see anything spectacular about their front line. Their LBs, I think we can handle them pretty well. I like (defensive end) Adewale Ogunluye, I think he's performing well for them, but he's the only guy I like in their line."

The Bears have allowed 86 points in their last two losses, which was duly noted by Davis.

"They've given up a lot of points," he said. "There's an opportunity for us, especially there in their secondary, for us to make plays. We just have to go out and do it. Enough talking, go do it."

Injury update: Defensive tackle Tommie Harris (knee), cornerback Charles Tillman (shoulder) and tight end Desmond Clark (neck) were limited in practice, but all are expected to play Thursday.

Running back Garrett Wolfe (back/kidney) and strong safeties Al Afalava (shoulder) and Kevin Payne (back) did not practice Tuesday. Wolfe is out.

Afalava and Payne are the only two strong safeties listed on the Bears' depth chart, but Tillman says the secondary will be fine, even if they can't play.

"You all never heard of Josh Bullocks?" Tillman said. "The dude is a beast. You're all going to see on Sunday ... ehh, sorry, Thursday."

Bullocks, a five-year veteran who started 49 games for the Saints in his first four seasons, is listed as the backup free safety behind Danieal Manning.

"We have a few guys down, but this time of the year it's normally like that," coach Lovie Smith said. "We have some other options still. We'll see how it goes, how the guys feel (today)."

For the 49ers, cornerback Nate Clements (shoulder) and offensive tackle Joe Staley (knee) did not practice.

Ugly numbers: On the Cardinals' first four drives last Sunday, all of which resulted in touchdowns, they ran 33 plays and picked up 20 first downs and 296 yards. Quarterback Kurt Warner completed 15 of 19 passes for 165 yards and all 4 scores.

The Cardinals also converted their first eight third-down situations on Sunday, even though six of them required 5 yards or more.

"Defensively, third downs have killed us most of the year," coach Lovie Smith said. "They hurt us again (Sunday)."

The defense has allowed opponents to convert 42.2 percent of their third downs, 25th in the league.

<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Related links</h2> <ul class="moreWeb"> <li><a href="http://twitter.com/vernondavis85">Vernon Davis Twitter page</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>