Posted by Josh Katzowitz

While the Bengals were plotting with the Patriots to trade Chad Ochocinco, the 49ers also apparently were in the hunt, and the Sacramento Bee had a good reason why.

It’s because WR Michael Crabtree’s foot is hurt worse than expected, and the paper’s sources say he’ll miss four to six weeks of training camp and the preseason. He'll be placed on the team's Physically Unable to Perform list.

The foot originally caused him to sit out a few offseason workouts with his team. From that story, the injury didn’t seem like a big deal.

Apparently, the cause of his injury is because the cleats he wore Monday were too new and he hadn’t broken them in yet, a problem compounded by the Fieldturf at San Jose State.

“Everybody's good. Crabtree's all right," WR Josh Morgan told the San Jose Mercury News. "His feelings aren't hurt. Nothing wrong with him. Just his feet were too sore to come out here. That's all it is."

In retrospect, the old “hey, it’s just his new shoes” excuse is pretty flimsy.

Either way, this continues a pretty awful offseason for Crabtree (you'll remember that he dissed QB Alex Smith at one point) -- who, so far, has had a pretty unimpressive career as a first-round pick. Perhaps one reason for that is because Crabtree is never around in the preseason.

In his rookie season, he sat out 71 days during a contract dispute, and last season, he missed all four preseason games after injuring his neck during practice.

Now, without Crabtree or Ochocinco, Morgan becomes Smith’s No. 1 target for the time being.

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