Deion Sanders says 49ers' players 'want Harbaugh out'
Posted: 09/29/2014 10:39:36 AM PDT
Updated: 09/29/2014 10:41:55 AM PDT
SANTA CLARA -- Shortly after the 49ers ended their two-game losing streak Sunday, NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders claimed that players have turned against coach Jim Harbaugh.
'They want him out. They're not on the same page,' Sanders said Sunday on NFL GameDay Final.
ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer chimed in Monday morning with a similar alarm bell, stating on ESPN Radio: 'I do think it's become almost toxic.'
And yet, the 49ers improved to 2-2 after Sunday's 26-21 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Outside opionions on Harbaugh's status within the locker room is nothing new this season, with a NFL Network report claiming he was 'losing the locker room' hours before they won their season opener at Dallas.
Harbaugh is in the fourth year of a five-year, $25 million contract he signed in 2011 upon leaving Stanford. CEO Jed York said before training camp that he and Harbaugh mutually agreed to wait until after this season to resume talks on extending a contract.
Sanders insists he has the pulse on the 49ers' potential divide with Harbaugh, and the Hall of Fame cornerback declared his inside information isn't coming from his long-time friend Michael Crabtree.
Sanders, 20 years removed from winning a Super Bowl with the 49ers, said players' contempt for Harbaugh is causing problems.
'I really want to know if they're really playing for the head coach,' Sanders said. 'I got a question with that. Are you really down with your head coach, San Francisco 49ers? Because the way it looks and what I'm hearing, you're really not down for your head coach. And that's a problem.
'They really got some problems that we hear rumblings. We all know people inside locker rooms.'
A similar report surfaced from the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport before the 49ers' season-opebning win at Dallas, stating that Harbaugh was 'losing' the locker room. Harbaugh disputed the report after that game. Rapoport returned with another report Sunday morning, stating that veterans feel Harbaugh 'treats them like children' and has banned playing music or cards on team flights.
Of course, with no new extension for Harbaugh, there will be constant speculation about his future, whether it's with the 49ers or anywhere else, as was the case in February when the Cleveland Browns inquired about trading for him.
Harbaugh tried to stop such speculation before the season began when he spoke about his tabled contract talks. 'It has to be refreshing for you, for everybody in our building, for everybody in our fan base that the concentration will be on the 2014 season and our goals as a football team in achieving those goals,' Harbaugh said. 'That's the '49er Way' I subscribe to.'
Dilfer, in a radio interview on 'The Herd with Colin Cowherd,' blasted what he saw in the 49ers' 26-21 win over the Eagles.
'It was creepy, that's the feeling I had in that game,' Dilfer said. 'Brutal on offense. it made me sick last night how great Frank Gore was, that throw Colin Kaepernick made to Stevie Johnson. They had 4,000 opportunities to do something on offense, because their defense was so good. They kept getting the ball back, getting the ball back, getting the ball back.
'Offensively,' Dilfer continued, 'it's frenetic, it's spitball, it's ugly, it's horrible clock managment. I mean unexecusable clock managment. Lack of energy by offensive players. Series ended and there was no communication, guys slouching their shoulders, just bad body language.'
Dilfer then couched his 'almost toxic' comment by stating: 'Now winning fixes all that, so please everybody before you start flipping out, if they win a couple more, it's all good. That's just the way the NFL is.'
Asked after Sunday's win how it would help the 49ers' morale, Harbaugh replied: 'It's going to be good for morale, I would suspect. Good for my morale. But we got to keep going.'
For more on the 49ers, see Cam Inman's Hot Read blog at http://ift.tt/1hfqZQc. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/CamInman.
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