It sure seemed as if Brandon Jacobs was trying to talk or tweet his way off the 49ers roster and trying to angle his way back to his former team, the Giants, a team in need of depth at running back.
Jacobs did all he could to get the 49ers to cut him, and if they did it would have been very interesting to see if the Giants gave him another look — especially since the 49ers figure to be one of the teams to beat in the NFC playoffs.
The 49ers clearly have had enough of the increasingly frustrated Jacobs but they weren’t going to allow him to go to a contender, and so yesterday they suspended the disgruntled power back for the final three games of the season.
The suspension, for conduct detrimental to the team, is without pay. Jacobs makes $55,882 per week on his $950,000 base salary and so getting docked three weeks would cost him $167,647. He is going to file a grievance through the players’ union, according to reports, attempting to get reinstated by the team, recoup his money or — and this is probably his desire — to get the 49ers to release him. He’s maintained a strong relationship with the Giants — he glad-handed his former teammates in the visitors’ locker room at Candlestick Park after the Giants beat the Niners 26-3 on Oct. 14.
Jacobs, sidelined by a knee injury early in the season, has barely played, appearing in two games and getting just two rushing attempts. He recently took to social media to express his frustration, writing that he is “rotting away” and that this is “by far the worst year he’s ever had.’’
That prompted 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh yesterday to address the situation, or, more precisely, not to address the situation.
Harbaugh, according to the Sacramento Bee, issued a string of “No comments’’ when asked about Jacobs. Asked if Jacobs is still part of the team, Harbaugh said “I’ll go with the fifth amendment. I have no comment on that.”
Not much later, Harbaugh’s comment rang loud and clear with the decision to suspend Jacobs.
The Giants are thin at the running back position and recently signed two players with NFL experience, Kregg Lumpkin and Ryan Torain, to fill out the depth chart after Andre Brown was put on injured reserve with a broken leg. Ahmad Bradshaw yesterday underwent a battery of tests to determine the extent of the damage to his left knee, which he hurt in the 52-27 victory over the Saints.
At the moment, rookie David Wilson, who enjoyed a breakout performance against the Saints, is the only fully healthy halfback who has been with the team all season.
Jacobs has not been shy about expressing his frustration. He recently posted a picture of himself in his old Giants uniform, which did not sit well with 49ers fans. Jacobs wrote in Instagram “I am on this team rotting away so why would I wanna put any pics up of anything that say niners This is by far the worst year I ever had, I’ll tell you like I told plenty others.”
Jacobs also wrote on Instagram, “They won’t let me out, I tried.”
Jacobs on Twitter explained his posting of his picture in a Giants uniform: “I don’t understand why people are angry at me because I wanna do what I am paid to do, I am a competitive person, I think people should be mad if I didn’t wanna play, but I forgot the people that’s pissed they don’t have a athletic bone and their body. As for all of my Instagram photos I don’t have any niner pics, if you’ll find me some pics I’ll put them up.”