After Michigan’s embarrassing loss to Notre Dame on Saturday evening, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk wondered if Michigan fans would begin to dream of 49ers‘ head coach Jim Harbaugh‘s return to Ann Arbor to coach his alma mater. We detailed Harbaugh’s contract situation last month, and as Florio writes, “with no new contract in place and no plan to try to work one out until after the season, Michigan could opt to chase Harbaugh.”
In a series of tweets, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports that some 49ers sources believe that Harbaugh is already losing his locker room as the club’s veterans are wondering if their coach is really “all in.” Rapoport adds that some veterans were annoyed that Harbaugh took the team to Baltimore for a few days to hold joint practices with his brother, John, head coach of the Ravens. Between those rumblings and the fact that an extension was not reached in the offseason, Rapoport wonders if this will be Jim Harbaugh’s final season in San Francisco.
Now for some more notes from around the league as the season gets underway in full force:
- Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports tweets that the 49ers will re-sign special teams standout Kassim Osgood tomorrow. Joel Corry notes (via Twitter) that the team did the same thing with Osgood last season (release him at the end of camp only to re-sign him after Week 1) and will get termination pay relief again.
- Mary Kay Cabot of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer writes that, under the terms of the new drug policy being discussed by the league and the player’s union, Josh Gordon could be reinstated and back on the field for the Browns as early as next week, though he might still be suspended two games in November for his pending DWI charge.
- ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reports that there are some within the Bills organization who are skeptical of EJ Manuel‘s ability to succeed, and the team is not afraid to make a switch to Kyle Orton.