Bay Area Notes: Bowman, Harbaugh, McKenzie

A Friday report indicated that there’s a possibility injured 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman won’t return to the field this season, but he shouldn’t be ruled out quite yet. A league source tells Rand Getlin of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link) that Bowman has been cleared to practice next week, and intends to return to the practice field at that time. Assuming Bowman does indeed being practicing next week, the 49ers will have three weeks to add him to their active roster — if the team isn’t ready to activate him at that point, he’ll sit for the rest of the season.

As the Niners look forward to the possibility of seeing another standout linebacker return to their lineup, let’s check in on a few more items out of San Francisco and Oakland….

  • Within his Saturday mailbag, Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com responds to a question about the likelihood of 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio receiving a contract extension. As Maiocco points out, while a new deal for Fangio – who is signed through 2015 – is possible, his future will likely be tied to that of Jim Harbaugh and the rest of the club’s coaching staff.
  • Speaking of Harbaugh, amidst speculation that the head coach could part ways with the 49ers at season’s end, Bob Glauber of Newsday writes that Harbaugh would be the best option to coach the Jets next season, if he becomes available.
  • Even with the club at 0-9, people within the Raiders organization think general manager Reggie McKenzie could keep his beyond this season, says Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle. As Tafur explains, McKenzie appears to have “hit a home run” with the team’s 2014 draft class, and you could make the case that some of Oakland’s shortcomings this season have been the result of injuries. When I looked last Saturday at teams with the most salary on injured reserve, the Raiders ranked third.
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