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The San Francisco 49ers apparently have some thoughts on how to approach the Aldon Smith situation as they get ready for their Week 3 contest against the Indianapolis Colts. Here are a pair of tweets that have come along this morning:
From #GameDayMorning: #49ers pass-rusher Aldon Smith will play today, but he may play sparingly, per source. Adds a different dynamic.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 22, 2013
Aldon Smith could not be suspended by 49ers under CBA; consensus is get Smith to treatment once they get thru weekend. Help the young man.
— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) September 22, 2013
The suspension information will help clear up the notion that the team could suspend him for alcohol-related issues. This also removes the Brandon Jacobs analogy that so many have been making. I'll admit that even I initially made that comparison on Twitter, but realized the differences in the situations.
What is more interest is the mention of "may play sparingly" and "once they get thru weekend." At first glance, this would seem to indicate the "just win, baby" mentality is pretty strong. At the same time, if they get him into some kind of treatment and he misses future games conducting this treatment, then I think there is an argument the team is figuring things out.
I am still of the mindset that he should be deactivated, but I'm not prepared to go off the handle on the 49ers at this point. I'm disappointed in much of this, but I really am just hoping they have some kind of plan in place (or soon to be in place) to get this figured out in the best interests of everybody involved.