In this 49ers news update, reports are indicating that San Francisco 49ers linebacker Ahmad Brooks benched himself in protest of head coach Jim Harbaugh and the defense's linebackers rotation during Sunday's win over the New York Giants.
According to Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports, "a source told FOX Sports that Brooks was upset with the coaches' decision to take reps away from him and give them to Aldon Smith and Aaron Lynch during the team's 16-10 victory over the New York Giants. The source said Brooks told the coaches and his teammates he believed he should be playing every snap and didn't care to be part of a rotation, so he pulled himself from the game."
Several media reports from MetLife Stadium indicated that Brooks wasn't standing on the sideline trying to get back in the game. He reportedly sat on the bench instead, taking off his cleats and having the tape cut off of his ankles.
Harbaugh said after the game that he and Brooks are "working through something."
"We need Ahmad Brooks to win a championship," Harbaugh said. "I feel that wholeheartedly and have felt that way."
Brooks declined to comment on the matter in specific terms, but Garofolo reports that he agreed with Harbaugh's assessment that the two are "working through something."
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