ANN ARBOR, Mich. – San Francisco 49ers running back DuJuan Harris has been all over the NFL since 2011, including five teams last season. So when he saw fellow Niners RB Shaun Draughn sign a one-year deal Wednesday, he couldn’t get angry. He has been in that position before. He’s just happy another guy has a job.
“We’re all co-workers, man,” Harris said at the NFL’s Business Academy at the University of Michigan on Thursday. “We’re all in this together. We got a shirt with the NFLPA that says one team. It’s one team. You can’t get mad at another guy for his blessing. How can you do that? If something happens well for you, would you want someone to get mad at you for it?
“So I’m happy for those guys. Whatever the team decides to do, I’ve been all over the place last year. I was with five different teams last year and before that, I was on a little more. I was a little steady when I was in Green Bay, but it happens. If I got to go to a new team, I don’t mind. I got a job. I’m still blessed. So I’m not going to get mad at a guy for getting signed to a one-year deal.”
Harris is entering a contract year of sorts as he’ll be a restricted free agent following next season. He’s in a somewhat crowded Niners backfield including Draughn, Carlos Hyde, Mike Davis, Kendall Gaskins, Bruce Miller and Jarryd Hayne. San Francisco signed Harris off Baltimore’s practice squad between Weeks 15 and 16 last season. He was productive over his final two games with the Niners, rushing for 140 yards and catching nine passes for 97 yards.
“Whoever the coaches decide to choose, that’s what they decide to choose," Harris said. "We can’t do anything about it. So we all have to do is be happy for each other, work for each other and try to, if we both make the team, then hey, let’s help the team get to the Super Bowl. That’s the main thing.”
In all, he has played in 28 NFL games, rushing for 452 yards with two touchdowns and catching 13 passes for 129 yards with San Francisco, Seattle, Green Bay and Jacksonville. In all, he has been part of eight NFL teams since going undrafted out of Troy in 2011.
He might be in a good situation in San Francisco, though. Although he has yet to meet new Niners coach Chip Kelly, he thinks he could be a fit for his system.
“I ran that kind of system in college so I did a lot of gun runs and triple-option and stuff like that. So I’m used to it,” Harris said. “Whatever he decides to put into the system, hey, I’m willing to go with it. The organization trusts him to come in and do the right things so we’re going to believe in him, too.
“That’s what we have to do. We do that, we should go a long way.”