San Fran’s RB Glen Coffee quits; lineman Balmer is still AWOL

Associated Press

SANTA CLARA, CALIF.

Running back Glen Coffee left the San Francisco 49ers on Friday morning, telling the team he no longer wants to play football.

It was another sudden blow in a tumultuous week for the 49ers, who saw defensive lineman Kentwan Balmer leave the team Monday. Balmer, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2008, missed practice for the fifth straight day Friday. His absences have been unexcused since Wednesday.

“We just respond to this and move forward,” coach Mike Singletary said. “We’re dealing with this in stride and continuing to have our best practice. The thing that we’re trying to do as the 49ers is that we’re trying to find 53 men that love the game of football.”

Coffee apparently isn’t one of those. In a statement released by the team, the second-year veteran said, “I feel it is best for me that I move on from football.”

Coffee, San Francisco’s third-round draft pick in 2009, was the team’s second-leading rusher as a rookie last season with 226 yards, but he averaged just 2.7 yards per carry and scored one touchdown.

Coffee was in competition this summer with rookie sixth-round draft pick Anthony Dixon to be the team’s top backup to Pro Bowl halfback Frank Gore. The 49ers are looking to ease the workload this season on Gore, who is coming off his team-record fourth consecutive 1,000-yard rushing season.