SANTA CLARA – San Francisco 49ers running back Carlos Hyde faces an uncertain future with a team that has not experienced a victory this season.
Yet, Hyde has a smile on his face.
He said as much with a post on Twitter this week, and that left open a lot of room for interpretation about his future -- and other things.
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“I’m just happy,” Hyde said. “I’m in a good place, despite our record, I stay positive in times like this. It’s easy to be down and be sad, so I’d rather go in a direction to be positive.”
Hyde ranks third among NFL running backs with 40 catches for 268 yards. He is eighth in the league with 494 yards rushing on 124 rushing attempts. Hyde is under contract for only seven more games with the 49ers, and he has given his agent a directive to not cause a distraction.
“I spoke to my agent about it, but I told him I don’t want to talk about a contract extension or anything like that right now,” Hyde said. “I want to focus on getting our first win and finishing the season off. I told him once we get to that point, we can talk about it.”
Hyde appeared to ingratiate himself to 49ers general manager John Lynch on Sunday when he got ejected for his role in a fight with Arizona Cardinals defensive Frostee Rucker. The fight erupted after Arizona defensive back Antoine Bethea delivered a high hit on a sliding C.J. Beathard at the end of a scramble.
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Lynch greeted Hyde near the sideline with an enthusiastic hand slap and yelled, “Good job!”
“I think he was more hyped about me sticking up for my quarterback, sticking up for my teammates,” said Hyde, whom the NFL fined for his actions. “Pretty much tired of the late hits on the quarterback and referees not doing anything about it. So I’m definitely tired of seeing it. Yeah, that’s what led to that.”