The San Francisco 49ers are going to let due process play out before deciding any possible punishment for defensive lineman Ray McDonald. Coach Jim Harbaugh confirmed on Friday that McDonald will be playing in the team's regular season opener at Dallas.
"Yes. As it stands now, yes," Harbaugh said, when asked if McDonald would play against the Cowboys.
Harbaugh was also asked what his reasoning was for playing McDonald against the Cowboys, "Two principles are woven together here. I feel like the way the facts are and what's known, that he has the liberty to play in the game," Harbaugh said.
Earlier this week, Harbaugh had hinted that McDonald would play, saying that his defensive lineman is innocent until proven guilty, "As we have said, if you want to say it in a different way, I mean, this is America, you're innocent until you're proven guilty," Harbaugh said on Wednesday "I don’t know what more I can say about that and I have great respect for that principle."
McDonald was arrested in the early morning hours of Aug. 31 and San Jose Police are still investigating McDonald for suspicion of felony domestic abuse. McDonald's arrest came just three days after NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced that first-time domestic abuse offenders will now face a six-game suspension from the league.
Despite the new domestic abuse policy, Goodell has already said this week that he's not going to rush the judgment in the McDonald case.
"I think the first thing we have to do is let the process play out, get the facts, and make sure you understand all the circumstances," Goodell said. "We don't [know the facts] right now and we're obviously following it very closely. But the policy will be applied uniformly across players, coaches, executives, commissioners. I think we made that very clear in the policy."
As for McDonald, the 49ers defensive lineman was late to two practices this week to handle 'stuff upstairs,' but Harbaugh said that hasn't affected the way McDonald's practiced, "He's been fine," Harbaugh said.