Walsh Says Phillips Won’t Return to 49ers

A day after suspending running back Lawrence Phillips, the San Francisco 49ers arrived in New Orleans on Saturday still without a final decision on what to do with troubled running back.

“Well, there are some salary cap implications,” General Manager Bill Walsh said. “We can suspend him, there’s no question about that, without pay. If we release him there are salary cap implications,”

The decision will be announced today after conferring with the league, Walsh said. He saw no circumstances under which Phillips would return to the 49ers, however.

“The key was that he refused to practice,” Walsh said at a 49er workout for today’s game with the Saints. “His remark was, ‘Why practice? You don’t put me in anyway.’ ”

Reportedly, over the last several weeks, Phillips had ignored running back coach Tom Rathman’s instructions and sometimes refused to go in to run practice plays when directed to do so.

During one stage of the team’s final practice Friday, the pass protection broke down and the quarterback was sacked. A source told the Associated Press that Coach Steve Mariucci took the team to task, and Phillips burst out laughing.

Mariucci called a coaches-only meeting after practice Friday, and the decision was made to suspend Phillips. At one point during the meeting, Rathman said that if Phillips came back, he would leave, according to the source.

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Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman told the Dallas Morning News he isn’t sure how long he’ll be out after suffering concussions in consecutive games. Aikman will sit out today’s game against Green Bay, and there’s talk he will be out three games. Thursday, Aikman visited a New York-based neurologist, but the team’s medical and training staff asked him not to divulge the nature of the tests he took.