Marvin Harrison Jr. says Jim Harbaugh’s defenses focus on him, in college and the NFL

Cardinals wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. caught only one pass in his team’s win over the Chargers on Sunday, which Harrison says was a result of Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh focusing the defense on shutting him down.

Harrison played three years at Ohio State when Harbaugh was Michigan’s head coach, and Harrison said Harbaugh game plans for him.

“I’m familiar with Harbaugh, going up against the team up north for many years, and how they played me a lot of the time, and they still hjave the same respect for me,” Harrison said. “So I had a feeling going into the game that I wasn’t going to see many one-high looks.”

Harrison’s one catch was for 33 yards, and he said that was one of the few plays when the Chargers’ coverage wasn’t designed to shut him down.

“We threw the go ball and completed that one,” Harrison said. “We’re not going to get many opportunities, but when we did we capitalized on the way we had. It’s a part of the game, everybody’s going to have their weeks, have their days, but at the end of the day the team won, and all you can do is your part.”

Harrison is in his third season and so far hasn’t developed into the All-Pro receiver he was expected to be when he was starring at Ohio State. At some point, he needs to find a way to make more plays, no matter what the defense is doing.