SANTA CLARA — Before the 49ers go through a light practice this morning and fly to Jacksonville for Sunday’s game, general manager John Lynch had a few updates to share. Here are five highlights from Lynch’s talk on KNBR 680-AM:
On whether running back Elijah Mitchell will play despite missing practices this week because of finger surgery:
“We will see. The challenge, he had a type of break that had some encouragement he’d be able to function with it. You never know until you do that, and the surgery might be different than anticipated. Believe me, what Elijah has gone through his rookie year, playing as well as he has with ribs. He’s had two different run-ins with rib problems, which are so painful. Pain tolerance is not an issue with him, and he’s got to able to function and carrying the football is very important.
“We will see. He’s earned that right, even as a rookie, to take it all the way down to game time. Got to get on a long flight. Sometimes things will react and swell. Our medical team will do a nice job being aware of all that and do a nice job to get him ready for Sunday. Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that because it will come down to can he go and function at a level we need and he needs.”
On left tackle Trent Williams’ impressive season:
“I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a player have this dominant of a year, and it goes unnoticed because he’s a left tackle. Everyone should stop and try to focus in on him because it’s a beautiful thing to watch. … He’s a big man that can move, and, man, it’s about as good a season as I’ve ever seen a player have.”
On NFL officiating woes:
“I don’t know about a ‘crisis.’ Just like players and teams are striving for execution each week, that’s something we need to be striving for as a league. Sean (Payton, New Orleans’ coach) spoke very well and I’ll leave it at that. (Payton spoke up on The Dan Patrick Show and said the taunting rule is being over-officiated and there’ve been too many variables in officiating.)
“We see things, for instance, with Nick Bosa. Should he earn more holding calls? Absolutely. I do believe there needs to be a better consistency.”
On quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo’s hot stretch:
“Jimmy’s such a dynamic thrower, and one thing I’ve learned around him is he really needs his legs. He got hurt vs. Seattle and got that calf contusion. He was playing well before that. When he came back, he wasn’t quite right. When healthy, he’s played at really high level this year.
“Something that goes unnoticed with Jimmy – it was true in our playoff run in 2019, it’s been true the whole time — a lot of quarterbacks are not going to get fired up when the coach says he wants to run it 40 times. Implicit in that is you better convert at a high rate on third down. He didn’t have a ton of opportunities but he made them count. That’s his attitude: Whatever it takes to win. I’ve always appreciated that about Jimmy.
“That fourth-and-6 play is as good as it gets. He just let it rip and that was a beautiful throw to Deebo.”
On 49ers’ safeties:
“I have a safety bond with all those guys. Even in practice and camp, it’s where I like standing on the field. It’s where I see the game, because it’s where I lived my life for so long.
“Jimmie’s a guy who’ll come to me from time to time. He’s got an incredibly high football IQ and he’ll say, ‘What do you think of this?’ I try not to get into schematics because that is the coaches’ job. I try to share what I can with him, Tartt, Hufanga, Tavon Wilson.
“We’re going to have a situation where all those guys (Ward, Tartt, Hufanga) are going to play. Tartt was playing well when he got hurt. Hufanga has a way in which he plays that kind of inspires our defense and our team. We can’t get him off the field. But is Tartt very good, as well, and we’ll have a combination of all those guys.”
Note: Lynch said he’ll be attending a college football game tomorrow, but it won’t be at his alma mater, where Stanford and his son, Jake, host Cal. Instead, Lynch will take a side trip from Jacksonville to see Alabama host Arkansas, then get back to the team hotel in time to watch the Big Game online.
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