The San Francisco 49ers have a day off from practice on Monday, and that has given the coaching staff and front office some time to break down what has gone on through the first four practices.
General manager John Lynch took some time to take part in a press conference for Bay Area 2019, which is promoting the college football national title game, taking place at Levi’s Stadium next January. Lynch is part of the promotion, and Monday gave him a chance to talk about the title game, while also answering questions about the state of the 49ers.
Most notably, Lynch mentioned an injury. He told the crowd that as he was walking to the event, Kyle Shanahan texted him, saying, “Dude, we need a tight end for tomorrow. One of our tight ends just got hurt.”
Lynch then joked about asking David Shaw (who was in attendance) if he could borrow one of their tight ends rather than fly someone in for a couple days. That comment coupled with the fact that he shared the news publicly suggests it is not a serious injury. We don’t know who the tight end is, but we’ll see if the team makes a signing by Tuesday morning when they are back at practice. The tight end depth chart includes George Kittle, Garrett Celek, Cole Hikutini, Cole Wick, and Ross Dwelley.
I can totally see Shanahan using “dude” a lot in sentences. Whatever injury is involved does not sound serious, and hopefully it’s not because the tone kinda cracked me up.
The video above (click here if you can’t see it) offers a chance to hear Lynch talk about seeing Mike McGlinchey and realizing he was legit, and also how he sees practices these days different, with an assortment of opportunities for players to stay healthy and fresh. It’s an interesting watch on an off-day.