McGlinchey: I don’t think my size has anything to do with my inconsistency of play this year

San Francisco 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey has been a hot topic this season for fans as he’s struggled in pass protection all season. It’s not that McGlinchey has been a liability. It’s that his losses in pass pro come at the worst possible times for the offense. On Thursday, McGlinchey had a couple of noteworthy quotes..

His thoughts on where his game is going into next year.

I think I’m okay with it right now. There’s a lot of things that I did really well all year, there’s things that I did a lot better than last year. But I wasn’t consistent enough. And the fact of the matter is, there were some bad moments this year that I let my team down when they needed me to be at my best, and I didn’t get it done. I need to do is just be consistent.

It’s not as big of a drastic change as everybody would like to make it out to be, it’s only a small fix here and there. It’s not like it’s happening throughout an entire game. It’s cleaning up the really bad plays that I have had especially in pass protection, getting consistent, and becoming a player that I know I can be.

The things that will help me get there is by focusing on what’s important to me, and blocking out the stuff that’s that hurts me, and hinders my ability to get there. But it’s a matter of consistency. For me, I think I don’t think it’s anything that’s glaring, I don’t think it’s anything that needs a major fix. It’s a body positions fix here, your hands a little bit better there, it’s finishing plays and finishing games. That’s what I’m going to going to do moving forward.

I’ve definitely learned throughout this year. It’s been a tough year, but it’s not as drastic of a change as people would like to think. It’s a matter of being consistent and being the guy that my team needs me to be in the biggest moments, at the biggest times.

On if he needs to put on some size in the offseason

No, I don’t think my size has anything to do with my inconsistency of play this year. Could I be a little bit bigger? Sure. I’m maybe five pounds lighter than I was last year.

If that’s a conversation that I have to have with John, Kyle, and Dustin Perry, our head strength coach, then absolutely, but I would not equate the things that happened to me this year, based off of my body weight. I think it was more it was all technique based. It’s all having my feet in the ground when I needed to have my feet in the ground.

Whatever plan Dustin, John, and Kyle have for me is what I’m going to do. I’ve never been afraid of hard work. I’ve never been afraid to get in the weight room. I don’t think my body weight was an issue this year. With a normal offseason without the hindrances of having things closed down, having meeting places to go, maybe that five pounds comes back.

Dustin and I are extremely close. We’re extremely good at what we do. I’m very proud of the work that I do in the offseason. Whatever plan that they have for me is what I’m going to do, and I’ll put my nose to the grindstone and do it and but I don’t think that was an issue.

After one game, someone pointed out to me that McGlinchey looked the same size as a blocking tight end, but that felt extreme. When you watch McGlinchey, he’s not losing reps because of strength or power. If he gets knocked on his butt, which has happened a handful of times, that’s due to McGlinchey’s inability to strike with his hands/punch first or in time.

Too often, McGlinhey is either late with his hands or has allowed a rusher to win with speed around the edge. He’s been trending in the wrong direction during the second half of the season. During the first eight games, McGlinchey had 11 blown blocks. Since Seattle, McGlinchey has had 20 blown blocks and there is still one game to play. The Saints, Rams, and Cowboys came weren’t great from a pass protection standpoint.

The consistency needs to come as a pass blocker. Of McGlinchey’s 31 blown blocks this season, 25 have come against the pass.