The 49ers front office made the trek to Indianapolis for the NFL Scouting Combine without their coaching staff, but John Lynch was on hand to speak for the organization.
At this point, the chatter about the draft was almost nonexistent. It’s still all about Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance, with some other extension and retention talk mixed in.
It was reported Tuesday that Garoppolo will undergo surgery on his right shoulder imminently. The initial expectation was that he’d need surgery on his right thumb, not his shoulder.
The decision was unexpected to Lynch, too. He said Wednesday he found out this week and tried to calm the tides and convince folks that Garoppolo would be just fine. He even made a halfhearted attempt to express the sentiment that Garoppolo is still “a part of us” despite the reality that he will not return next season.
Lynch indicated that Garoppolo tried rehabbing the shoulder but the results were not satisfactory.
“We didn’t know it and I don’t think Jimmy knew it. He’s made a decision here in the last couple of days,” Lynch said. “The shoulder — I never like saying minor when someone’s having surgery — it’s a capsule issue in the back of his shoulder that you can try to rehab, but if it doesn’t get well with the rehab, then you go with the alternative route and that’s what they’ve decided to do. So it’s going to take some time but he’s going to be fine.”
He also talked about the situation on Good Morning Football with Peter Schrager, expressing that “a lot of teams have interest in him.”
But much of Lynch’s appearance was spent praising Trey Lance. He acknowledged that the eye-popping practice clips of him that surfaced on social media were accurate reflections of his upside — saying he was encouraged on scout teams to throw interceptable balls and fit them into ridiculous windows — and that he’d seen substantial growth since he was drafted.
“The development was tremendous,” Lynch said. “I think Kyle did a great job of finding ways to develop him without playing a ton of football on Sundays. The fact that he got some action and got to go get a taste of it was great. And I loved watching him get better in those games.
“He’s everything we thought he was when we traded a lot to go get him and more. I really believe that. There’s a ton of excitement. Of course there’s some unknown. There always is in this game, but Trey is made of the right stuff both talent wise and in his spirit, who he is, the intangibles. Guys like playing for him, guys like being around him and we’re certainly excited to see what he can do.”
There were a few other notes from Lynch:
- He said Mike McGlinchey’s “rehab is going well” after serious surgery and that the 49ers will “give him all the time he needs.”
- Lynch expects Alex Mack to return this upcoming season, per David Lombardi of The Athletic
- He has confidence that the 49ers will be able to get extensions done with Deebo Samuel and Nick Bosa this offseason, saying there is good communication with their representatives and that “when both sides have the motivation deals can get done.”
As for his coaching staff not attending, Lynch said that given the massive turnover in Kyle Shanahan’s staff, he felt it was important for them to remind behind in Santa Clara to work on collective scheme. Shanahan, though, will be involved over Zoom for interviews.
