SANTA CLARA – Now that pass rusher Aaron Lynch is healthy, he can’t find his way back on the field. Lynch said Friday afternoon that the coaches told him would be inactive before the team departed for Chicago where they will play the Bears.
Lynch pulled a calf muscle four games ago and said he’s been healthy for the last three weeks. However, since then, the 49ers claimed defensive lineman Sheldon Day from Jacksonville and Cassius Marsh from New England. Rookie Solomon Thomas, who missed two games is also returning from a knee injury.
He played for the first time in three weeks last Sunday against Seattle.
“We kind of had all the guys down at the same time,” Coach Kyle Shanahan said Friday. “I feel (Lynch) is the healthiest he has been, but we have a lot of D-linemen up now. … We look a lot at how guys practice, how we think this game is going to go.”
Shanahan said the opponent determines which linemen will play, and the Bears are a run dominated team. Coaches may have felt that Marsh was a better run player.
“He’s had his best week (of practice),” Shanahan said. “He’s looked as good as he had in a while. But it’s not totally up to him.”
Lynch will be a free agent at the end of the season. Lynch played in seven games last year and five so far this season. He’s made five tackles and has one sack.