San Francisco 49ers edge defender Aaron Lynch was once considered to be among the NFL's top pass rushers. On Sunday against the Carolina Panthers, Lynch wasn't even active. He was listed as "Questionable" heading into the game due to a back injury and found himself on the list of inactive players before kickoff – but not because of the injury.
"It was coach's decision," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said this week. "We had to think of what D-linemen we wanted up, and we felt we needed some backups inside."
Against the Panthers, the 49ers pass rush was non-existent. Quarterback Cam Newton was never sacked and was pressured just eight times in the game, according to Pro Football Focus. While fellow edge defender Tank Carradine earned the team's highest grade, he failed to produce any pressure in 12 pass rushing snaps. Carradine's grade was due to his performance against the run.
On Friday morning, 49ers general manager John Lynch joined the "Murph & Mac" show on KNBR and acknowledged that the defense's inability to put pressure on the opposing quarterback was an issue. He also discussed Lynch's absence from the game and when fans can expect to see him back on the football field.
"We try to create a real competitive environment," Lynch said. "On that D-line, we've got a lot of numbers there. We've got a lot of players we believe in. But we need to produce there. That needs to be a strength of our team. They've been challenged this week and part of that is providing competition.
"I can tell you this, that Aaron has had a tremendous week of practice. That his practice habits have been improving since we got here and we've been very happy with that. As to whether he'll be up or not (against Seattle), I don't know the answer. I think that's going to go right down to the wire but I can tell you we've been very pleased with the way he's been working out on the practice field and, to me, that always translates to the game day when you have the talent, which Aaron Lynch certainly has.
"But he's been buying in. He's been putting the work in so I don't know if it will be this week, but soon enough I think he'll be out there harassing quarterbacks for us."
You can listen to the entire interview with John Lynch below.
Over his three-year career, Lynch has 74 total tackles, 14 sacks, and seven passes defensed. 12.5 of those sacks came during his first two NFL seasons.
Lynch reported to the 49ers' offseason program overweight. He stated that his ideal playing weight was somewhere between 260 and 270 pounds. In May, Lynch said he was in the 280-pound range. Although, toward the end of the team's offseason program, he appeared to be in much better shape.
The 49ers face the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, September 17 with kickoff at 1:25 p.m. PT. The team has one more full practice scheduled for Friday at 11:45 a.m. in Santa Clara before they prepare to travel north to Seattle.