The San Francisco 49ers officially ended training camp on Thursday. That means players get to finally leave their hotel and dorm mentality and return home to their families. Next week, the 49ers will enter regular season mode when it comes to practices and schedule. They concluded their three-week training camp with two joint practices with the Denver Broncos, whom they host at Levi's Stadium for an exhibition game on Saturday night.
49ers general manager John Lynch joined KNBR on Friday morning and was asked what he has seen out of his new team thus far. After all, he and head coach Kyle Shanahan have been working tirelessly all offseason to replenish what had become a talent-deprived roster under the previous regime.
Lynch answered the question by discussing how the 49ers looked these past two days against one of the NFL's top-caliber rosters.
"I think we're seeing a lot of good," Lynch said. "I think as you start to measure yourself up against the Denver Broncos, like the first day, I think we were really proud of the way we competed against them and we went toe-to-toe and hung right in there and, in fact, even got the better of them. The second day, I think you could clearly see (Broncos head coach) Vance Joseph went in and probably lit that team up and they came out with a little more energy and you start to see, in my mind, I think just a little separation. Ok, they've got a little more depth in these positions. They've got a little more frontline players.
"But what we do see is guys competing on a consistent basis. But that word 'consistent' – we've got to get to where we're consistently bringing that energy and that takes mental toughness and it just takes a standard saying, 'We're not going to ever drop our standard.' And it takes, frankly, another year of just gathering the type of players we think it's going to take but (I'm) really proud of our guys for the way they've competed. Now, we get to go do it on Saturday.
"But I use the word 'productive' because these scrimmage-type settings, it's the best thing you can get other than a game. You're tired of going up against your own guys. You know their plays. Offense knows defensive plays. Defense knows offense. So, you get a fresh look and (it is) a really, really critical week for us."
You can listen to the entire interview with Lynch on KNBR.