San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch sat down with Peter Schrager of NFL Network on Thursday. His 49ers are coming off of a spectacular run at the end of the 2017 season, winning their final five games of the year, going undefeated in December, and beating three playoff-bound teams along the way.

While the 49ers started the season losing nine-straight games, the strong finish lifted the team to a 6-10 record.

"I learned the way to get people to feel good about 6-10 is to start 0-9," 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said on Thursday.

Lynch and Shanahan hope to carry the momentum from the end of last season into 2018. With his rookie season out of the way, Schrager asked Lynch what message he wants to send to the 49ers' fanbase.

"First of all, we call our fanbase 'The Faithful,'" Lynch said. "I'd just like to say we appreciate you. That stadium started to rock again, and that's what we want to carry on to next year. We're going to continue to build a great team that's going to make you proud.

"Our goal when [Shanahan and I] took this is to compete for championships every year. We're not there yet. We've got to continue to build it, but that's where we're going, and we're sure about that. And we appreciate the support from all our fans."