San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch spoke with team reporter Joe Fann at the start of Thursday's joint practice with the Houston Texans. He discussed a myriad of topics as the 49ers prepare for their second exhibition on Saturday night — a matchup against the Texans at NRG Stadium.
The 49ers opened up the preseason last week with a 24-21 home win over the Dallas Cowboys. Lynch discussed what he saw out of his players in the game.
"I think we saw a lot of good effort," Lynch said. "I think it took us a little while to get going, but then we adjusted, and we got into it. I think that's why you have to play against other people. You can practice all you want. There's something different about a preseason game, and there will be something different about a regular-season game. It's just how do you get our guys ready? Kyle does a tremendous job.
"I know one thing; we worked our guys extremely hard going into that game because we're trying to ramp up reps to get ready to play. So I think there was a little bit of the dead-legged factor, but we'll have them fresh and ready this week."
Speed is an essential trait for a player to have within Kyle Shanahan's offense. It's something Lynch looks for when adding new bodies to the roster.
"We put a premium on speed, and you can feel it on our team," Lynch said. "You can feel it all over. Last year, we sprinkled it in places, but this year, I think we've added more and more. And when you have that all over the field, that's a great quality to have. So that's fun for me to come out here and see it."
The biggest training camp competition has been at right guard. With training camp coming to a close, the position remains unsettled, which will make the 49ers' next three preseason games crucial for evaluation purposes.
"Mike Person has done a tremendous job," Lynch said. "Erik Magnuson we throw in there. Josh Garnett now is back, had a really good day yesterday. We'll see how that goes. Jonathan Cooper still working himself back but his legs are still getting a little bit more underneath him each and every day. So that's going to be a fun competition for everyone to watch."
The 49ers officially signed former Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys running back Alfred Morris on Tuesday. He joined his new teammates in Houston and is expected to receive a look on Saturday night.
"Alfred gives us a little bit of a changeup," Lynch said. "Obviously a guy with great familiarity with Kyle, with (running backs coach) Bobby Turner, (run game specialist) Mike McDaniel, all these guys. They've been together. They know what they're going to get out of him.
"We had conversations. I know everyone thinks that was probably a reaction to (running back Matt) Breida going down but we had been having conversations with Alfred. I give a lot of credit to him because he came in knowing he has to compete and we're going to watch that kind of play itself out."
Practicing in the Houston heat can take its toll on players who are used to the weather on the West Coast.
"One of the things that's interesting," Lynch said, "after yesterday's practice, you can prepare all you want, you can be in the shape (that you want), and you can hydrate all you want, we had guys losing 10 pounds after yesterday's practice. A lot of IVs, a lot of Gatorade, a lot of water to get these guys back and restored. But our staff does a great job of that, and we'll monitor them closely."
