John Lynch is always nervous while watching from a stadium suite whenever his San Francisco 49ers are playing. It's sometimes frustrating because the general manager knows there is nothing he can do while the team he helped create battles an opponent on the field below.
That wasn't necessarily the case on Sunday when the 49ers played the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Lynch wasn't just sitting up there watching his team. He was quite busy, actually. The general manager was working during the fourth quarter to sign pass rusher Ezekiel Ansah.
"This week, I actually was (doing something during the game) because in the fourth quarter, we were trying to sign Ziggy Ansah because we needed someone," Lynch said Thursday on KNBR's Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks show. "I was doing something this week. I'm proud of myself."
Earlier during the game, Lynch had watched two of his defensive linemen, two first-round picks he brought to the team in Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas, be carted off the field. Both suffered season-ending ACL injuries in the span of three plays.
"We had been working on Ziggy for a little while," Lynch continued. "It's noted that he's been in a couple of times. It turned out to be sage advice from his representative. 'Hey, let's wait, see if anything happens around the league.'
"He wanted to be with us. I think he knows it's a good fit. He's been with (defensive line coach) Kris Kocurek before. He came, worked out, looked fabulous, and it became a little more urgent for us to have him. So we just said, 'Alright, let's do this.'
"Ziggy was ready, and we got him here."
Ansah on Wednesday was able to officially sign and join his new teammates for the first time.
Ziggy Ansah practicing with his new #49ers teammates for the first time at The Greenbrier in West Virginia as the team prepares for the #NYGiants. pic.twitter.com/ZJGzFkcfJx
— 49ers Webzone (@49erswebzone) September 23, 2020
"He's a very large human," defensive coordinator Robert Saleh said after Thursday's practice. "I was surprised when I first saw him. I was like, 'Geez, almighty, he's big.' For him, it's just, again, he hasn't played in a little while. He hasn't had a training camp, so the expectation for him is to go out and maximize every rep that he gets. Then we'll continue from there, but he looks good.
"He's big. He's powerful. He looks like he's in really good shape. So, I'm excited for him to get the opportunities he's earned, and hopefully, it leads to something more for him."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Lynch below.
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