The San Francisco 49ers are grappling with the disappointment of a season that fell far short of their lofty expectations. After coming close to a Super Bowl victory last year, the team now finds itself out of playoff contention, sitting at 6-9 with just two games left in the season.
General manager John Lynch joined Bay Area radio station KNBR on Friday morning. He acknowledged that the team has done a deep self-evaluation and is committed to addressing the issues that led to a disappointing campaign.
Before the offseason arrives, the 49ers are focused on finishing strong. That starts with Monday night's game against the Detroit Lions, and Lynch is confident that his players will give their all to end the season on a positive note.
Lynch, who entered the NFL in 1993 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers—one of the league's struggling franchises at the time—admitted he finds questions about players' effort during a losing season disrespectful. The former safety didn't make the playoffs until his fourth season, but his mindset never wavered.
"This is what I do. This is what I'm paid to do," Lynch said. "And forget about playing—you get an opportunity to go out there, an opportunity that so many people would love to have, and go out there and play. That's what we do.
"And so, there's so much to play for. At times, do you have to make decisions if a guy's nicked or whatnot? Absolutely, but that's on the team. But for the players, I hate the fact that, in today's world, they're asked those questions because I was like, it's just what you did."
Lynch remains confident in his team's character and determination. He believes their united mindset will motivate them to fight hard in these final contests.
"I believe we've got the right mindset, and the right type of guys who believe that that's what they do," Lynch continued. "And sometimes, certain situations, injuries, can prevent them from doing that. But absolutely, you take any opportunity to go out there and hone your craft, play for the guy next to you, have your buddy's back. All those things is why you play."
The 49ers have enjoyed significant success under Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan, including multiple NFC Championship appearances and two Super Bowl berths. This season's struggles have been a bitter pill to swallow.
"It's not somewhere where we want to be again, but we're here this year," Lynch said. "Can't believe we're here, but we are. And we have to accept that. We have to learn from it. We can't just chalk it up to there were a lot of injuries. Well, the team we're playing, Detroit, they had a lot of injuries, but they found a way.
"And so, we've got to look at the root. We have been looking at the root causes. We'll fix it. We've got a lot of great players and a lot of great people that we want to be a part of the solution moving forward, and we'll go find the other parts of our team to get us back to where we belong. And that's competing for championships, and I'm confident in our plan to do that."
You can listen to Lynch's entire interview below: