It’s been a tale of two seasons for San Francisco 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey.
When the Niners have run the ball, McGlinchey has been a steady blocker with his athleticism helping him clear holes to the outside for San Francisco’s backs.
When it’s been time to throw, things haven’t gone nearly as well. McGlinchey’s struggles in pass protection have hindered the Niners.
“I wasn’t consistent enough,” McGlinchey said this week. “The fact of the matter is there were some bad moments this year that I let my team down when they needed me to be at my best and I didn’t get it done. The thing I need to do is just be consistent. It’s not as big of a drastic change as everybody would like to make it out to be. It’s only a small fix here and there, and it’s not like it’s happening throughout an entire game. It’s cleaning up the really bad plays that I’ve had, especially in pass protection and getting consistent and becoming the player I know I can be in that area and just staying at it.”
McGlinchey has been beaten far too many times in the pass game, leading to sacks and turnovers that have derailed San Francisco’s offense.
He has had 25 blown blocks and allowed eight sacks, according to game-tracking data from SportsInfo Solutions, ranking in the bottom five in both categories in the league.
Much has been made about McGlinchey’s weight, which he says has been between 295 and 300 pounds, which was only slightly smaller than last season. He doesn’t believe that’s an issue but is willing to bulk up if that’s what the organization wants.
He said the issues have been more mental and only growing as the blown blocks have increased in the second half of the year.
“I think it’s something I needed to go through,” McGlinchey said. “It’s something that I needed to have experience with, and it’s something I needed to do moving forward because the only person that hindered Mike McGlinchey this year was Mike McGlinchey. I know what I need to do to improve that now. I know how to get into the right mindset to be able to improve, because when you feel like the weight of the world’s on your shoulders, it’s impossible to be in the right mindset to want to and to work to improve and to truly be honest with what’s going on on film.”
Despite the struggles this season, coach Kyle Shanahan said he remains committed to McGlinchey as the team’s right tackle and that McGlinchey doesn’t need to worry about whether the team will exercise his fifth-year option for 2022 this offseason.
Shanahan said McGlinchey has handled the scrutiny as well as possible and hopes he will grow from it in the future.
“Any coach or any coordinator, any play caller, any players in the limelight, it’s going to happen,” Shanahan said. “I don’t care how good you are. It’s how you react to that. That’s why I think it’s a good thing for Mike to go through that stuff because I think it can make him stronger. He’s made of the right stuff. He’s a good football player. He’s going to have a great career and I plan on it being here and I hope he takes it the right way and it makes him a better player next year for it.”
NOTES: The Niners signed K Tristan Vizcaino to the practice squad and will promote him for the game. … Williams and DL Jordan Willis went on IR. … DL Alex Barrett was promoted from the practice squad. … WR Brandon Aiyuk (ankle), DT Javon Kinlaw (knee), WR Deebo Samuel (hamstring), CB Richard Sherman (calf), CB K’Waun Williams (shin), DT Kevin Givens (not injury-related) and LB Dre Greenlaw (calf) are all out. … S Tarvarius Moore (ankle), CB Emmanuel Moseley (hamstring) and LB Mark Nzeocha (illness) are all questionable.
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