INDIANAPOLIS - John Lynch would love to keep D.J. Jones on the 49ers but it might be an unreachable goal for the front office.
“If his objective is to stay here, he made it really hard,” Lynch told reporters at the NFL combine Wednesday. “I do think it’s going to be challenging.”
The 49ers general manager shared how Jones was an incredibly valuable contributor on the defensive front throughout his five seasons with the club. His 2021 campaign was the interior defensive lineman’s best season yet.
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Jones re-signed with the team on a one-year deal after a lower salary cap prevented many teams from offering multi-year deals following the COVID-19 impacted 2020 season. Jones appeared in every game (20) for the first time in his career.
The 27-year old registered three sacks, 64 tackles - 44 solo and 11 for a loss. Jones also recorded five quarterback hits and two forced fumbles. What might be the most impressive aspect about the defensive tackle's game doesn’t show up on his individual stat sheet and that is his ability to stop the run.
Paired next to Arik Armstead on the interior of the line, the 49ers ranked in the top five of nearly every run defense metric. On 439 regular-season rushing attempts, Jones and Co. allowed only four yards per carry ranking them fifth in the league.
They only allowed 97 rushing first downs during the regular season, which landed them fifth in the league and only 22.1 percent of their first downs allowed were on the ground, which placed them in the top three.
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Lynch spoke with conviction about Jones’ off-field qualities that make the defensive tackle the full package.
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“He’s such a good human being,” Lynch said. “When I talk about my favorite people in the building I’m not afraid to say D.J. is right at the top of the list. He’s a guy who treats the people behind serving lunch as well as anyone.
“He’s just a great person. That would be a tough one to lose but there might be that chance.”