SANTA CLARA — The 49ers' domination on defense in their Week 10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars coincided with Steve Wilks joining the team on the field.
A few days later, the defensive coordinator shared reasons why it was a positive move.
“It was fine,” Wilks said on Thursday. “I enjoyed the interaction with the players. I think, in that regard, it was good to be able to look in their eyes and communicate, and create some clarity in my thoughts moving to the next series.”
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The 49ers sacked Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence five times and limited him to completing 17 of his 29 attempts for 185 yards, two interceptions and no touchdowns. Nick Bosa had his most productive game of the season, racking up not only 1.5 sacks but a pass breakup and a forced fumble that he also recovered.
John Lynch believes Wilks' location is just part of the adjustment process with a new defensive coordinator. The general manager spoke about the move on his weekly appearance on KNBR’s “Murph and Mac” show on Friday.
“It just felt right,” Lynch said. “My instinct says he should be down there. It’s what our players are accustomed to. Steve has tremendous energy he has tremendous presence. For him to be down there, amongst the players, I really and always have believed for everything you gain for going upstairs there is the connectivity to your players.
San Francisco 49ers
“We’ve got great players that can give great feedback and it's a lot easier to do it in person and communicate between the groups.”
The 49ers forced five punts by the Jaguars, including four three-and-outs. Wilks gave credit to his players and their abilities for controlling the game and agreed with Lynch that receiving feedback from players during the contest was valuable.
“We got good players and me being down on the sideline had nothing to do with it,” Wilks said. “I was just really excited how they responded. The attitude was completely different. We played to our standard this past week, and we got to be consistent moving forward.”
Wilks is no stranger to being on the field during games. While the long-time coach was in the booth during his days with the Carolina Panthers, he spent games on the field while coaching for the Cleveland Browns.
While there was never an issue with communicating with his position coaches, Wilks welcomed the direct feedback from the players during the contest. The coordinator added that it positively influenced the defensive plays that he called.
“I just thought that it was awesome,” Lynch said. “It looked like he was having fun down there and part of this thing that we sometimes forget — it should be fun. It’s high stakes, there’s a lot of pressure but you got to have fun. I think it was really cool to see him down there, having fun with our players.”