49ers news: Joe Staley offers much-needed advice to Mike McGlinchey

49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey is again struggling in pass protection this year, and it’s been an ongoing problem. One Joe Staley hopes to fix.

The bromance that existed between the San Francisco 49ers’ two-year starting tackle tandem of Joe Staley and Mike McGlinchey might have come to an end during the 2020 offseason.

But it doesn’t mean Staley doesn’t have a relationship with his younger counterpart.

McGlinchey is now beginning to turn into one of the elder statesmen of the Niners offensive line, one which has two first-year starters in left guard Aaron Banks and right guard Spencer Burford.

But Banks, a Notre Dame alumnus like McGlinchey, has enjoyed an awfully clean pass-blocking stat sheet this season, whereas McGlinchey is having yet another year in which he’s known more for run support than keeping quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo upright.

According to Pro Football Focus, McGlinchey has already surrendered three sacks on the year and 12 quarterback pressures, many of them coming by the way of opposing pass-rushers simply bull-rushing him.

It might have been one thing to acknowledge McGlinchey not being so great in pass protection way back in 2018 shortly after he was drafted in Round 1, or even in 2019 when he was a second-year pro.

But now, McGlinchey is entering year five of his NFL career.

Even Staley realizes his friend is at a crucial turning point.

49ers legend Joe Staley wants Mike McGlinchey to ‘fail in practice’

Staley appeared on KNBR 680’s Papa & Lund Show earlier this week, and he was asked about some of McGlinchey’s struggles over the year and how they’ve compared and are similar to what’s been the case in previous seasons.

Staley admitted there’s no immediate “fix,” but he believes that putting in the work on the practice field will ultimately pay off on the playing field:

"This has been an issue for the last three or four years. He’s been struggling with it for a while, how to stop the ball rush. Guys that are bigger get into his chest.It’s got to come on the practice field, identifying the issues that are wrong. Being open and willing to fail in practice, to figure out what the right solution is. It’s not about just winning every single rep in practice and making sure you don’t get yelled at by a coach or you get yelled at by a teammate or player. It’s about being on the practice with a diligent work ethic and figuring out what an issue is and it could be anything."

Read More: Joe Staley never bought the Russell Wilson, Broncos hype

You can check out the entire interview on KNBR below:

San Francisco picked up McGlinchey’s fully guaranteed fifth-year option, yet he’ll be a free agent in 2023. A year removed after suffering a torn quad and working his way back from that serious injury, McGlinchey now faces the task of trying to convince the 49ers, or at least another team, that he’s worth a hefty contract next season.

However, as Staley pointed out, that’s a turning-point moment upon which McGlinchey has to capitalize:

"I think if he wants to take that next step as being a player that’s gonna be a long-term person in the NFL, then he’s got to be open to be criticized. He’s got to be open and be self-critical of his own play and then do the work, which I know he’s going to and I know he does."

It’s unclear whether or not the Niners are committed to retaining McGlinchey next season, although there hasn’t been much buzz at all about an extension.

Perhaps San Francisco, too, is playing a “wait and see” game with the fifth-year pro to see if advice from a player like Staley will actually provide some merits.