SANTA CLARA -- The other trade the 49ers made this week was also interesting.
Under the direction of then-general manager Trent Baalke, the 49ers took a gamble with the 2016 fourth-round selection of Rashard Robinson. The promising cornerback had not played football for two seasons after twice being suspended at LSU.
The new regime showed little patience for Robinson’s repeated mistakes. He was called for eight penalties through the first seven games. After being demoted as a starter last week, Robinson was called for two penalties on special teams against the Philadelphia Eagles.
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“As we evaluate these things, we evaluate everything,” Lynch said Thursday on KNBR (680-AM). “You got to improve and you got to take coaching and things, and when you see the same mistakes happening, and other people see what we see, in terms of the upside, and so we had a couple teams call us.”
Coach Kyle Shanahan said it was not an easy decision to trade Robinson to the New York Jets for a fifth-round draft pick. The 49ers did not have a fifth-rounder after trading that selection, along with tight end Vance McDonald, to Pittsburgh for a 2018 fourth-round pick.
“I think Rashard has a chance to be a really good player in this league, but that’s going to be up to him,” Shanahan said on “49ers Game Plan,” which airs Saturday at 7:30 p.m. on NBC Bay Area (Ch. 3).
“He showed some talent but was definitely struggling with penalties and some of his coverages. I do like Rashard, and that was a tough decision for us, but when we had the opportunity to get a fifth-round pick, the fact Ahkello (Witherspoon) has been playing well and we thought DJ (Dontae Johnson) has, too.”
San Francisco 49ers
Lynch said the 49ers also have a high opinion of rookie cornerback Greg Mabin (6-foot-2, 200 pounds), whom the club promoted this week from the practice squad.
Robinson was in uniform and played seven snaps of special teams in the Jets’ 34-21 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Thursday.