McGlinchey challenges himself to ‘step up' for 49ers' offense

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SANTA CLARA -- There is a simple reason for the 49ers’ inconsistencies on offense and what must be done to correct the issues.

“We can’t keep taking turns on who’s turn it is to screw it up,” 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey said, succinctly.

McGlinchey pointed the finger at himself for some of the team’s problems in their 44-23 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7.

McGlinchey yielded sacks to Chris Jones, who powered his way to quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo on two occasions. One of those sacks resulted in a fumble and a turnover.

“It was a matter of setting with the proper technique, setting with the proper plan, getting your hands where they need to be, and stopping the guy in his tracks, or trying to, at least,” McGlinchey said.

McGlinchey has seemingly been susceptible to bull-rushes from powerful defensive linemen. And he figures to go up against that style of pass rush even more until he shows he can get anchored and stop it.

It is possible he could see more of Los Angeles star defensive lineman Aaron Donald on his side Sunday when the 49ers meet their intra-division rival in Week 8 at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

“I just got to do what I do better. I didn’t do my technique, and I didn’t do my job well enough, enough times on Sunday,” McGlinchey said.

McGlinchey, who is playing this season on the fifth-year option at $10.88 million, is expected to be one of the rocks of the team’s offensive line during his contract season.

Between All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams and McGlinchey are three first-year starters: left guard Aaron Banks, center Jake Brendel and right guard Spencer Burford. Daniel Brunskill has been working into the mix with Burford.

The results have generally been positive. Pro Football Focus ranks the 49ers pass protection as No. 5 in the NFL through seven games.

“Certainly, we’ve all had our moments where we need to play better, but for all the talk about the question marks about Aaron Banks, Jake Brendel and Spencer Burford, I think they’ve answered the bell,” McGlinchey said.

“As a whole, as a unit, I feel like we’ve had a pretty strong start to the year. We got to continue to get better, just like everybody else. “

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McGlinchey identified the one area of the offensive line he expects dramatic improvement over the final half of the season. He challenged himself to do something about it.

“I got to step up,” McGlinchey said. “I got to play better. I’ve been playing too much good football over the course of this season and last season to let things like that happen in those moments.”

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