San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aaron Lynch returned from his suspension on Monday, but you have to wonder if he would have played in the early part of the season even without the four-game ban.
Lynch, who was suspended for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, showed up to training camp very overweight. After he was officially reinstated, the 23-year-old revealed that he put on about 30 pounds of sympathy weight during the offseason.
“My wife got pregnant, so I was eating a lot,” Lynch said, per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle. “I wasn’t careful with my diet. I was eating whatever. And out of nowhere, my weight went up and I felt it on the field, so I had to get it down.”
Lynch played at 270 pounds last season, which means he was somewhere in the range of 300 when he showed up to camp. Unless he was planning on making the transition to defensive tackle, that is not a good thing.
Chip Kelly said Monday he is hopeful Lynch will play when the 49ers take on the Arizona Cardinals Thursday night, but the former South Florida star could take a couple of games to get up to speed.
Rather than shedding the pounds, Lynch should have given them to Colin Kaepernick. The quarterback recently admitted his new strict diet may be keeping him from getting into playing shape.
