Why the 49ers Believe in Colton McKivitz

SANTA CLARA -- The 49ers never flinched when their starting right tackle, Mike McGlinchey, signed with the Broncos this offseason.

That's because they knew his backup, Colton McKivitz, is just as good as McGlinchey, and much, much cheaper. McGlinchey earns $17.5 million per season, while McKivitz earns $2.3 million per season.

On Thursday, offensive line coach Chris Foerster explained why the 49ers have such belief in McKivitz. Here's a transcript, courtesy of the 49ers P.R. department.

Q: You put OL Colton McKivitz into the starting lineup right away. And he obviously held the position, he's played through all these games. The first three-sack game with Steelers LB T.J. Watt, everybody was a little nervous about it outside the building, you guys didn't seem to be so much. What have you seen from him? Is he about what you expected?

FOERSTER: "Colt's really doing a good job this year. I mean, obviously there's always room for improvement and he's getting better every week. He works really hard. He's got a great attitude about getting better and Colt's got great responses. I'll ask him, hey Colt, what happened on that play? And Colt looks at me and says, ‘yeah, I didn't do what you've told me to do a thousand times’ [laughs]. I said, okay, what are we going to do about it? So, the point is he understands what he needs to do and how he needs to do it to fix it. And that's not like, oh, coach knows everything, but he's like, yeah, I get it. I didn't do what I'm supposed to do, and I have to do it. And so, he's got that workman-like attitude that every single day, I'm going to get out here, I'm going to work, I'm going to do things well and win. I was worried after the first game because I think I explained to you guys, we did have a chip system set up to help him. But sometimes the chip system based on coverages is not, you need to get those guys out and sometimes chipping isn't the best thing, so you have to take your chances. And we did more of that than I would've thought we were going to do, but we had to do it. So, Colt had to hold up on some one-on-ones, and he lost some and gave the three sacks the first game. And I had to be sure that he understood that if we put anybody out there and give him that many one-on-ones against that player, he was going to get beat. And some we could've got the ball out, others the guy beat him and got a sack. And so, I had to make sure he is okay coming out of that. And he was, but some guys, it's hard, the bright lights come on and you're like, you don't want to be the guy that everybody sees, oh crap, that was the sack that cost us the drive, the game, whatever it is. And Colton's got that tough mindset to get himself through it."