Lynch of the 49ers at the release of Reuben Foster: "He did not protect the team"

TAMPA, Florida – Executive Director John Lynch spoke to reporters for more than six minutes today about four hours after linebacker Reuben Foster was released after being arrested for battery of first-degree violence on Saturday night at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay .

Here's the full transcript of the Raymond James Question and Answer session:

Opening statement:

JL: I can tell you that it is extremely disappointing for me. For Kyle (Shanahan). For the property. For everyone here because we care a lot about Reuben. I can tell you that it is in a situation where we have established very specific ground rules for Reuben, as we do for all our players. We had a set of standards in place that the players were involved in the development. In this case, I think the communication was exceptionally clear and up to what we expected from him. And unfortunately, what happened yesterday – it's not a comment on what happened there, because it would only be speculation on our part. It's more of a comment from him that he does not respect what we communicated. The energy and the time we invested in him. It does not mean we do not like it. We all do. We take care of him. But we believe it is in the best interests of our organization to move forward. It's a very difficult decision. I want to be clear that it is an organizational decision. Kyle and I talked last night. We brought it to the property. And we were all stuck in the decision. It was not easy for anyone.

Did not you want him to be associated with a certain person?

JL: I want to go into the details, but I will say that after the offseason events, we were very clear with him. And I think very fair. And he understood exactly what it was. What is really sad is that he had shown, particularly recently, that he was taking very positive steps. And mature in a really nice way. Unfortunately, in life, your actions have consequences. And when you do poor judgment, especially for something that has been very clearly communicated to expectations, there are consequences. I think one of the lessons I've learned from my career in this league for 30 years now is that no one is bigger than the team and that's ultimately what this decision was decisive for us.

How many communications did you have yesterday?

JL: Unfortunately, it is not the case. I was at dinner when all this happened. At that time, it was in the hands of the police department. And for now, he's not out yet, so I have not been able to talk to Reuben yet. I go. And I look forward to that. As I said, I care about the child. And concerned about his future. And that's not only for me, but for everyone.

You regret to have recruited?

JL: I do not. I think we all learned from that. You must learn from each situation. In the end, these guys are human beings and they are young men. And they are fallible. And I think one thing we have to do – we have to learn from the process. And we have. And we go. But at the same time, you can not play scared. You have to trust your assessments … And I do not make an excuse, but we sit at these preliminary meetings and a lot of information comes to these kids. As I said, they are fallible. His report was not as bad as many of them. In the end, we must own it. And I own it. But I think it's a disappointment. Today, we have a game to play and I think our guys are in a good state of mind to go do that. I am excited to watch this game.

Why was she allowed to enter the hotel?

JL: Well, I do not know if it's true that she was allowed. These hotels are highly secure on our two floors. We have two floors in each hotel, sometimes three. These floors are very secure, as are our meeting rooms and dining areas. And these are public places. We will not go and do not take a whole hotel. Players can get hotel rooms for friends, family. And I'm going to stop there … It was not on our floors, I can say unequivocally.

Is it a trusted function to be gone?

JL: As I said, I think that before this case, we had contacted Reuben. We had invested a lot of energy and resources in him. We did it even more after (arrests in low season). We stuck by him for a reason. And I think it was … fortunately that he was able to come back to us. And unfortunately, yesterday, what happened … You know, one of our principles is to protect the team. He did not protect the team. And as I said, nobody is bigger than the team. As talented as him. As many positive steps as we took, we thought it was the best decision to make.

How was the team made aware?

JL: Well, a lot of that – we got wind for the first time last night but the meetings are over. The team went to the cloakroom today. We're going to play a game and Kyle can choose not to talk more about it.

Until last night, did Reuben have any other missteps in the regular season?

JL: He does a very good job. He really has. I have mentioned the progress that he has made. In many areas of his life. Unfortunately, yesterday showed an extremely poor judgment. And for that we made this decision.

Twitter: @Eric_Branch