NFC Notes: 49ers, Bears, Cowboys

49ers

49ers GM John Lynch said during a recent radio interview that the team is committed to QB Trey Lance as their starter, but many feel that doesn’t mean that QB Jimmy Garoppolo won’t be looming throughout the season if Lance doesn’t perform well.

“Kyle [Shanahan] makes those decisions, who plays at quarterback and when,” Lynch said, via 49erswebzone.com. “And I know Kyle. Just like we’ve stated many times, we’re very committed to Trey Lance. We’ve got a lot of belief in Trey. And it’s nice to know that we have a couple of guys, with Jimmy and then Brock Purdy, who earned his way onto this roster. We feel really good about a position where it’s good to be strong at.”

Bears

Bears OL Teven Jenkins admitted that he’s not confident in his future in Chicago.

“I still say it’s up in the air right now,” Jenkins said, via NBC Sports. “There’s nothing solidified right now. Even if you make the 53-man roster, it doesn’t mean you’re going to be here tomorrow.

“Just basically not being naïve to the situation,” Jenkins said. “Acknowledging what’s going on. Like you said, everybody knows what’s going on in the room. So, you have to acknowledge it too, especially if it’s about your career and your life. It also helps that [my fiancée] is the one that tells me what’s going on. Her, my brother, my dad always called me talking about stuff that’s going on with me.”

Jenkins’ discontent within the organization is a result of hearing his name circling in trade talks.

“To be honest, I got unhappy,” Jenkins said. “I was very unhappy. Then, as it kept going on because more talks kept coming, I was getting more unhappy about hearing about them and everything. A lot of unhappiness. A lot of talks, what I had to do with me and my agent, just a lot of things had to go down for me to be at the point where I’m at. Just start settling down and start getting ready.”

Returning to the field took a weight off of Jenkins’ shoulders and allowed him to get back to the basics.

“I had to bring myself back down to earth,” Jenkins said. “Like, I’m still here, I’m still doing this, my body is 100 percent, I could do this. I just have to trust myself to be able to perform high.”

Jenkins is doing his best to compartmentalize everything that has happened to him thus far in his career and he’s focusing on the team’s next matchup in order to do so.

“I need to do that. It’s really hard,” Jenkins said. “I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that right now. Trying to get passed what happened. Look forward to the season. It’s just about getting into the film about the 49ers. That helps me because I have a game to worry about and I shouldn’t worry about anything in the past.”

Cowboys

Cowboys LB Micah Parsons said his goal is to become the “best player in the league.” 

“Last year, I was trying to find myself,” Parson said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “This year, I know exactly who I need to be. The best player in the league… I’m not talking about the best defensive player. I want to be like, the greatest. That’s the type of mindset I have and the confidence that I have.”

Parsons said that DC Dan Quinn is putting him in a good position to succeed. 

“DQ has set me up,” Parsons said. “He has put me in a position to be great. But I got to do it. … I am going to be all over. It’s going to be the same as last year, but even more. The role has definitely expanded. I just got to own it.”

Parsons doesn’t think that being the league’s best player entails recording an exorbitant amount of individual stats but instead helping his team be successful. 

“Being the best player doesn’t mean I am going to have a sack a game,” Parsons said. “It doesn’t mean I am going to have 10 tackles a game. It’s just making my team better. That’s what comes with being the best player. That’s the thing, it’s not all individual stat accolades. That’s what I had to learn. Being the best player in the league doesn’t mean you are going to have 20 sacks. Being the best player in the league means leading your team to a championship and having the best defense. … I have to make everyone around me better. I have to be one of those guys that we can lean on in big moments. That’s what that means.”