NFC Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, James Conner, Rams

49ers

49ers GM John Lynch said they have “good lines of communication” with WR/RB Deebo Samuel and DE Nick Bosa‘s representation regarding a potential contract extension this offseason. 

“We have really good lines of communication with their representatives,” Lynch said, via Matt Barrows of The Athletic. “Those will continue. I’m not going to put any timelines on it. But obviously planning has been done to account for those guys.”

Lynch called Samuel and Bosa “pillars” of the organization. 

“We fully understand they’re pillars of what we’re trying to do here,” said Lynch.

As for Samuel playing as a hybrid receiver and running back, 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said they want to continue getting Samuel playing time in the backfield. 

“This way you can make sure he gets touches,” Shanahan said. “You can do that at receiver, but not when you can just hand the ball to a guy. So we’ve always got to keep that threat. That’s what separates him. Deebo knows that, too.”

Cardinals

Cardinals RB James Conner is an impending free agent but said that he hopes to return to Arizona next season, having previously mentioned that he would have no problem teaming back up with RB Chase Edmonds again.

“(I) would love to continue out there (in Arizona),” Conner said, via Dani Sureck of Cardinals Twitter. “I’m excited to see what’s next. I’m a man of faith so I know it will all work out for me.”

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay said he has to be better with challenges going forward.

“So, the accountability lies with me,” McVay said, via Pro Football Talk. “The first one with the quarterback sneak, it was not a great decision by me. It was kind of one of those [where] you’re hopeful, you see the side shot of it. Going back to Arizona, where we ended up challenging the one on the QB sneak, you’re kind of hopeful that if they give you the top down shot that maybe it goes through. But that one was totally on me. And then the other one, it looked like it was kind of a bang-bang play. In the flow of the game, there was a possibility that we thought there was a fumble there. [I would] do that one a little bit differently, but ultimately those decisions are my responsibility.

“I’ve gotten great information all year. Those guys do a great job. In those instances yesterday [it] didn’t work out, but there’s nobody that’s responsible other than myself. . . . [Y]ou got to be able to learn from it. Fortunately, it didn’t hurt us. But it is important to be able to have those timeouts in your back pocket if you need those and being a little bit smarter with those challenges that was something I didn’t do a great job for us with yesterday.”