49ers
49ers RT Mike McGlinchey said in an interview with TheSFNiners that he feels stronger than ever and is ready for training camp after missing the final nine games of the 2021 season due to injury.
“It’s been a long road, and a lot of patience and a lot of tough, dark times, and a lot of stress, but here I am just about eight, nine months later, and I’m ready to go for training camp,” McGlinchey said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “So, I’m excited. I feel like I’m back. I feel stronger than I ever have. I think I’ve been dealing with that issue for a number of years now, and looking at the silver lining, I’ve got a newly reconstructed knee, and there isn’t that tendinitis in there as much.”
Cardinals
Cardinals LB Isaiah Simmons is taking on a leadership role as he enters his third NFL season with Arizona.
“Everything’s 100 percent slowed down a lot more,” Simmons said, via ESPN. “Way more comfortable this year, even than I was last year, and I just feel like the method that I’ve been going about has been beneficial to me mentally.”
Simmons lined up at eight different positions for the Cardinals last season and is becoming a vocal member of the defense along with veteran DE J.J. Watt.
“Just being able to go everywhere has just given me, conceptually, more knowledge of our defense, which has been able to help me a lot,” Simmons said. “I mean, it’s a game of leverage, so knowing what your help is, is just, it’s been [great].”
“We butt heads a little bit, but it’s just because I want J.J. to be better than he’s ever been,” Simmons said of Watt. “Which is, that’s a lot to say, especially to a defensive player of the year. He’s my biggest critic, but he wants me to be the absolute best I can. So, if it’s J.J. telling me something that I don’t want to hear, I feel like he will want me to do vice versa. So, just being able to get after him knowing that we can get after each other, all with the same end goal.”
Rams
Rams WR Tutu Atwell has been putting in the work this offseason, including training alongside WR Cooper Kupp, who is willing to help Atwell in any way that he can, saying: “Whatever it takes to make you better, I’m there.”
“He would be the first to tell you last year wasn’t what he wanted his rookie season to be,” Kupp said, via Gary Klein of the LA Times. “He’s excited about being able to come out here and do some good things in Year 2 and just let it all hang out. I’m excited about … seeing some of those things come to life because he’s been working very hard in rehab, but also just in building himself up, studying the playbook, all the stuff he needs to do to make sure when he steps on the field, he can just play his game.”
“I want to be great,” Atwell said. “Coming in Year 2, I’m more comfortable. You know the plays and it’s, ‘How can I help the team by making some plays when my number is called?’. Getting stronger, getting faster and better, coaching each other. He listens to me about some things, and I listen to him.”
- Rams WR Van Jefferson said he played through a knee injury in the back half of last season that he had surgery on this offseason. He’s now “100 percent healthy” and ready for camp. (Jourdan Rodrigue)
Looking for the latest NFL Insider News & Rumors?
Be sure to follow NFL Trade Rumors on TWITTER and FACEBOOK for breaking NFL News and Rumors for all 32 teams!
