NFC Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Rams, Matthew Stafford

49ers

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said that they still have a “real good relationship” with QB Jimmy Garoppolo after naming Trey Lance the starter. 

“We have a real good relationship with Jimmy,” Shanahan said, via the team’s official Youtube. “There’s no secret here of what the situation is. I think he fully understands the situation. We fully understand the situation. So, we make the best of it. Jimmy’s out there. He’s feeling better and better each day. I still see him. We have a real good relationship with Jimmy. He’s done some real good things here. So fans getting pumped with him and our players still loving seeing him, that doesn’t surprise me at all.”

Shanahan mentioned that they have a mutual agreement with Garoppolo and noted the team have mutually agreed it’s best to have Garoppolo working out on the side in this arrangement.

“We made it the best for both,” Shanahan said. “I mean, if Jimmy wanted to be in every single meeting and wanted to do everything, for sure we would let him. I would guess that isn’t what he would want, totally. And when we asked him, that was accurate — he didn’t totally want that. So he’s just trying to get his body ready for hopefully the next situation he goes into.”

• 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said WR Marcus Johnson is in the concussion protocol and OT Jaylon Moore will miss time with a lower leg injury. (Cam Inman)
• Shanahan mentioned that they are not considering signing another center and are comfortable with Jake Brendel and Daniel Brunskill competing for the starting spot: “We feel very good with the people in our building.” (Eric Branch)

Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals issued a statement regarding RBs coach James Saxton being placed on administrative leave following a domestic battery charge stemming from an incident in May. 

“We are aware of the incident and notified the NFL as required. The matter is currently under review pursuant to league policies. After consultation with the league office, James has been placed on paid administrative leave. We will have no further comment pending additional proceedings,” via Bob McManaman.

• Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury said he wants CB Marco Wilson to step up and become a starter: “We want him to step up and be an every-down starter, but we’ll see. I think the jury’s still out, and the rest of the young guys, somebody’s got to step up and help us out.” (Josh Weinfuss)

Rams

Regarding Rams QB Matthew Stafford missing time at training camp due to elbow tendinitis, HC Sean McVay called him sitting out practice a “part of the plan” and Stafford is staying involved with the team. 

“This is part of the plan that we feel like is in his best interest,” McVay said, via ProFootballTalk. “So it’s a great opportunity for John Wolford and Bryce [Perkins] to be able to get a lot more reps than they would otherwise. Matthew’s going to stay engaged and that’s the plan that we think is best right now.”

McVay added that they want to assure Stafford will be available for all 17 games and doesn’t think being without him is necessarily a setback. 

“It’s consistent with what’s been going on,” McVay said. “It’s just more of, when you really look at the totality of it, want to try to have him operate in as little as pain as possible. I think anytime that you’ve played as long and are as tough as he is, I don’t know if you’re ever truly pain free but the goal would be for September 8 and really looking towards 17 games then hopefully some games after that if we earn that opportunity. That’s kind of the perspective and the big picture approach that we want to be able to take. I don’t know that I would feel as comfortable taking that approach if it wasn’t for the experience that he’s accumulated and knowing how intentional he is about staying up to speed with his mental and his physical work that he can do in the absence of some of the stuff in the team settings.”

McVay said they’ll continue to evaluate Stafford ahead of preseason games and prior to the start of the regular season. 

“What we’ve really said right now is we will really take it over these next couple weeks, really until we leave here because we’ve got this four-day block, and then another three days before you end up going back to [Cal Lutheran],” McVay said. “So we’ve kind of taken the approach that we’ll reevaluate once we get there prior to that first preseason game, and then see where we’re at there and I’ll have updates for you guys accordingly.”

• Rams HC Sean McVay said the pain QB Matthew Stafford is dealing with is “a little bit abnormal for a quarterback.” McVay added that Stafford’s injury is similar to what pitchers deal with. (Sarah Barshop)