NFC Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks

“When you were scouting him when the ball was in his hands, he had some special run skills,” Keim said. “But there were other things when it came to attention to details, whether it was pass protection, getting in your playbook, all the little things it takes to be a pro were areas where he could’ve improved. I made it crystal clear to him, if those things don’t change and you don’t improve, you’re going to be on the street and it’d be unfortunate because you have a lot of talent. That’s the hard thing for me when you see guys who have talent who don’t quite get it. The worst thing to me is sitting back and looking at the opportunity you once had and doing the shoulda, coulda, woulda thing. That would be painful. Really proud of how he has come around. Not a bad guy, just had to do some of the little things more aggressively and he has taken off.”

Rams

• Rams’ HC Sean McVay on whether WR Odell Beckham Jr. will play Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers: “We’ll see. We’re going to take it a day at a time. But if we feel like he can help us to compete against the 49ers, then we’ll have him ready to go.” (Adam Schefter)
• Albert Breer reports that Beckham‘s one-year deal has a $750,000 base for the rest of the season and included a $500,000 signing bonus. The deal includes several incentives, including $500,000 if the Rams win or get a bye in the Wild Card round, $750,000 for a divisional round win, $750,000 for an NFC title win, $500,000 for playing in the Super Bowl, or $1 million for winning the championship.
• Rams’ CB Jalen Ramsey joked that he is continuing to recruit players to the team, including Chargers’ S Derwin James: “You never know. I’m trying to get Derwin here next. So you never know. I’m joking but …I’m not.” (Gary Klein)
• Adam Schefter reports that WR Odell Beckham will make his debut for the Rams on Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers.

Seahawks

Seahawks’ HC Pete Carroll said that the team was in pursuit of WR Odell Beckham and did their due diligence on him prior to his signing with the Rams.

“The situation that we have been in so many times before when we have opportunities, we explore it and go as far as we can,” Carroll said, via Pro Football Talk. “That’s what we did, [G.M.] John [Schneider] took it all the way through and made sure we knew what was going on. He had picked the place that he wanted to go to once he cleared waivers and he got a chance to do that.”

• Seahawks’ HC Pete Carroll said that RB Chris Carson (neck) won’t play Sunday, as the team feels like he needs more recovery time: “We just need to make sure we’re doing the right thing.” (Brady Henderson)
• Carroll added that QB Russell Wilson had a “terrific” week after returning from finger surgery one month ago: “I don’t expect anything different … He is pretty hungry to play football now. I expect him to go just like he always plays. I’m just so impressed with how this thing that’s worked out and that he’s gotten us to this point.”
• Carroll told the media that rookie WR D’Wayne Eskridge is “to be included in the plan” after dealing with vision issues following his concussion.
• Seahawks’ DT Al Woods is listed as questionable, yet Carroll said there’s a “good likelihood” he plays.
• As for LB Cody Barton, he has been downgraded to out with a quad injury and will not be traveling with the team. Carroll says the injury is not severe enough to land Barton on injured reserve.
• Carroll said that practice squad QB Jake Luton has been away from the team with a non-COVID-related illness. (Crabtree)
• Brady Henderson believes that the Seahawks had an interest in WR Odell Beckham, but only to a certain degree. Henderson also points out that Beckham wanted to be on a playoff contender and the Seahawks may not have fit the bill.