NFC Notes: 49ers, Cardinals, Seahawks

49ers

• 49ers WR Deebo Samuel said the team needs to continue to take care of the football in order to pick up a win this weekend against the Packers: “This year, they get a lot of turnovers and for us to win, we have to protect the ball, be physical and continue to do the things we’re doing.” (Cam Inman)
• 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said everybody is feeling the effects of the season, and challenges everybody, including QB Jimmy Garoppolo, to continue pushing through. “I think the thumb bothers him more than the shoulder. But it’s a challenge. Just like a lot of guys are (hurt), I know it’s harder at the QB position, but a number of guys are in that boat. And when Jimmy gets out to game day, he’s going to be all right.” (Eric Branch)
• 49ers DL James Smith worked out for the 49ers (Aaron Wilson)
• The 49ers were among four teams that placed waivers claims for former Packers DL Kingsley Keke, who was ultimately claimed by the Texans. (Field Yates)

Cardinals

• Kyle Odegard reports that there was an intense meeting between Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell, GM Steve Keim, and HC Kliff Kingsbury and that Bidwell was “unhappy” with the late-season slide and intimated that changes were possible with a source saying: “Shit hit the fan.” 
• However, Ian Rapoport says that there was no meeting between Bidwell, Keim, and Kingsbury.
• Kent Somers is able to confirm that Bidwell was “very, very upset” with how the team’s season ended and their performance in the playoffs. Although, a source couldn’t confirm the meeting took place. 

Seahawks

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll will return next season and commented on the state of the franchise and what could occur in Seattle this offseason.

“We’ve got a lot of players that are going to be free agents that need to be on this team next year, so that money goes very quickly there,” Carroll said, via Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. “That’s not necessarily how people should look at it. They should be clear we’ve got some wonderful players on this team that need to come back, so that money will go faster than you think. It won’t be quite as free as it looks like right now. Don’t cancel us out on that now. We are wide open. You’re either competing or you’re not, and that means you’re striving to figure it out. That means whatever opportunity is available, we’re in it. We’re going to figure out whether it fits us, whether it doesn’t. I have no idea what I’m talking about — just count on us. We’re going to be battling. Johnny is going to be chasing whatever the opportunities are and we’ll see if it fits and see how we can do it. We’ve had enough support from our drafts that it’s given us a chance to be a really successful team over a consistent course of time. There are always guys in there that you like more than you thought you would or that didn’t turn out as well as you thought they would. I think we’ve done a really good job in general. We’ve been able to meet some needs when we had to, other times we were surprised like crazy by the output of guys. I like our creativity at draft time. I like our flexibility, we’ve always moved and created stuff for us that we thought would help us number-wise, or position-wise. We’re planning on staying the course on that as much as we can and being as active and competitive as possible.”

• Dan Graziano hears that Broncos defensive coordinator Ed Donatell could be the front-runner for the Seahawks’ defensive coordinator job.
• A source tells Jeremy Fowler of the Seahawks and Donatell: “It’s his job to lose.”