NFC Notes: 49ers, Jimmy Garoppolo, Cardinals, Rams

49ers

When asked about the 49ers’ quarterback situation, TE George Kittle said he’s unsure about Jimmy Garoppolo‘s future and Trey Lance still hasn’t gotten a “fair shot” at starting. 

“I don’t know what’s going on with Jimmy. He’s a free agent so whatever happens there happens,” Kittle said, via NinersWire. “Trey Lance still there. Trey unfortunately has not gotten a fair shot at being an NFL quarterback. He got a full rain game monsoon vs. the Bears, then he got hurt in his second game. So, Trey’s still got plenty of talent, he just needs to get out there and play.”

However, Kittle added that the starting role is currently Brock Purdy‘s “job to lose.” 

“But you can’t talk about what Brock Purdy has– what he did. He’s fantastic. Our offense was operating at the highest it’s probably been since 2019. So, in my opinion, it’s Brock’s job to lose. But there will be competition since Brock’s gonna be out until training camp with his surgery. So, it’s gonna be interesting, but when you find a guy like that that can seamlessly jump in – I think it’s his job to lose.”

Cardinals

Broncos new HC Sean Payton‘s former colleague at FOX Sports, Terry Bradshaw, recently said Payton passed on the Cardinals head coaching job because of QB Kyler Murray. When making an appearance on the Up And Adams Show, Payton said he doesn’t hate Murray and thinks Bradshaw was voicing the perspective of a protective friend. 

“I think from Terry’s perspective, I know he would have felt better if I was coming back to Fox, so there wasn’t going to be anyone good enough, in his eyes, for me,” Payton said. “He was going to look at it like, ‘He’s not going there, he’s not going there, he’s not gonna go there.’”

Rams

New Rams OC Mike LaFleur has come up as a part of the same coaching tree as HC Sean McVay and will help run an offense that in some form or another is being run by a significant chunk of the NFL. However, LaFleur pointed out there are some key differences in what McVay does compared to other iterations, whether it was LaFleur’s offense in New York, his brother’s system in Green Bay, or what 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan runs. 

“A lot of people say it’s — not necessarily the ‘same’ offense, but similar, and it is similar,” said LaFleur via the Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue. “But there are differences from what Sean and the Rams have had so much success here (doing), what we did in San Francisco, in New York, what Matt is obviously doing now in Green Bay. Everyone takes it and, individually, you’re going make it match what you believe but you also — more importantly — have to make it match what your players are and what your roster (is).

“That’s what Sean has done better than anyone, I think, will even give him credit for. He’s matched it to his players … So it’ll just be fun to start to kind of match that up with what we’re gonna see with this 2023 version. A lot of the similar foundational stuff, you know, is ‘how can we attack and put pressure on the defense?’, ‘how can we … put pressure on them pre-snap with our motions, with our formations, with our cadence?’ Then obviously after that, marrying it with the run and the pass. Making all of the stuff look as similar as possible and putting all that pressure on the defense.”