NFC Notes: 49ers, Packers, Vikings

49ers

49ers RB coach Anthony Lynn compared his current team to when he was a running back with the Broncos back when they won Super Bowls in 1997 and 1998. 

“Those Broncos remind me of these 49ers,” said Lynn, via Sam Farmer of the LA Times. “We had more of a veteran, blue-collar team back then, but the culture here is the same. Back when I got here in May, I told Kyle, ‘Man, you have established quite a culture here.’ Now we’re seeing the results. “Players feel like they can be vulnerable with coaches and with each other, and that’s not a typical environment in the National Football League with this generation. Kyle has done a heck of a job connecting. To me, it all starts there. They don’t care what you know until they know you care.”

Lynn said that San Francisco’s desire to win is different than his time with the Chargers. 

“This organization will do whatever it takes to win,” Lynn said. “Resources out the [ears]. That was different for me compared to what I was going through in L.A. So it’s just like, man, this is what it’s supposed to be like. I forgot how that felt.”

Lynn played alongside former Broncos All-Pro WR Ed McCaffrey and thinks that he passed down his hard work ethic to his son, Christian McCaffrey. 

“Oh my goodness,” Lynn said. “Ed passed that gene right down to his son. Christian is so much like his dad. I’m telling him that all the time: ‘That reminds me of Ed.’”

Packers

• Jeremy Fowler reports that the Packers expect QB Aaron Rodgers to play next season, with QB Jordan Love wanting to play as well.
• Fowler mentions that Love could request a trade should the Packers continue to go with Rodgers in 2023.

Vikings

Vikings’ Hall of Fame S Paul Krause doesn’t think that anything changed for Minnesota’s defense throughout the season but stopped short of completely blaming DC Ed Donatell.  

“All year, nothing changed,” Krause said, via Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press. “I hate to say it was the coordinator’s fault, but whose fault it is?”’

Fellow Vikings’ Hall of Famer John Randle feels Minnesota had to do better at containing Giants QB Daniel Jones in the Wild Card round. 

“We could have done a better job of keeping Jones contained,” Randle said. “We made him look exceptional, and in the playoffs you can’t let the quarterback run down the field like that and expect to win.”

Randle believes HC Kevin O’Connell did well in his first season as head coach.

“Our team usually has played exceptional defensively but we didn’t see that this year,” Randle said. “But I will say that this is Kevin’s first year, and for a first-year coach he did a really good job.”