NFC Notes: 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

49ers

Although 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk is approaching the organization’s record for receiving yards from a rookie set by Jerry Rice in 1985, he believes his first season in the league hasn’t gone as smoothly as expected. 

“It may have looked like that from the sideline but that definitely wasn’t the case,” Aiyuk said, via Cam Inman of the Mercury News. “There was a lot going on internally that we knew about that had to be fixed. Up until a few weeks ago, coming back from my little COVID break, that’s when things slowed down from the playbook and being able to go focus on defenses and coverages, instead of having to worry about what my assignment is.”

Instead, Aiyuk mentioned that he is focused on performing the “perfect game” instead of breaking Rice’s record. 

“Going into a game, my mindset is that I’m going to have 200 yards, and then go from there,” Aiyuk said. “The mindset is not to worry about that record, but to go have the perfect game, which I’ve yet to do. If at the end of the season I look up and the record is broken, that would be pretty exciting, but we have two games left and that’s the main focus right now.”

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said he’d be surprised if TE George Kittle (foot) does not play Saturday’s Week 16 game. 

“He looks as fresh and healthy as everybody out there,” Shanahan said. “I’m excited talking to him tomorrow to make sure his body feels right, and the injury he did have, he has no worry about after practicing real hard (Wednesday).”

Shanahan added that they intend on being “smart” with Kittle and would be open to playing him on a limited basis. 

“We have to be smart with it, though. We have to understand that you’re not just putting (the same) George Kittle we’re used to out there. He hasn’t played in a while. … Whatever he can be out there for, whether it’s one play or 30 plays, I know I’ll take any of it.”

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay discussed his approach to incorporating analytics into their gameplans. 

“You do you have an understanding of where the analytics fit in, but I think there’s a real feel for the flow of the game,” McVay said, via Pro Football Talk. “The matchups, the kind of things that you’re anticipating from a defensive-coverage, fronts, what’s the down-and-distance and what’s the time left in the game. What’s the feel for the flow of the game? I just think that’s such a big part of it. Somebody asked me this and you talk about going into the New England game. If you said, ‘Hey, you’re going to get a fourth down and one of the first drives of the game, would you go for it?’ Well, the answer is easily yes when you see what the first six plays of that drive reflected. . . . There was a good feel and momentum. That was really what went into it. I think you definitely have that as a part of it, but I do think to say that’s the end all be all, I think it minimizes the work that we do throughout the course of the week and some of the things that take part in a game with 22 moving parts on every single snap. I’ll never have that just exclusively guide my decision-making. That doesn’t mean that’s the right approach, that’s just what I believe is the best. Certainly I know that’s not for everybody.

“We have a great analytics team that does an excellent job with those kinds of things. I think what you try to do is keep up with what the landscape of the league is and just have an inventory that’s kind of in your mind that’s ongoing to just catalog things and get a feel for the flow of the game but also some of those decision-making [points]. It’s a small part of it, but in that instance the other day, to me, if you said, ‘What dictated and determined why we went for it?’ I felt like we had good momentum, I felt good about some of the different things that we could activate on fourth-and-four based on the coverage principles that we anticipated being able to get. Just knowing how that game had gone, you’re saying, ‘Hey, let’s go play for the win’ instead of just trying to kick a field goal that I do think Matt would hit. But that was just kind of the thought process there.”

Seahawks

Seahawks’ RB Rashaad Penny has had a long recovery from his ACL injury at the end of last season and is now ecstatic to be back after posting career games prior to the injury.

“Being back, it was a long road,” Penny said, via Pro Football Talk. “I’m just ecstatic to be here and to be back and being around the team. Like I told the guys, I was just more so happy with traveling. I was just happy to be back around that feeling and just watching the game, first-hand experience, instead of watching it on TV every weekend. I’m easing myself back into getting back out there and just get back to playing ball at the normal rate. How I finished the last two weeks of last year, I’m just trying to get that feel again and contribute in any way this team needs me to contribute.”