NFC Notes: 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

Injuries robbed the 49ers of a lot in 2020 but one of the biggest blows was not seeing what arguably could have been a massive breakout season from second-year DE Nick Bosa. 49ers GM John Lynch said Bosa has been powering through his rehab and the team has a lot of confidence he’ll pick up where he left off in 2021. 

“Bosa is doing great in his recovery. He had a significant injury to his knee but like everything in life, he attacks it head-on and 100 percent,” Lynch said via NBC Sports’ Jennifer Lee Chan. “The only thing with him is pulling him back so he’s not doing too much. … He’s making tremendous progress, we’re very pleased with where he’s at.”

Rams

• Rams HC Sean McVay said they have not decided on QB Jared Goff‘s availability for Saturday’s NFC Wildcard game and that he is recovering from hand surgery “a day at a time.” (Jourdan Rodrigue)
• Although McVay mentioned he hasn’t determined whether Goff or John Wolford will start in the playoffs, he added that Goff is “preparing” to play: “Jared is preparing himself to play.” (Lindsey Thiry)
• McVay also refused to answer which quarterback would start against the Seahawks: “I’m not going to make an announcement on who is starting (at QB) this week. I’m not going to answer that question.” (Rodrigue)
• McVay added that he expects Rams DL Michael Brockers to be activated from the COVID-19 list later this week. (Thiry)
• Rams S Josh Johnson praised CB Jalen Ramsey, describing that the cornerback makes his job in the secondary easier: “He’s a freak of nature, it’s like he came out of the womb ready to play corner…he definitely makes MY job easier.” (Rodrigue)
• Regarding the Seahawks and Rams’ NFC Wildcard game, McVay said they are preparing for Seahawks S Jamal Adams (shoulder) to play: “I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t [play] just from afar watching how tough he is and I think what probably this opportunity in this game means to him.” (Curtis Crabtree)

Seahawks

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll indicated that Seahawks DT Jarran Reed sustained an oblique strain in Week 17 and is currently considered “day-to-day.”  

“He has an oblique strain is what he has,” Carroll said. “We’re going to be real careful with him during the week and see how he goes day-to-day. He’s much better than he was one the weekend so there’s cause for optimism there.”

Carroll added that OT Brandon Shell looks ready to play in the postseason after recently being activated from the COVID-19 list.

“He bounces right back and comes to us. We’re really happy about that,” Carroll said. “Just coming back to make sure his ankle is as good as it could be. This week would have helped him to get one more [week] so he looks great and should be full speed and ready and we love having him back out there.”