NFC Notes: 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

49ers

• Mark Maske notes that with the Jets hiring DC Robert Saleh as their next head coach, the 49ers will receive two compensatory third-round draft picks after the NFL instituted the new rule that rewards teams for developing minority candidates who are hired by another organization as a head coach or general manager. 

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay praised Jared Goff for entering in the first quarter of last week’s Wildcard game after missing most of practice in order to recover from thumb surgery. 

“Jared and I had great conversations last week,” McVay said, via ProFootballTalk. “I thought he handled last week really well. I mean, you think about the circumstances that he dealt with, coming off the thumb surgery, going against a defense of that caliber, not getting really any reps during the course of the week. Then you’re thrust into the game in the first quarter and do a great job of having a clean slate with the turnovers. He prepared himself this week as if he was ready to go.”

McVay mentioned that Goff has thrown “really well” through practice this week and that the quarterback appears to have improved his accuracy as he recovers.

“I think he’s throwing the ball really well this week,” McVay said. “And really, I think probably a more approbate way of articulating it was, I thought there were some throws that he’s typically fairly automatic on, that maybe he missed. Now whether that was a result of the thumb injury or not, he’s the one that would probably be able to better answer that. But I do know this, when you watch him throw last week to this week, it is definitely trending in the right direction that’s more in alignment and really, it looks like the Jared that we’re accustomed to who has always been a natural thrower of the football.”

McVay added that Goff is able to power the “intermediate-deeper” passes, in addition to playing the ball downfield. 

“You can see he’s able to drive intermediate-deeper breaks and can definitely throw the football down the field. So, I don’t think you’re limited in any type of throw, based on what we’ve evaluated this week, which is a real positive.”

Seahawks

Seahawks’ QB Russell Wilson made it quite clear that he was not a fan of OC Brian Schottenheimer being fired this offseason but is still looking forward to gelling with his eventual replacement and improving the team’s offense.

“If you ask me if I’m in favor of it? No,” Wilson said, via Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times. “Coach Carroll decided that it is time to make a change. He’s been doing this a lot longer than I have, so you’ve got to trust his decision.

Wilson admitted that they’re hiring an offensive coordinator at a “super significant” time in his career. 

“It’s super significant that we’re part of the process. And coach (Carroll) and I have definitely been talking about it. (General manager) John (Schneider), too. We’ve had some super-long conversations, great dialogue about the thought process of who we want, and kind of the idea of what we want,” Wilson said. 

“I think what’s really, really important is making sure that moving forward that we’re all on the same page with me and coach. We’ve had great conversations about what’s the next step of this organization in terms of who the next person (will be). I think also, too, what’s really important is also for my career to go as far as I can possibly go.”

• Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports reports that the Seahawks’ assistant HC Clint Hurtt is “in the mix” for the University of Oregon’s defensive coordinator job.