NFC Notes: Aaron Donald, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

49ers

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan told reporters that RB Tyrion Davis-Price has had an impressive progression from last year to where he is now.

“Yeah, I think he’s already done it,” Shanahan said, via 49ersWire.com. “I mean I think he’s taken a huge jump since last year. I mean just the conditioning that he put in in phases one and two, what he did these 40 days away. Just how good he was the first day we saw him in terms of his stamina, how he’s running, understanding the offense, and what we want out of him more. I thought he had a great OTAs and he’s come back and he’s even having a better training camp.” 

• 49ers RB Elijah Mitchell will miss about a week of training camp action with a strained abductor, per Shanahan. (Eric Branch)
• Shanahan added starting G Aaron Banks (concussion protocol) and OT Jaylon Moore (bone bruise in knee) were banged up and will miss a little bit of time. (Branch)
• Former 49ers RB Frank Gore has been hired as a personnel advisor. He will serve as a special advisor to GM John Lynch and the football personnel department. (Branch)

Rams

Rams DL coach Eric Henderson commended DL Aaron Donald for being a true professional while also being a great mentor for the team’s young players.

“He does a really good job of taking care of himself, getting back to a place where he’s physically able to do the things he normally does,” Henderson said, via FOX Sports. “You see there are no limitations with him, but obviously you want to be smart because of how important he is to the organization and give him a break when there’s an opportunity. And he’s been awesome in the room, being a mentor with a lot of the young guys we have. I’m just excited to have a guy like that back — his presence and how much he means to the team.” 

Henderson added that the opportunity to play alongside Donald has resulted in a lot of buy-in from the team’s younger players.

“That makes for a lot of buy-in, especially for a lot of the younger guys that have watched the type of success those guys have had, playing in a lot of similar situations that they are doing now,” Henderson said. “That alone serves as motivation for these guys. The opportunities are there for them.” 

The Rams coaches have doubled and tripled teamed Donald during team drills in order to give the defense realistic looks for what’s going to happen on gameday.

“The coaches told me they were going to slide every single play, so I was kind of mad because you want to be able to work different things,” Donald said. “But it’s realistic, so I appreciate [them] doing that for me, allowing me to make my job hard at practice and making me study a little longer at night. It isn’t going to do nothing but make me better.” 

Donald is motivated to come out stronger this season.

“I’ve got a lot to prove,” he said. “I didn’t have the season I wanted, obviously coming off an injury and things like that. I feel like to get to where you need to be, it’s like starting over from scratch again. It’s a brand-new year.  Last year was last year, but there’s a little fire lit into me. I’m trying to get back to where I want to be as a player, as a teammate, as a team overall, and that’s been kind of pushing me a little bit.“

Seahawks

• Seahawks HC Pete Carroll said OLB Darrell Taylor‘s shoulder injury will not require surgery: “It’s not requiring surgery…he felt way better today than he did yesterday.” (Bridget Condon)
• Carroll said that rookie RB Zach Charbonnet passed all tests and will participate in the mock game on Friday. (John Boyle)
• Aaron Wilson reports that Seahawks rookie CB Andrew Whitaker injured his patellar tendon and will undergo season-ending surgery to repair the damage.