49ers

Despite having moved on to the Titans as their head coach, former 49ers DC Robert Saleh noted his excitement for his former players, including defensive tackles CJ West and Alfred Collins.

“It’s a shame Mykel’s (Williams) season got cut short. Really excited for CJ West and his development, even Alfred,” Saleh told Matt Maiocco. “Like Alfred, I know he was a second-round pick and all, but he’s still probably the biggest surprise to me in terms of just how much better he got from training camp.”

“As the season went on, I really think he’s going to be special,” Saleh added. “His mindset to get better, his work ethic, he’s only going to get better. And when it triggers for him, he’s going to be a bear to stop.”

Cardinals

New Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur brings an offense that is multiple and utilizes purposeful motions to create advantages. Arizona QB Gardner Minshew explained that they don’t have a ton of different looks off each play, but just enough to keep the defense second-guessing so they can master what they set out to do in each concept. 

“The reason this does so well is it thrives off complimentary looks and simplicity with the illusion of complexity through motions, similar formations,” Minshew said, via ESPN’s Josh Weinfuss. “We really don’t do a ton off each look, but just enough to put a seed of doubt, and the idea is that we’re going to get really good at what we do.”

“Maybe we’re going to run a play-action off of it, and the next one we’re going to run the actual run. So, it’s really cool to see how he’s able to utilize that, how he’s able to move people around.”

LaFleur went into his motion philosophy, saying every motion should come with a reason. He’s had to adapt how he uses shifts based on how defenses change rules for handling offense’s motions.

“I always say you don’t want to just motion to motion,” LaFleur said. “There should always be a reason to why you’re motioning. Whether you’re changing leverages, changing matchups.”

“It used to be when you’re going against defenses, you motion and maybe that guy would run with them. The best corner would run with the best receiver. It’s not necessarily like that anymore because people don’t want to tell you what they’re doing. They want to keep their guys anchored. They want to keep their nickel anchored. Not everybody, but I mean, that’s where the league has been trending a little bit.”

Cardinals TE Trey McBride also talked about their motion usage at his position specifically. He feels the small bit of doubt and second-guessing the motions will create havoc as the defense tries to decipher what’s coming on a moment’s notice. 

“It probably screws the defense up more than anything where you’re motioning down and you’re inserting a guy to block a safety and then you’re motioning a guy down, now he’s fake blocking, now he’s running a corner,” McBride said. “And, for the defense, it looks the exact same for them. They look like, ‘Is he blocking me? Is he going to run by me? What’s the deal?’ So, I think it presents more of a challenge on the defense than it does changing anything we do.”

“We’re just going to be really good at what we do and then present different looks to the defense and hopefully screw them up a little bit and catch them off guard and be able to get a cheap one.”

Rams

NBC Sports analyst Chris Simms asked former Rams DL Aaron Donald if he was ready to return, and he said he wasn’t ready to answer the question.

“I plain-out asked, I said, ‘What do you think? You going to give it a shot?’ Simms said, via Rams Wire. “And I don’t think he’ll have any problem with me sharing this. He said, ‘Honestly, I don’t know yet.’ He just doesn’t know yet.”

Simms was skeptical that Donald would actually return and said that he would be outspoken about wanting to return as close as training camp is.

“I feel like if you were really that hungry and ready to do it and your body was feeling good and we’re getting close here to training camp, this would be the time he’d be like, ‘I’m ready. I want to go back. I’m ready to go,’” Simms added.