NFC Notes: Cardinals, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

• Per Kyle Odegard of the team website, Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury didn’t have an update as of Monday on OLB Dennis Gardeck, who was carted off Sunday. 

49ers

• The Athletic’s David Lombardi analyzes the 49ers’ pending cap situation in 2021. He estimates San Francisco will end up with about $38 million in cap space to work with but must earmark a sizable portion of that for deals for LT Trent Williams and LB Fred Warner. 
• Williams will likely cost $20 million a year on a new deal while Warner will command $15 million a year, as each are among the best at their respectie positions. Lombardi adds the cap hit for those deals in 2021 could potentially be only $15 million, though. 
• Lombardi mentions restructuring 49ers QB Jimmy Garoppolo‘s contract might become a necessity to create more breathing room. 
• 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said QB Nick Mullens might need Tommy John surgery to fix his elbow injury. (Matt Maiocco)
• Shanahan said he thinks there’s a good chance TE George Kittle will be able to play this week: “If he’s good, I plan on him playing.” (Maiocco)

Rams

The Rams’ unseemly loss to the Jets this past week exposed a pattern that Los Angeles has been unable to shake all year. Behind a dominant defense and an offense that can be explosive at times, the Rams have built a 9-5 record. However, they haven’t won more than two games in a row all year, as turnovers from QB Jared Goff on offense or awful special teams play have caused more inconsistency than HC Sean McVay would like. 

“I think there’s been moments in games where you’ve seen good consistency throughout,” McVay said via Pro Football Talk’s Myles Simmons. “And then there’s been moments where it hasn’t been. I think it’s the same thing with special teams. And then for the most defense has been pretty consistent. And so, it’s about putting all three phases together. I think we’ve shown glimpses of doing that, which is why we’ve won enough games to be relevant at this point. But it is something that we’ve got to be able to get a hold on. There’s different reasons for it. But we’ve got to play consistently well at the key spots. And usually when we do that, good things happen.”

• McVay mentioned second-round RB Cam Akers sustained a high ankle sprain that will keep him out of the next game at the very least. (Lindsey Thiry)
• McVay added LB Micah Kiser and S Taylor Rapp will not return from injured reserve this week, and said that Rapp may not return during the regular season as the team had hoped. (Jourdan Rodrigue)

Seahawks