NFC Notes: Cardinals, Baker Mayfield, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury gave several injury updates on the team, via Darren Urban of the team website:

• Current starting QB Colt McCoy remains in the concussion protocol. 
• Offensive linemen Kelvin Beachum and Max Garcia are both listed as day-to-day.
• The team does not expect to have DL Zach Allen back this week but is hopeful about the returns of CBs Marco Wilson and Antonio Hamilton.  

Rams

While it may not matter much in the grand scheme of things, Rams QB Baker Mayfield coming in and learning enough of the playbook in 48 hours to lead a comeback victory over the Raiders is one of the most impressive accomplishments of the entire 2022 season. Mayfield explained his past experience in similar systems allowed him to be pretty up to speed with the protection calls. As far as the actual play calls, Mayfield has a system with color-coded notes that he developed with all the coaching turmoil earlier in his career that helps him better visualize how two plays that have entirely different verbiage can actually be the same. 

“Trying to be as efficient as possible, to where when you hear a play call you can process it extremely quickly,” Mayfield said via the Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue, pointing at the same color highlighted over different words on a page in his notebook. “I look at it after taking notes, and I’m like, ‘It’s this play.’ What’s the criteria to get to a different look? This is what we’re looking for. Trying to eliminate time and be the most efficient.”

Rams HC Sean McVay added they are trying to be cognizant that despite Mayfield’s early success, there’s a lot of responsibility still on their part to make sure he doesn’t get overloaded. 

“I think you just take it a day at a time. You don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself,” McVay said last week. “I think we’ll just at least have a little bit more normalcy to a weekly rhythm. You still don’t want to be naïve to the fact that there’s a lot of things that we’ve got to continue to try to be able to build on.”

“I still think you have to be cognizant of the amount of information that a quarterback’s responsible for,” McVay added. “You want to give it to him in bite-size increments, you want to be mindful of (getting) a good, tight game plan together that is reflective of what the 10 guys around him are comfortable with (and) what he’s comfortable with.”

• Rodrigue mentions that as of right now, the Rams believe Mayfield’s future in 2023 will be with another team and his chief benefit to them will be qualifying for a compensatory pick when he signs elsewhere. 

Seahawks

• Seahawks HC Pete Carroll says WR Tyler Lockett had successful surgery on his broken finger and there is a chance he only misses one game. (Curtis Crabtree)