NFC Notes: Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury said he has “all the confidence” in RB Chase Edmonds‘ ability to be their full-time starting running back. 

“As far as Chase goes, you’ve seen when he’s had his opportunity, he’s played at a starting running back level,” Kingsbury said, via ProFootballTalk. “We all understand that he’s unfortunately been nicked up a couple times, which we want to keep him on the field. But we have all the confidence in the world in Chase and him being able to be the bell cow if that’s how this plays out.”

Rams

The way things stand, Rams’ LT Andrew Whitworth is hoping to play with the team once again in 2021 after overcoming an injury.

“The plan is to prepare myself to play and to plan to be back,” Whitworth told Gary Klein of the L.A. Times. “But obviously, I have no idea what’s going to happen with our salary-cap situation. . . . You go through the offseason, you make sure you check off all the things that are feeling good and doing great. . . . So, it’s a longer process than probably saying, ‘Hey, I’m back.’ It means I’m committed to being back and that’s the plan. Obviously, there’s a lot of work between now and then that has to go into that on a lot of different facets.”

Whitworth knows that the Rams locker room will look different in 2021 now that QB Jared Goff is in Detroit and QB Matthew Stafford will be under center in Los Angeles.

“I try to explain to people that ask me around town, it’s like every August I show up I’m looking around the room like, ‘Oh yeah, that’s right this guy’s not here anymore,” Whitworth said. “Oh, that’s right, he left in free agency.’ . . . That’s the nature of our business. We’re used to a different face every year. So, when you play that last game, one of the reasons guys are usually so upset when that last game happens is they’re like, ‘Man, this group of guys, I probably won’t ever play with again. And that usually holds true. It’s pretty rare when it’s not.”

Seahawks

• Bob Condotta of The Seattle Times takes a look at some of the free-agent tight ends the Seahawks could potentially have interest in this offseason.
• One of the top targets could be TE Jonnu Smith, yet Condotta proposes that TE Gerald Everett as a cheaper option for Seattle, considering that they have other needs to take care of this offseason.
• Condotta notes that TE Kyle Rudolph is also on the market, but adds that the Seahawks have not had recent success when it comes to bringing aging tight ends on board.
• Some of the more underrated options according to Condotta include Titans’ TE Anthony Firkser and Cardinals’ TE Dan Arnold.