NFC Notes: Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

• Rob Maaddi of the Associated Press reports the Cardinals have fewer than 50 percent of their players vaccinated.

Rams

• Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic compared the Rams’ addition of OLB Leonard Floyd to DE Dante Fowler given that Floyd should have better production playing alongside DT Aaron Donald. 
• Rodrigue notes that Rams’ seventh-round OLB Chris Garrett showed “great length” during minicamp, while Floyd has taken the rookie “under his wing.” 
• Rodrigue points out that second-year OLB Terrell Lewis has “enormous potential” but is still hampered by a lingering knee injury.  In the end, Rodrigue could see Lewis being used in a limited role as a pass rusher. 
• As for the inside linebacker role, Rodrigue writes that Micah Kiser and Kenny Young should be cemented as starters. 

Seahawks

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson said he’s excited to work with new OC Shane Waldron and has been “super collaborative” with the new coordinator. 

“I think for our offense, I’m just excited for our guys to continue to grow and make plays. It’s been fun having Shane Waldron there. He’s been an amazing mind, super collaborative. We’ve had a lot of fun and done a lot of great things and thrown a bunch of touchdowns over the last nine years, whatever it’s been. It’s been amazing along the journey, and it’s time to throw some more and win some more games. That’s what we’re excited about. We think we’ve got a chance to win it all and we’re going to go for it,” said Wilson, via Kevin Clark of The Ringer. 

Wilson believes they have several players who will help make a run in 2021, including WR D.K. Metcalf, RB Chris Carson, TE Gerald Everett, OT Duane Brown, G Gabe Jackson, G Damien Lewis, S Jamal Adams, LB Bobby Wagner, and S Quandre Diggs. 

“I’m looking forward to the growth of our players. DK Metcalf having another year; he’s still such a young guy. Chris Carson being back; we’re so excited to have him back out there with us, the player that he is. Gerald Everett, coming from the Rams, is a tremendous football player. There’s so many great guys and players. Duane Brown has been so dominant for us ever since he’s gotten here at the left-tackle position. We got a new guard in Gabe Jackson who is a physical, dominant player, and I’m excited for Damien Lewis to move to left guard—what a player he was last year. The energy of us—I think a guy like Jamal Adams, just imagine his second year playing for the Seahawks. He was amazing last year, how he flies around the field. Bobby Wagner, there’s nobody better at his position and no better leader than him. He’s been amazing all these years. Then you have guys like [Quandre] Diggs who can make all the plays. We have everything we need and everything we want. We want to have fans back and get back after it.”