NFC Notes: Christian McCaffrey, Darius Robinson, Kyle Shanahan, 49ers, Cardinals

49ers

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey looked to finally be taking off after his return from an Achilles injury but suffered a PCL injury that will sideline him for another six weeks. After being healthy the two years prior, McCaffrey talked about his tough year and desire to work back to form for the 49ers.

“Football is the greatest game on the planet to me,” McCaffrey said, via Angelina Martina of NBC Sports Bay Area. “I love that you can find out exactly who you are without ever saying a word. It lifts you up and breaks you down and it can happen fast. It’s humbling in the best ways. You can do everything right and still fail. [That’s] life and that’s football. It’s a constant test of wills and those who just keep going tend to reap the benefits of their perseverance.”

“This wasn’t my year, and sometimes when it rains, it pours. You can feel sorry for yourself and listen to the birds, or you can hold the line. I’m grateful for the support of everyone in my corner and promise I’ll work smarter and harder than ever to come back better from this. I love my teammates, I love the 9ers, and I love football. God doesn’t miss. Onward.”

49ers

Following their recent struggles, some have suggested teams reach out to the 49ers to trade for HC Kyle Shanahan. San Francisco GM John Lynch found those ideas funny and shut down any remote possibility of that happening. 

“I sit back, and I try to be focused, but I’ve found the whole discussion on Kyle and some of the stuff rather comical,” Lynch said, via David Bonilla of 49ersWebzone.com. “We have won four of the last five division championships. We’ve been in two Super Bowls. Look, the standard here is to win championships, and we’ve fallen short of that. I understand. But we have an excellent head coach. And the fact people are talking about stuff like that, I do find it comical.”

Cardinals

• Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon wants DL Darius Robinson to build on his NFL debut last week: “He’s got one game under his belt, so he’s got a lot to learn from. He had a good week and kind of his role, we’ll see if we can expand it a little bit and he’ll play well.” (Josh Weinfuss)
• Arizona K Matt Prater has been out since October after having meniscus surgery on his left knee. (Weinfuss)