NFC Notes: Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Kyren Williams, 49ers, Rams

49ers

Despite the underwhelming start, 49ers WR Deebo Samuel knows they are still in the thick of a tight NFC West divisional race.

“At the end of the day we’re 5-6 right now, and we know we’re better than what the record shows,” Samuel said, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “We’re one game away from still winning our division.”

49ers

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey was criticized by some for a lackluster return from injured reserve with 149 rushing yards, 132 receiving yards, no touchdowns, and averaging just 3.5 yards per carry. Kyle Shanahan noted that the speculation on McCaffrey regressing was unfair.

“The speculation on Christian, I think, is a little bit unfair to him,” Shanahan said, via PFT. “Christian’s playing very well, he is playing his ass off. But to think a guy who misses an entire offseason is just going to be the exact same the day he gets back would be unfair to any player in the world, I feel like. Guys who miss offseasons and miss training camp, usually it takes them a little bit of time at the beginning of the year to get back into how they were the year before, let alone missing half the season also on top of that. So I think Christian’s doing a hell of a job. But to just think him coming back in Week [10] with not being able to do anything for the last nine months or whatever it is, and to think he’s just going to be in MVP form is a very unrealistic expectation.”

Shanahan reiterated that he still believed McCaffrey was playing well, however, this was before the revelation that McCaffrey may have suffered a potentially season-ending injury on Sunday.

“I think he looks real good,” Shanahan said. “I think he’s playing very well. I don’t think he’s had a bunch of clean lanes. I think he had a couple versus, when I say a couple, I actually mean two versus Tampa, and if he hits those two which maybe is just half a step off just with seeing it. But you hit those two and it’ll completely change yards-per-carry, which will look better from an outside perspective, but it won’t change anything in actually what’s happening. So to sit here and talk like he’s struggling, not going to do that at all. But for us to be disappointed that he’s not exactly how he was or just right in MVP form, that’d be unfair with any player.”

Rams

Rams QB Matthew Stafford spoke about his team’s ability to turn things around against the Saints and secure the victory on Sunday.

“The way the game started, the way we were playing in the first half, definitely frustrating,” Stafford said, via Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic. “You’re sitting there going, ‘Man, there are plays out there — we gotta go get ’em!’ And knowing, at the same time, every time I’m handing it off I feel like I’m getting good yards. So it’s like, ‘got to try to find a way to get some points for these drives, these guys up front are playing well enough to get these points!’”

Rams RB Kyren Williams also bounced back against New Orleans after dealing with ball security issues this season.

“I think we was wearin’ on ’em,” Williams added. “And that’s the O-line. They were movin’ them boys, and I’m just pressing and hitting my holes. If you get in my way and I got nowhere else to go, I’m gonna run you over. I think they did a good job of really setting (their) pads, getting (the defenders) to move. I was just able to run off them.”

To seal the game, Rams rookie pass rusher Jared Verse came up with a big sack, with his performance drawing praise from veteran WR Cooper Kupp.

“It’s a huge deal, and it’s hard to do especially for someone like him (who is) playing at such a high level,” Kupp said of Verse. “He’s had success in this league at an early point. One of the hardest things to do is to feel like you’re justified in the way you’ve been playing, and it makes it easy to make excuses for yourself when you’ve been doing a lot of things the right way, and people are telling you you’re doing a lot of things the right way. For someone like that to come in and say, ‘Hey, even though I have done this and this and this, I can be that much better and I am accountable (for) the mistakes that I have made, that’s a huge thing for a guy like Jared.”