NFC Notes: Cooper Kupp, Brock Purdy, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

49ers

49ers GM John Lynch reiterated that QB Brock Purdy is the leader in the team’s clubhouse, but that’s subject to change if someone else emerges.

“Brock is the leader in the clubhouse, as we said, but it’s open for competition,” Lynch said, via PFT.

San Francisco believes that Purdy could be the long-term solution at their quarterback position.

“Is it a flash in the pan or is it the real deal?” Lynch said. “As we’ve gone back and studied it, he played at a high, high level. Not only played within the system, he made a lot of plays outside the system by extending plays. He showed tremendous playmaking ability. He showed tremendous ability to run the system efficiently, effectively, push the ball downfield. He just had an incredible first year.”

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay said the team plans on playing it smart with WR Cooper Kupp following ankle surgery. McVay highlighted the positive from Kupp’s absence, which is some of the team’s younger players being able to build a rapport with QB Matthew Stafford.

“I think we’ll just take that a day at a time. Whenever he does come back, we’ll be smart with how we kind of onboard him and get him back up to speed. He’s the kind of guy, he’s doing a lot of stuff, keeping himself ready to go,” McVay said, via Rams Wire. “But in his absence, taking care of No. 1 priority, which is obviously incredibly important, you’re getting a lot of these younger guys or some of these guys to be able to establish a rapport with Matthew (Stafford). We’re talking about whether it’s Van (Jefferson), whether it’s Tutu (Atwell), Puka (Nacua), Ben (Skowronek) – guys are getting opportunities, with some of the new tight ends that we have, to just get a feel and for Matthew to be able to establish and develop a rapport that we didn’t get a chance to do last year and those are always chances to be able to improve. So those guys will be ready to go, (I) know that they’re doing the right stuff on their own and when they’re back with us, we’ll obviously be excited about that as well.”

Seahawks

Competition is one of the organizational pillars for the Seahawks, and they added some options along the interior offensive line this offseason. Damien Lewis and Phil Haynes are the incumbents at guard with Evan Brown signed in free agency to get the first crack at center. Fourth-round G Anthony Bradford and fifth-round C Olusegun Oluwatimi will challenge for snaps. However, that competition won’t really kick into gear until training camp, per OC Shane Waldron.

“We’re a pretty long ways away from finalizing any of the reps…,” Waldron said via the Athletic’s Michael-Shawn Dugar. “Training camp, we’ll have a better idea of how we want to divide those up. Right now, (Brown, Oluwatimi and Joey Hunt) are mixing and matching like all the offensive linemen are. (We’re) mixing and matching some things so they get a good feel and good grasp for the offense. As we get closer to training camp, we’ll start to pare down how we want to approach the actual reps when we’re going against each other all the time.”