Cardinals 

Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur is excited about DL Roy Lopez and DL Andrew Billings as two players who will anchor the middle of the defensive line.

“Can you imagine trying to move (Billings)?” he said, via Cardinals Wire. “He’s another guy that loves chopping it up there in between those ‘A’ gaps. He and Roy have had a really good 10 days. It’s good to get Roy back. Obviously, I didn’t know Roy, but this building did. To bring those two guys in that played a lot of football at the position, you think about first and second down, and that’s key and critical to make sure you’re plugging up those gaps.”

Rams

Rams QB Matthew Stafford was asked during a recent podcast appearance what he’d like QB Ty Simpson to say about him years from now after Stafford has retired and Simpson has taken over as the team’s starting quarterback.

“Hopefully, he comes away with a guy who treated him the right way, showed him what it was about, what it’s like to be a true professional, and also be yourself,” Stafford said in an interview with Chris Long’s Green Light podcast. “I’m not some robot out there. Love playing the game — you see me mic’d up, I’m running around like crazy, doing all sorts of wild shit, and have fun with the game because it’s a kids’ game. But at the same time, hey, I’m here for him if he needs help. My No. 1 job — I’ve said this 100 times — is to get our team and myself as ready to play as possible. And if he gathers information and he learns from that along the way, I’m fired up for our team, because that’s going to make us better. And I’m fired up for him. But I’m here to encourage — like everybody on our team — encourage everybody to do their best, keep getting better, and find ways to improve. And, hopefully, he’s a guy that 15, 20 years down the road can look back and say, man, I really enjoyed my time with Matthew and learned a lot from him.”

Seahawks

Seahawks S Julian Love has high praise for teammate Derick Hall, who opted to remain with the team following their Super Bowl win instead of cashing in via free agency.

“He is just a violent player,” Love said, via ESPN’s Brady Henderson. “He is strong as hell and he has a motor that’s high. When you have those two things, where somebody is willing to rush the passer but also stop the run, that’s how we’re built. We don’t do that kind of chasing sacks type of stuff and he doesn’t do that. He’s a complete D-end for us, and he’s just violent. He’s probably the most violent person on our defense.”

Hall talked about his expectations for the coming season now that he’s inked a long-term deal. He wants to do a better job of finishing presses into sacks. 

“Last year was pretty tough for me,” Hall noted. “The pass rush rate was high, the pressure rate was high, but it was hard for me to get home. I was always like, ‘I’m there, I’m there, I’m there.’ I was letting it worry me so much that one night I just prayed like ‘Lord, whenever the time comes, I will be here, I’ll be prepared, I am just going to continue to do the work, continue to go out there every day and put my best foot forward.’ What better time for it to show itself than on the worldwide stage in the Super Bowl? I was just overjoyed.”

Hall was entering the last year of his rookie contract, so if he had been able to convert on a bigger season in terms of production, it likely would have meant a lot more than the $14 million per year he just signed for. However, he was willing to take less to stay in Seattle. 

“This place is really special to me,” Hall continued. “I really love the game of football. Obviously, the money enhances our job and what we do, but it’s really about the love of the game and knowing what I’m getting myself into when I come to work every day. This is a pristine organization. John, Mike and all of those guys do a great job of letting us be ourselves and truly come out to compete, and I know we are going to win a lot of games and a lot of championships here, so I’m willing to sacrifice whatever everybody else thought I would be [able] to make to be able to be here and be with this team.”