NFC Notes: George Kittle, 49ers, Rams, Cam Akers, Seahawks, Bruce Irvin

49ers

49ers TE George Kittle said he feels back to normal after dealing with a groin injury and didn’t suffer any setbacks in Week 5. 

“I’ll tell you, these last 10 days, I’ve definitely felt like myself,” Kittle said, via 49ersWebZone. “Battling back from a little groin stuff, that’s never really fun, and just got to get back into that. But I definitely, this last week, I felt at my best playing. Nothing new came up from that, so I get to continue that streak and just keep going.”

Kittle thinks their offense has the potential to score 30 points per game and has a lot of confidence in their defense. 

“I always want the offense to put up a lot of points,” Kittle said. “I think if we can put up 30 a game, and the defense gets us one, I think we’re going to win a lot of football games just based on our defense playing at the level they’re playing. They haven’t given up 20 points yet, have they? So we’ve just got to score 21. So I definitely feel like we’ve got a little bit more of a rhythm. I think a lot of guys made plays. We’re going to need them to continue to make plays moving forward. Running backs ran well, and I think our offensive line is starting to feel it too.”

Kittle believes their offense is starting to click but they must respond against a physical defense in the Falcons on Sunday. 

“I think our offense is definitely clicking a little bit, and I think we have an opportunity to go out there and do the same thing again,” Kittle said. “I think this team that we’re playing is very well-coached, just looking at them on tape. They’ve got some really physical players on defense. They set the edges really well. It’s the same structure as kind of what the Rams do, so it’s a defense that we see a ton. We’ve seen it like the last couple of weeks. Hopefully, [we’ll do] similar things that work, but definitely have to change it up because they definitely have seen our game plans and what has worked. So we’ll see what we come up with, and just looking forward to going out there and just playing football again.”

Rams

When asked if Rams RB Cam Akers (personal) will be a part of the team going forward, HC Sean McVay responded that they are working through “different things” at this point.

“We’re working through some different things right now,” said McVay, via Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic. 

McVay continued that they are keeping matters with Akers internally.

“I would say it’s more like we’re dealing with things internally. I don’t know, exactly…these are kind of uncharted territories,” McVay said. “Out of respect for the situation, I want to keep it internal. You guys will have more information later on.”

Seahawks

Seahawks’ recently re-signed veteran LB Bruce Irvin thinks that the issue with their defense is due to a lack of communication, which is critical in their system. 

“Honestly, I just think that on defense it’s a communication thing. I was with Sean (Desai) last year in Chicago, so I know the system already. It’s big on communicating. You have to change the strength, so you have to communicate that because the plays go from one side to the other side with certain motions and stuff. I think once we are out there chattering and guys are beleiving in one another, I think it will make a difference. From what I’ve seen being at home, I see a young defense with not a lot of experience playing with onbe another, but the talent is there,” said Irvin, via Bob Condotta. 

• Seahawks OLB Bruce Irvin feels good and is ready to get to work with Seattle: “I feel like I’m 25. You seen me move yet? Oh man, wait til you see me move. This dude ain’t 34, man. I feel good. My body feel good. My mental is good. I can’t complain. I get to live out my dream.” (Brady Henderson)
• Irvin had surgery to repair a torn ACL in 2020 and wasn’t cleared to return until this past November because the surgeon who operated on him “botched” the repair while using his right patellar tendon. The next surgeon used his left patellar: “I ended up getting surgery on both knees for one injury.” (Henderson)