49ers

• 49ers GM John Lynch said WR Jauan Jennings is making progress on his calf injury but is still working through it. Lynch said they are hopeful but not sure that he can play in Week 1. (Cam Inman)
• Lynch also acknowledged that Jennings asked to be traded “a while ago,” but they’ve since moved on: “He’s been putting in work to the side. Both can be true: he wants a new contract and he has a hurt calf. Everyone assumes one or the other. Both can be true.” (Inman)
• Lynch said, “Both things can be true. He has a calf injury and he wants a new contract.” (Vic Tafur)
• Regarding free agent WR Kendrick Bourne: “No new news. Anytime a really good football player who we had ties to –Kendrick started his career here– there’s going to be discussions. Kendrick’s been hurt, so trying to see where he’s exactly at. Having conversations. We’ll to look into it.” (Inman)
• The teams other than the 49ers that are potential suitors for Bourne are the Commanders and the Vikings. (Matt Maiocco)

Rams

Rams DE Jared Verse enters the season after winning last year’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Verse said that former DT Aaron Donald challenged him to an exhaustive workout following the season. 

“I went home, and I didn’t work out for like a day and a half because I couldn’t move my body,” Verse said, via Eric Williams of FoxSports. “The one thing he kept saying throughout the whole workout … was, ‘Think of the fourth quarter. Everyone’s good the first, second and third, but what about the fourth? That’s where you make your money.’ He’s saying it loud and proud. He was talking like me. I was like, ‘Damn, OK, I guess there’s levels to this.’”

Rams DL Braden Fiske called Verse an “igniter” for their defense because of his energy around the locker room. 

“He’s an igniter,” fellow Rams DL Braden Fiske said. “Just the way he talks, he builds that confidence within our group. Just the energy he brings, it’s a game-changer for us. It gets us going during games, in practice and in the weight room. He just sets sparks, and you love to have him.”

Rams S Quentin Lake said Verse is often talking smack and is practicing “controlled aggression.”

“Obviously, there’s levels to it,” Lake said. “We’re all teammates at the end of the day. But AD [Donald] actually mentioned it when he was here, and that’s controlled aggression. There has to be some type of tenacity, some type of edge that you play with, especially on the defensive side. But how can you control that and refine it to make it a strength?”

Seahawks

Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald highlighted ball security as something that can help elevate third-round QB Jalen Milroe‘s game.

“He’s out there, (and) he’s playing his tail off,” Macdonald said, via NY Times. “There’s things that we’re going to learn from. Taking care of the football is probably the number one thing, and he knows that. We’ll learn from it and grow from it. It was definitely worth it to get him out there and have this experience. He’s definitely going to be able to build off this.”

Milroe said that he plans to continue to improve and isn’t holding on to setbacks.

“If you’re discouraged, that means you’re not a competitor,” Milroe said. “I love football. I love everything about it. The highs. The lows. The failures. The disappointments. You have to love football. It is part of the game. It was my first start, man. It is a great opportunity to build upon it. I am just excited to keep on competing and keep on getting better.”

• Macdonald on the team’s plans to use Milroe in the regular season: “We’re going to have plays for Jalen in game plans and he’s going to rep those with the 1s. However, we build the package for him going into the games, he needs those reps in walk-thru and full speed.” (Michael-Shawn Dugar)