NFC Notes: Jason Verrett, 49ers, Cardinals

Jason Verrett

Regarding the 49ers re-signing veteran CB Jason Verrett to a one-year deal, GM John Lynch called Verrett a “number one corner” and is confident that he’ll return strongly from a torn ACL. 

“We all know what Jason’s been through, and it’s been a lot,” Lynch said, via 49ersWebZone. “This guy’s ability and passion for the game, his makeup, his toughness, it’s all to be admired. It hurt our heart. It hurt Jason. He’s a number one corner for us. For it to happen to him yet again was crushing. But he’s a guy you don’t give up on. We’re certainly not going to. It’s a lot to ask for his body to recover again, but if there’s someone that we believe can do it, it’s Jason.”

Lynch reiterated that Verrett “earned that opportunity” to be re-signed. 

“We felt like, number one, he’s earned that opportunity with us. And number two, I think he’s worth giving it to because he’s done this before. You do have to ask yourself at some point if it keeps happening. But we have a 90-man roster, and during the offseason, when you talk about is he worthy of that? Certainly, he is. So we’re going to give it another attempt.”

Lynch mentioned that they kept in touch with Verrett after suffering his injury. 

“He was crushed after it happened, and I wasn’t so sure he’d want to play again,” Lynch said. “But we kept in touch, had conversations, and that desire to come back was there, and it was burning hard. So, at that point, Kyle (Shanahan) and I just said, ‘You know what? It’s definitely worth it.”

49ers

49ers DE Dee Ford has missed 26 games over the last two seasons due to a back issue, and heading into 2022, the team still isn’t expecting the veteran to play. San Fransisco GM John Lynch says this is one of the reasons they drafted USC DE Drake Jackson in the second round.

“He’s stepping into a really deep and talented group, got a lot of really good players,” Lynch said, via 49ersWebzone.com. “But I can tell you what we envisioned when we drafted him. [It] was that we’ve been at our best when Dee Ford was healthy. I know it hasn’t been much, but when Bosa was rolling, and Dee was opposite of him, we were pretty tough to deal with. We’ve been tough to deal with without Dee as well, but when you have a guy with the ability that Drake has, and that ability is immense, we see something special there. How fast that comes, to what extent, how much he plays, will he play early? I think a lot of that just comes down to how far he can come, how quickly.”

Cardinals

Cardinals HC Kliff Kingsbury believes recently acquired WR Marquise Brown still has more potential to improve.

“I think he’s just scratching the surface,” said Kingsbury, via CardsWire. 

Kingsbury added that Brown has the ability to line up as an inside or outside receiver. 

“(He’s a) dynamic guy who can kind of take the top off, inside, outside,” Kingsbury said. “We really feel like he fits what we do.”