49ers
49ers HC Kyle Shanahan was asked if weather was a factor in some of the inaccurate throws by QB Brock Purdy against the Packers.
“I think it did a little bit with I think a couple,” Shanahan told reporters, via Pro Football Talk. “Even just watching [Packers quarterback Jordan] Love too. You watch the first play of the game that he had on that swing route, the ball’s slipping, throwing in front of the guy. There’s a couple that got him. So there’s definitely a few that got Brock, a few that he probably just missed trying to throw around a guy so it doesn’t get tipped and a couple that you just can’t explain, that just do happen. You usually have a couple in the game, but then you add a couple more with weather and a couple more just not being exactly on the throw. He had a few too many of them. He also made some hell of a throws too. Dropping some of those balls over that middle linebacker to get to [receiver] Jauan [Jennings] was unbelievable. The low and away ball to [receiver Brandon Aiyuk] on third down when they had pretty tight coverage on it. It was a hell of a throw and a hell of a catch that kept us out there, after the drop. So, he did a lot of good things too. By no means was he perfect, but it was really cool when we needed him to be at his best, he was. So, it gave us the best chance to win at the end.”
Cardinals
Cardinals QB Kyler Murray played in just nine games but was happy with the number of times he was under center in the offense of OC Drew Petzing, with HC Jonathan Gannon also weighing in on the offensive scheme with Murray.
“I feel good. I enjoy it,” Murray said before the final game of the season, via Darren Urban of the team website. “I know it’s something I asked for in the past. I think it gives us a different versatility in the offense that we could’ve used. It gives the defense a different look. You can’t really see the ball as far as play fakes in that split second and play action. It affects the defense, so I enjoy it.”
“I think in today’s day and age you want to put pressure on the defense, and you have to do that with the skillset of your people,” Gannon said after the season. “When you can have different offenses that are really the same, IE under center or in the gun, I think that’s very valuable to stress out a defense. Especially when you have the trigger guy that we have that can do those things, so you have all kinds of different play types from under center. You’ve got all different kinds of play types from gun. I would say this too, that with some of the things that (Kyler) is capable of seeing the defense do under center, the look that that gives the defense gives him an advantage and it gives us an advantage so that’ll be a part of who we are moving forward.”
Rams
The Rams have historically been big believers in positional value and have used major resources on “premium” positions like quarterback, cornerback or pass rusher. Linebacker isn’t necessarily a spot they value highly but Rams GM Les Snead said they might need to make an exception when it comes to LB Ernest Jones, who is eligible for an extension this offseason.
“Obviously he’s someone who is a very important part of that defense for many reasons, definitely the leader of the defense,” Snead said via the Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue. “In the past, obviously we’ve been invested in some other positions. But I think as we evolve, and as teams evolve, there are times where you may be less invested at a certain position than you were in the past and one of your better players is an inside linebacker. So, he’s definitely someone we’ll discuss and definitely someone we’d like to have around.”
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