NFC Notes: Matthew Stafford, Fred Warner, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

49ers

San Francisco hired from within and promoted passing game specialist Nick Sorensen as the new DC. 49ers LB Fred Warner discussed why he’s a big fan of the decision. 

“I love Nick, I love what he’s about,” Warner said, via the Candlestick Chronicles podcast. “Love the fact that he’s played the game for a long time, understands ball, is a great leader, and understands that we haven’t played our best defense as of late and that we need to return to that. And so it’s been crystal clear what the standard is moving forward, and yeah, I’m really excited about it. I think it’ll be a great hire and move going forward.”

Warner said the team has had opportunities, but needs to focus on finishing late in the season in order to reach their ultimate goal.

“I feel like I’m as rejuvenated and excited about this year as I’ve ever been,” Warner said, via PFT. “And I think the goal going into this year is obviously to focus on finishing. I think that’s as point blank as it needs to be. We had opportunities in both Super Bowls that I’ve been in to finish, and we just didn’t get the job done.”

Rams

Rams OC Mike LaFleur said he hasn’t seen any changes from Matthew Stafford as he works out his contract situation and has always been “super-positive.”

“No,” LaFleur said, via ProFootballTalk. “Matthew, when he’s at work, it’s — He loves being out on that field. You guys were watching today, you see the amount of fun this guy has. Shows that it is still a child’s game, and you just happen to make a lot of money to be able to do something that he’s been pretty good at. But no, when he’s in the meeting room, when he’s on the field, he’s super-positive. He’s the same Matthew that I met a year ago. Cool part for me is that’s above my pay grade in terms of what happens next with all that. I know they’re doing things the right way and we’ll go from there.”

Seahawks

Seahawks S Rayshawn Jenkins said HC Mike Macdonald brings a “really creative” defensive system with him that provides a lot of challenges for opposing quarterbacks. 

“The defense is really creative. It’s a lot of thinking, but we’re professionals so that just comes with the game. It’ll be challenging for a lot of offenses to figure out what we’re in. If you go back to the Baltimore film, you’ll see how difficult it was for any quarterback to get anything on them,” Jenkins said, via Gregg Bell. 

• Macdonald said LB Jerome Baker won’t be back until training camp while recovering from a wrist injury and a couple lower body issues. (Curtis Crabtree)
• Macdonald on QB Sam Howell: “He’s representative of what we are as a football team. Making progress everyday. Football intelligence is high. We’re excited about Sam.” (Aaron Levine)