49ers

49ers WR Mike Evans is heading into season 13, and HC Kyle Shanahan has fielded questions about the health of the team’s new star veteran receiver and what expectations they have for him.

“Yeah, it depends if he stays healthy,” Shanahan told reporters about Evans, via Pro Football Talk. “Mike to me is always, if you’re a starting receiver, you’re out there a ton which everyone is. I forget what it was last year, maybe hamstring, where he missed time and when that happens you miss games. But Mike’s going to be a starting receiver here and we don’t like any of our guys to go every play. We want our guys going full speed and it’s hard to go full speed every play. So, we’re always going to spell guys. But hopefully, he’s got a little quad right now, which I know Mike probably believes he could be back right now. We’re being smart with him, but he’s going to be good to go.”

Rams

Matthew Stafford is set to enter the 18th year of his career in 2026. Rams HC Sean McVay said he’s still confident that Stafford can play “a lot longer than people think” despite not having the most illustrious season last year. 

“I do think it was the highest quality of football that he played last year,” McVay said, via RamsWire. “But what I felt from him was a stillness, a peace and enjoyment. I do believe that he’s capable of playing a lot longer than people think, God willing, if he’s able to stay healthy.”

Seahawks

Seahawks S Bud Clark enters his rookie season after being a second-round pick in this year’s draft. Veteran S Julian Love said Clark is bringing a lot of energy to their defensive backs group and has a “swagger to him.”

“He’s a country boy,” Love said, via John Boyle of the team’s site. “He brings so much energy. He said something today. I don’t even know—he said it in the DB room—and we all nodded but no one understood what it meant. I was like, ‘Bud can you repeat that?’ and he said something about a private fishing area, like in a common phrase as he was talking, and we’re like, ‘What does that mean?’ He said, ‘What we do, it’s off limits.’ It was anecdote of some sort. Man, I don’t know what’s going on here. He has an energy, you knew that throughout the combine draft process. He has swagger to him.”

Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald said Clark isn’t shy about asking questions and is impressed by how the rookie is processing information. 

“Bud’s one of those rookies that we’re asking a lot of him right now, and I’m impressed with how he’s handling it,” Macdonald said. “It’s not perfect, but how he goes about his business is what we’re looking for. He needs to trust that he is going to come out of the fog and take it from there. It’s important to start building a relationship with those guys and having a feel for the speed of the game with the ones and how we communicate and how we play, and he’s doing a good job.”

Love mentioned that Clark is “playing fast” and is doing well with their first-team defense. 

“It’s been cool. He’s been asked to do a lot early, and he’s taking it all in stride. The first few weeks of camp is just an influx of information—he’s getting coached up across the board, but in all of that, he’s playing fast. Sometimes you see rookies kind of half step if they’re unsure, but he’s going. And it’s important for him to be with the ones, because he’s going to play a big role for us.”