49ers
49ers DE Nick Bosa said that he hasn’t thought about a potential contract extension, noting that his focus has been on the season and finishing healthy, but did indicate it will be a point of emphasis in the future.
“I haven’t thought about that,” Bosa said, via 49ers Web Zone. “I was just trying to finish out the year and have a great year. That’s definitely something for down the road to think about.”
Bosa plans to take his fitness to the next level this offseason, as he will have an opportunity to have a fresh offseason without having to worry about rehab.
“I’m really excited to have a full offseason just to build on what I got to last year,” Bosa said. “I wasn’t really able to maximize my strength and conditioning stuff with getting my rehab right and stuff. So this year I’m going to give my knee a lot of time to just chill because I haven’t really given it any rest since I got hurt, so it needs some time, then I’m going to get back and I’m going to get in the best shape of my life for sure. And I was in the best shape of my life last year, so it’s going to be another level. I’m excited.”
Bosa said he even surprised himself with the level at which he was able to play this season coming off of a torn ACL. He said he was really happy with how his knee held up, though he’s looking forward to maximizing what he can do in 2022.
“I actually did surprise myself,” Bosa said. “If you asked me what I thought I was going to be able to do a couple months before the season, I definitely don’t know what I would have told you. But I just knew that I was in the right hands with who I was training with. I knew I was doing everything right, so I just had to stick with the plan and not dwell on the bumps on the road that I dealt with along the way. That ended up paying off. I think my knee kind of improved throughout the entire season, so we kind of continued the rehab process throughout the whole year. So I’m feeling health-wise as good as I’ve felt all year — maybe not this second because I’m pretty sore. But I’m just really happy with how it went.”
Bosa said the team has the pieces in place to compete for a Super Bowl, and he’s looking forward to building upon what the team was able to accomplish this season.
“This whole team’s really special,” Bosa said. “A lot of unselfish guys. Deebo (WR Deebo Samuel) for sure being one of them, just going out there with bumps and bruises every week and playing running back and wide receiver for us. I could go on and on about all the guys we have on our team, and we’re good enough to win it all, so we just have to build off of it. We’ve got the right core group of guys. There’s a lot of decisions to be made that I don’t have a part in, so we’ll see what happens.”
Rams
Rams HC Sean McVay was proud of the way QB Matthew Stafford performed in the NFC Championship game.
“We went out and got him because we thought it was a chance to be able to get a great player of his magnitude,” McVay said, via Pro Football Talk. “Those things don’t come around often. What he’s done, he’s elevated everybody around him. He’s made me a better coach. He’s made his teammates better. He’s such a great person. I think you guys know from getting a chance to interact with him. If you don’t root for this guy, something’s wrong with you. He’s a great competitor. We’ve seen that, really, throughout the season. But I think it’s really been on display these last couple weeks. We talk about competitive greatness all the time. Being your best when your best was required. He embodied competitive greatness today. Love Matthew Stafford.”
Stafford added how much he was looking forward to playing in the Super Bowl his entire career.
“Long time coming, you know? Spent a lot of years in this league and I’ve loved every minute of it,” Stafford said, via NFL.com. “I feel blessed to be able to play in this league for as long as I have but I sure am happy for this opportunity for not only myself but, really, so many guys in that locker room that deserve this too. And that’s what it is, it’s an opportunity to go out there and win another one.”
WR Odell Beckham Jr. mentioned Stafford was confident and driven the entire game.
“It’s everything that you could hope and wish for,” Beckham said. “He had that look in his eyes the whole game. He motivated us, he pushed us, one play at a time, and he drove us down. He’s just been doing that all postseason, all season really, since I’ve been here, he’s just had that look on him. Just happy that we could get him to this point, and I know it was tough for Detroit for a lot of those years, man. Having an amazing opportunity, (he’s) just gonna take full advantage of it.”
- The Athletic’s Jeff Howe mentioned the Rams could look at Kentucky OC Liam Coen to replace OC Kevin O’Connell once O’Connell becomes the Vikings HC.
- The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue added Rams RB coach/assistant HC Thomas Brown is another option to replace O’Connell.
Eric Weddle
Rams S Eric Weddle thinks that after the Super Bowl he will return to his normal, retired life.
“It’s amazing to be able to understand that and know that I don’t have to save myself for next season, I don’t have to save myself for the offseason, I didn’t have to save myself for the Super Bowl last week knowing it wasn’t guaranteed, so I was throwing it in there, giving it everything I got,” Weddle said, via Nicholas Cothrel of SI.com. “Because listen, I don’t have anything left after this other than going back and doing what I was doing before. After this Super Bowl, I move on and go back to my old life and there will be no comebacks. There will not be playing — another team, another game — no, no, no, no.”
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