NFC Notes: Pete Carroll, Jared Goff, Sean McVay, Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks

Cardinals

Cardinals QBs coach Israel Woolfork thinks Kyler Murray showed a “glimpse” of what he can do in their offensive system following his return. 

“You got a glimpse of just our offense and [the] whole [of] how we can play — running the ball, throwing the ball, catching, getting open, every aspect of the game,” Woolfork said, via Josh Weinfuss of ESPN. 

Woolfork spoke about having QBs Joshua Dobbs and Clayton Tune start the year before returning to Murray, describing that the situation helped him grow as a coach. 

“It was crazy at the beginning of the year,” Woolfork said. “You can’t make it up. You can’t. It’s not a book you can read. It’s not anything you can do [about] that. So, obviously just learning from that situation, growing from it, I think that’s the biggest thing I’m probably gonna take away [from] my coaching career moving forward.”

Cardinals WR Zach Pascal said Murray always took advantage of his time when rehabbing from his knee injury. 

“You could definitely see he wasn’t taking it for granted,” Pascal said. “And he was happy to be out there, and then the plays he was making, it’s like, ‘Dang.’ When you’re missing your quarterback and you looking for one, it’s a struggle, and then he comes back and plays like this, [it’s like] ‘OK, this is exactly why we got this man.'”

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay was impressed with the way QB Jared Goff played against him in the wild card round, adding that he has come a long way in the past three years.

“Jared was really efficient,” McVay said, via PFT. “You can see the command he has. I think there’s a lot made of it, but I’m really happy for him. Obviously we wanted to come away with the win, but he’s done a great job. I think the grit, the resilience, and the way he’s done his thing here over the last three years, I’m happy for Jared, and I certainly am appreciative of the four years we had together.”

• Rams QB Matthew Stafford when asked if he will be back next season: “That’s my plan right now, yeah, my plan is to be back. And you’ll have to deal with me for another year!” (Jourdan Rodrigue)
• Rams DL Aaron Donald when asked if he was committed to the team in 2024: “For sure.” (Rodrigue)

Seahawks

• SI’s Albert Breer believes Cowboys DC Dan Quinn could ultimately finally leave Dallas for Seattle, where he has connections with the team.
• Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk says the thinking in Seattle is Quinn is at the top of GM John Schenider’s list to coach the Seahawks.
• Former Seahawks HC Pete Carroll is unsure if he’ll return to coaching but mentioned he’s not “holding my breath” for any offers: “I don’t know that… I’m not holding my breath. If it happens, it happens. We’ll see.” (Michael-Shawn Dugar)
• Carroll in a recent appearance on Seattle Sports Radio: “I have very, very strong feelings about what we did, and where we screwed it up and why we didn’t come through the way we wanted to and what we did well. So we just needed to touch on all of that, and the perception that the media has on the outside is not always accurate… And then, OK, what is the essence of the adjustments that are necessary? That’s where maybe we don’t see eye to eye on, because I see it one way and I think I’ve got a way to fix it and I’m not going to kind of halfway fix it… I’ve got real precise and specific thoughts, and they may not see it that way, they may not agree with it, they may not see that that’s the right answer or that’s not the answer that makes them feel good… The difficult part is…it’s really hard because they’re not football people. They’re not coaches, and so to get to the real details of it is really difficult for other people.”