49ers

Robert Saleh returns as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator following his time as the Jets’ head coach. San Francisco DL coach Kris Kocurek said Saleh’s scheme has made some “small tweaks” to to defensive line since his previous time in San Francisco. 

“Yeah, there’s always things that evolve within a scheme,” Kocurek said, via Matt Barrows of The Athletic. “I would say the place that it’s evolved maybe the least is up front and what we do up front. The coverage aspects of it and how you adjust to what offenses are doing from a motion standpoint — a lot of these college coordinators integrate into the NFL with what they were doing on a college level. Especially the back-end dudes. They have a lot of adjustments that have to change yearly. And up front, yeah, there’s some small tweaks. Nothing significant that you’re gonna be able to see. But there will be some small tweaks that have been changed since (Saleh) was here in 2020.”

Rams

Rams third-round OLB Josaiah Stewart has made a great early impression, according to DL Kobie Turner and said he’s been “winning consistently” off of the edge.

“I’ve been able to see Josaiah a little bit from afar, just watching that he’s going to work off the edges and he’s winning consistently, so I’m excited to see that come to life once we put on the pads, once we get into our packages,” he said, via Rams Wire. “I mean, we have multiple packages to put people into positions to win and last year, we had a package where we had Michael Hoecht as the third guy. It’ll be interesting to just kind of see what other situations will come up that will be able to use Josaiah and use his strengths.”

Turner added that fellow rookie fifth-round DL Ty Hamilton has displayed a great work ethic and tremendous growth from Day 1 of OTAs to the break before training camp.

“And then I can speak to Ty, him coming out and him learning the way – we have a group that’s not vet-vet, per se, and isn’t super experienced. But we’re really experienced, like we know how to work,” he said. “And watching him continue to build up trust, watching him come in and stay after and get all the extra work that we do and to see how he’s grown from Day 1 to now is incredible. I’m excited to see the role he’s able to play and hopefully, have him help us win games on Sundays.”

Seahawks

Seahawks LB Ernest Jones IV has earned a leadership role on the defense over the past year in Seattle.

“That’s my linebacker,” veteran DT Jarran Reed said via ESPN. “I say it every time, like Terrell Owens said, ‘That’s my quarterback.’ That’s my linebacker. Seriously though, he’s a great addition, man. He’s a great ballplayer, he’s very smart, he’s a headhunter … one of those guys that we like on the defense, a physical player and smart.”

Jones added that he’s heading into the season fully healthy after undergoing knee surgery that bothered him the last couple of seasons.

“I’m feeling really good,” Jones said. “I’m getting back in the mix right now with the guys, so I’m excited. … I haven’t been able to play my best ball, whether it be the knee or whether it be other circumstances. But I’m excited for this year, truly.”