49ers

There is a theory going viral about the 49ers’ injury woes being related to an electrical substation located next to the team’s training facility. San Francisco GM John Lynch said they have reached out to experts on the matter and are looking into “everything.” 

“Because it deals with allegedly the health and safety of our players, I think you have to look into everything,” Lynch said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “We’ve been reaching out to anyone and everyone to see, does a study exist other than a guy sticking an apparatus underneath the fence and coming up with a number that I have no idea what that means? That’s what we know exists. We’ve heard that debunked. … The health and safety of our players is of the utmost priority. We pore into it. Our ownership, Jed [York] is tremendous in terms of resources, and we’ll always be cognizant of things. I know that a lot of games have been won at this facility since it opened, but yeah, we aren’t going to turn a blind eye.”

Lynch continued that they are looking into ways to improve their players’ health and performance, including bringing in new specialists to their staff. 

“We’re always looking into trends, data, everything we do,” Lynch said. “Our health and performance of our players is at the utmost priority each and every year. This year it was tough, and it took a toll on our team, and we’ll continue to look. … We’ve spent a lot of time and effort in recruiting really quality people. And I think being at the forefront of injury prevention and I think this year, probably because the star players that went down, there was a lot of attention given on that.”

• 49ers assistant DL coach Greg Scruggs is joining the Titans as their new DL coach. (Matt Maiocco)

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay raved about WR Davante Adams playing against Seattle this week, as they were without the veteran receiver last time the two rivals faced off.

“Tremendous,” McVay said of Adams. “He’s a great player. The game [in Chicago] was unique. It was good to be able to get his feet wet and he made some key and critical plays against Carolina. Then you look at last week, it’s like competitive greatness. Be at your best when your best is required. You look at the leverage that he had from [Bears cornerback] Nahshon Wright on that 12-yard catch that [Adams] made. It was unbelievable. Not a great play call, but he and Matthew [Stafford] made it right where he’s able to win the leverage, flatten that angle out and have the awareness on the sideline. The in-cut that he caught was a huge play. He’s a tremendous impact. It’s great to be able to have him back and everybody feels and notices when he’s on the grass. He’s just got this swag that I think elevates the energy of our overall group and team. We’re really excited to have him back.”

Seahawks

The Seahawks are off to the NFC Championship game in Mike Macdonald‘s second year as head coach. Veteran TE Eric Saubert praised Macdonald’s leadership ability, saying they never had any doubts about their potential. 

“It’s easy to follow someone like that, that’s so genuine and has such a belief and practices what he preaches,” Saubert said, via Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. “He’s the guy that led us the whole season, and it’s never been a doubt. We’ve never faltered in how we follow him. He’s the man. He’s a great coach. He is a great person to talk to. And we’re going to follow him to the end, man.”

Seahawks LB Ernest Jones IV called Macdonald the “biggest” part of their success. 

“Mike’s the biggest thing,” Jones said. “Just being able to start Day 1 (saying), ‘This is the type of team we’re going to be, and we can’t be that team unless we work for it.’ He’s constantly just had us working at it. Mike’s a big reason why we’re here.”

Seahawks DT Leonard Williams said their defense has proven to swarm ballcarries throughout the year. 

“A lot of times we see the ball carrier on the ground (and) we pause the film to see how many blue helmets are in the picture,” Williams said. “A majority of the time, it’s nine-plus players standing over the ball carrier.”

• Seahawks GM John Schneider prioritized trading the Saints for WR/KR Rashid Shaheed, which was also fully supported by OC Klint Kubiak. (Rapoport)
• The team will also prioritize signing WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba to a contract extension this offseason. (Rapoport)