NFC Notes: Steve Keim, Kyler Murray, 49ers, Cardinals, Lions

49ers

49ers WR Jauan Jennings isn’t fast. His 40-yard dash of 4.72 seconds at the NFL Combine when he was coming out proved that. But it likely helped other teams overlook a solid NFL player which worked to the benefit of the 49ers who got Jennings in the seventh round. He’s developed into a key role player for San Francisco and has a stranglehold on the No. 3 receiver job. He’s still not fast but he’s tough as nails, a pitbull of a blocker, has great hands and knows how to run routes well enough to get open, often in big moments of the game. 

“If anyone watched our games at the end of last year, not many people covered him,” 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said via the Athletic’s David Lombardi. “He got open, he had aggressive hands, he got up the field, he blocked well. … What’s cool about Jauan, he’s got some unique running styles. But just watch him: he separates more than probably all the other guys.”

Cardinals

A lot of former NFL GMs tend to float off into obscurity after they’re done working in the NFL. Not former Cardinals GM Steve Keim. He’s given several interviews over the past few months and has been notably candid about his former team. His latest soundbite referenced a quote from Cardinals QB Kyler Murray, who said in a behind-the-scenes video from the team, “I’m going to listen, I’m going to be coachable, and I’m going to do it to the best of my ability. But if the shit ain’t working, at some point we all have to look in the mirror.”

Keim took umbrage with the “but.” 

“I think in terms of quarterbacks, what he said you don’t love it, just because of the standpoint when he added the word ‘but’ in, generally behind a positive the word ‘but’ does not end in a positive light,” Keim said in an interview with FOX Sports’ Colin Cowherd via Compare.bet’s Kyle Odegard. “I certainly didn’t want to hear that. And nor do fans want to hear a guy who’s making $46.1 million a year blame anybody but himself.

“I’m not saying he’s a guy that blames people. Yet at the same time, when you get that bag of cash, everybody expects you to take it on your shoulders, and that’s what a franchise quarterback does. This is a big year. I would have actually had Kyler in my top five for guys under pressure, because if they do have a tough year, he’s coming off the injury. He’s got to prove himself. What happens, as what people forecast, that they have the No. 1 pick, they’re in a real predicament.”

Lions

• According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, the conditions on the picks involved in the Lions’ trade for Jets WR Denzel Mims are that Mims makes the 53-man roster.  
• The Lions promoted Caio Brighenti from Analyst, Football Information to Manager, Football Information. (Seth Walder)