NFC Notes: Trade Buzz, Christian McCaffrey, Tre’Davious White, 49ers, Rams, Seahawks

49ers

49ers GM John Lynch is optimistic about where RB Christian McCaffrey is at in his rehab process and is hopeful that he can return to the lineup this week.

“I sure hope so,” Lynch said, via PFT. “Christian’s passed every part of the test in our plan. Over the bye week, he stayed here with our trainers. How do you come to work on the bye week? You come when you’ve got guys like him working out and you want to see it. I sat up in my office and watched from afar. He looks great. He’s responded well.”

Lynch added that McCaffrey will have to respond well to on-field tests such as real-game situations before the team has full confidence that he’s ready to go.

“I will say that him doing IR work off to the side with our strength coaches and trainers is different than actually getting on the field,” Lynch said. “There’s that reactive element to it. And so, now we’ve got to put him through that test, responding to a safety coming up and taking one side of leverage away, and he’s got to make a cut, those types of things. And can he respond in a good way? Can he feel healthy enough? Can he feel like he can go make an impact and handle the volume that we’ve put on him? If so, we won’t hesitate to play him. I think we’ve been real thoughtful. I’m proud of our health and performance team, proud of Christian, the way they’ve attacked this rehab. It’s been a long time. It’s been tough, when you have a player of that caliber, to not have him. I think it’s provided opportunities for other players to show what they can do. But there’s no doubt about it, you miss a Christian McCaffrey—your entire team, not just your offense—when he’s not on the field.”

• 49ers LB Demetrius Flannigan-Fowles was fined $10,750 for unnecessary roughness due to use of the helmet in Week 8.

Rams

Rams WR Puka Nacua was ejected in the team’s Week 9 win over the Seahawks for throwing a punch at Seattle LB Tyrel Dodson. Nacua admitted he let his emotions take over instead of responding with on-field play.

“There were some things said earlier in the game and just letting my emotions get the best of me and reacting instead of responding kind of in that moment,” Nacua said, via ESPN’s Sarah Barshop. “I knew the play was down after the interception, and he just had some hands on me while I was trying to get blocked off. So, I was just making sure I could defend myself and get ready to see whatever was happening for the next play.”

• Rams HC Sean McVay implied they will not be active at the trade deadline other than looking for CB Tre’Davious White to be traded. (Gary Klein)

Seahawks

Seahawks QB Geno Smith threw three interceptions including two inside the Rams’ 10-yard line in their Week 9 overtime loss. Smith apologized for his poor performance and vowed to do better the rest of the season.

“First of all, I want to start off by apologizing to my teammates, really, and to the city, to the organization,” Smith said, via John Boyle of the team’s website. “They put a lot of trust in me with my decision-making, and when they put the ball in my hands, when my teammates play the way they played today and to give us a shot to win the game, I’ve got to make sure we do. The things I did today, mistakes that I made, they affected us negatively and really cost us the game today. Me knowing myself, I know how much this is going to hurt. I’m going to step it up, though. That’s how I feel about it. I’m going to step it up.”

• Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald on how Smith has played through nine games: “We’ve got all the confidence in the world in Geno.” (Michael-Shawn Dugar)