NFL Notes: 49ers, Lions, Patriots

49ers

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said he’s been impressed with veteran LB NaVorro Bowman and his recovery from an Achilles injury.

“I thought it would take him some time, I didn’t think he’d really be looking to himself until training camp,” Shanahan said, via the Sacramento Bee. “But man, when I go out there right now and watch him work, he looks a lot better than I was expecting this early. He’s put the time in, he’s put the work in, he didn’t just start here when we got all the players here. He started way before that.”

Lions

• Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes that Matt Asiata‘s role with the Lions remains to be seen and there’s no guarantee he’ll make the 53-man roster.
• Assuming all of the Lions’ running backs are healthy, Birkett could see depth chart rounding out with Ameer Abdullah, Theo Riddick, Zach Zenner and Dwayne Washington in that order.
• Even without a fullback, Birkett isn’t sure the Lions would keep five running backs on their roster.
• Birkett could see rookie CB Teez Tabor, WR Kenny Golladay and LB Jaylen Reeves-Maybin in the rotation at some point this season, but he still doesn’t envision any of them being huge contributors.
• Interestingly enough, Birkett says there’s still a possibility that the Lions could add another receiver, despite using a third-round pick on Golladay and wonders if Anquan Boldin could be a consideration.

Patriots

Patriots DE Trey Flowers is coming off of a solid 2016 season and an impressive performance in the Super Bowl, which included 2.5 sacks.

Even so, Flowers says he plans to stay hungry and feels he could have done better.

“I don’t look too highly on it because last year was last year,” Flowers said, via the Boston Herald. “The last game was the last game. I could look at that game, and there’s a lot of plays that I missed, a lot of opportunities that I missed that I should have had. That’s just all about staying hungry. Having the Super Bowl that I had in the biggest game of my career, understand while watching the film, ‘You did all right, but you could have done better.’

“I’ve got that mentality coming into the season. Any opportunity I’ve got, I want to improve on being more productive. This will be my first time coming in and being able to produce at a high level. Being able to understand my role; I know my role now. Being able to live in that role, I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to stay hungry.”