49ers

San Francisco hired passing game specialist Nick Sorensen as the new DC, promoting from within. Linebacker Fred Warner supported the decision, expressing his admiration for Sorensen.

“I love Nick, I love what he’s about,” Warner said on the Candlestick Chronicles podcast. “Love the fact that he’s played the game for a long time, understands ball, is a great leader, and understands that we haven’t played our best defense as of late and that we need to return to that. And so it’s been crystal clear what the standard is moving forward, and yeah, I’m really excited about it. I think it’ll be a great hire and move going forward.”

Warner emphasized the importance of finishing strong late in the season to achieve the team’s ultimate goal.

“I feel like I’m as rejuvenated and excited about this year as I’ve ever been,” Warner told PFT. “And I think the goal going into this year is obviously to focus on finishing. I think that’s as point blank as it needs to be. We had opportunities in both Super Bowls that I’ve been in to finish, and we just didn’t get the job done.”

Rams

Rams Offensive Coordinator Mike LaFleur mentioned that he has seen no change in Matthew Stafford amidst his contract negotiations and described him as consistently “super-positive.”

“No,” LaFleur stated to ProFootballTalk. “Matthew, when he’s at work, it’s — He loves being out on that field. You guys were watching today, you see the amount of fun this guy has. Shows that it is still a child’s game, and you just happen to make a lot of money to be able to do something that he’s been pretty good at. But no, when he’s in the meeting room, when he’s on the field, he’s super-positive. He’s the same Matthew that I met a year ago. Cool part for me is that’s above my pay grade in terms of what happens next with all that. I know they’re doing things the right way and we’ll go from there.”

Seahawks

Seahawks Safety Rayshawn Jenkins praised Head Coach Mike Macdonald for implementing a “really creative” defensive system that poses challenges for opposing quarterbacks.

“The defense is really creative. It’s a lot of thinking, but we’re professionals so that just comes with the game. It’ll be challenging for a lot of offenses to figure out what we’re in. If you go back to the Baltimore film, you’ll see how difficult it was for any quarterback to get anything on them,” Jenkins shared according to Gregg Bell.

• Macdonald confirmed that Linebacker Jerome Baker will not return until training camp due to a wrist injury and lower body issues (Curtis Crabtree)
• Macdonald praised Quarterback Sam Howell: “He’s representative of what we are as a football team. Making progress everyday. Football intelligence is high. We’re excited about Sam.” (Aaron Levine)