49ers

49ers LB Dee Winters said that the Jets were one of the teams during the pre-draft process that wanted him to increase his weight.

“They said, ‘We want to see what you look like at 230.’ And I was like 218 at the time,” Winters recalled via NY Times. “I had, like, two or three weeks to put on 12 pounds. So I was eating everything under the sun.”

49ers LB Fred Warner said that Winters has the ability to be the enforcer of the team’s defense.

“There are times when I see him making plays, and he’s just stinging guys,” Warner said. “And I’m like, ‘Whoa!’ He’s got something in his body that few guys have. I don’t even have it in my body, the type of hits that he makes.”

Warner added that Winters reminds him of former 49ers LB Dre Greenlaw.

“It does remind you of a Dre,” Warner said. ”I always remember that Reuben Foster had that trait about him where he just popped out of his cleats. Some guys have got that trait. And (Winters) has got it with that speed and explosive ability in his body.”

Winters admitted that he was unsure of the playbook during his first season in the NFL.

“I would say I was uncertain of what to do on some plays,” he said. “There would be some formations, and I would be like, ‘All right, I don’t know what to do. Let’s not just run anywhere. Let me kind of find a place to sit, find the ball, then run to it.’”

49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said that the team wanted to integrate Winters into the defense early on this season.

“Dee Winters is a guy we wanted to get in there early,” Shanahan said. “He ended up getting a high-ankle sprain last year and kept zinging it. But once he kind of got in there and started going consistently and staying healthy, you could see (his ability) toward the end of the year.”

49ers OT Colton McKivitz‘s three-year, $45.0 million extension includes a $10,357,778 signing bonus and $27,655,000 option bonus. He’s owed a guaranteed salary of $10,230,000 in 2026, and nonguaranteed salaries of $1,500,000 in 2027, and $7,360,000 in 2028. He can also earn up to $2,550,000 in per-game roster bonuses, $600,000 in workout bonuses, and another $650,000 bonus. (OverTheCap)
49ers LB Fred Warner was fined $23,186 for using the helmet.
Shanahan on when WR Brandon Aiyuk could return: “I think it’s more like when we get kind of an exact target date. That’s when you look at it that way. I think we’re getting close to that. But just not to have a target date is that’s when I start thinking about it and we don’t have that yet. So, we’re waiting until they give us one.” (Nick Wagoner)

Cardinals

Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon is not happy with how his offense has performed so far this year, especially the running game’s efficiency.

“There definitely are some issues with our offense and the first two that I see is our run game is not efficient enough,” Gannon said, via Cards Wire. “I went through the game and I think we called somewhere around 24 runs and 17 of them, how I deem efficient, were not efficient. The pass game I think that we need to generate some more efficiency and a couple more explosives, some more yards, some more catches. And each game is going to present different challenges by what the (opponent is) doing and their people that they have and the flow of the game. But there’s no doubt we need to play a little bit better to score more points. And like I said with the playcalling thing, I know what we’re doing. I know what we’re calling. I know how we’re doing things. We got to do it better.”

Cardinals OC Drew Petzing said the team won’t abandon the running game and said that the team needs to review film to see if it’s a playcalling or schematic issue.

“I think it’s a small sample size in three games,” Petzing explained. “You’re never going to judge the entire product on three games. We got to look at the things that we can do better collectively, whether it’s looking at the technique that we’re using up front in terms of how we’re blocking things, the way it’s being called, the way it’s being schemed, why things aren’t working necessarily the way we want them to, and also not abandon it just because we played some good fronts in tough environments and maybe hasn’t come out quite the way we wanted to at times.”

Gannon was asked if there was time to figure out or tweak the system before the team faces Seattle.

“That’s a really good question,” he said, while emphasizing the non-efficient runs. “We have to get that better because the hat that I wear, or that I did wear on defense; when you’re not running the ball efficiently, you’re making it a lot easier on the defense to defend you. There’s not a lot of good calls, run or pass, when you’re behind the sticks. When I say behind the sticks on second down, you have to look at play types. What are they defending, and what do you have to call? I think to answer your question, this team is significantly different than San Francisco. So, we’re going to have a different plan for it and pull a different plan to attack Seattle than we did San Francisco. With saying that, our fundamentals and our techniques have to show up a little bit better. They have to improve from this last week (with) what we did, and we have to realize why runs aren’t being efficient and how everybody fits into that. I think if we just control that, we’ll put them in the right spots. That’s our job but then let’s control the technique part of it and make some hay.”

Gannon added that Petzing called his best game offensively last week and has been very impressed with him.

“No, I’ll tell you this,” Gannon said. “I thought his best game that he called this year was this one. And how we deem that is when we’re looking; when we’re calling shots, what kind of coverages are we calling shots versus when we’re calling runs? What kind of coverage structures are we getting? What are they doing? Are we alternating? Is it known pass? Is it known run? What are we doing on third down? What are our play types? I’m very pleased with all of that. I think we definitely need to coach our guys up a little bit better, and I think we need to execute fundamental things that go into making a play work better, and that’s everybody.”

Cardinals TE Trey McBride was fined $11,593 for taunting.

Rams

Rams HC Sean McVay said that he received a text that metaphorically described how tough WR Puka Nacua is.

“One of my buddies texted me the other day. He said, ‘Nacua must mix his oatmeal with cement,‘” McVay said, via Fox Sports. “I thought that was a pretty appropriate way of just going into how tough he is, but he loves it. He loves the game. He loves obviously being able to make plays with the ball. … He’s a stud. I think he continues to represent why he is so mentally and physically tough. … He shows it on a daily basis.“

Rams WR Davante Adams has been the perfect downfield complement to help take pressure off of Nacua.

“He has incredible ability to beat negative leverage like I’ve never seen before,” Rams WR coach Eric Yarber said of Adams. “When a guy has outside leverage on you or inside leverage, and they’re not supposed to let you get there, he can get there anyway.”

Nacua is the engine of a unit that wanted to increase their physicality heading into the season.

“His game comes to life on Sundays,” QB Matthew Stafford said about Nacua. “He goes out there in practice, and he’s working. He is doing all this stuff. … But when it becomes tackle football is when Puka Nacua‘s game comes to life. We’re really blessed to have him as a player, but as a person too, and as a competitor. To go out there and battle with [him] on Sundays, man, it’s special. I know everybody in our locker room really appreciates him.”

Rams S Kamren Kinchens was fined $23,186 for a hit on a defenseless player.

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