49ers

49ers DC Robert Saleh and Jaguars HC Liam Coen made headlines for their confrontation following Week 4’s game, which came after Saleh said Jacksonville was “almost elite” at stealing signs legally. Saleh clarified his comments on Tuesday. 

“As a coach, watching their tape, I recognize the amount of hours that must be spent to be able to build formations and define every little indicator they can to give their players a chance to be in a successful position,” Saleh said, via ProFootballTalk. “That’s exhausting, and every team does it. Some do it better than others and it was my way of acknowledging that these guys are really, really, really good at it. And, like I said, Sunday doesn’t change that. I think Liam’s doing a hell of a job, I really do. You can tell that that team’s really taking on his personality and I hope they came out of the game healthy, and I wish him the best of luck throughout the rest of the season. I wish I could have found a better choice of words, but my intent was always to compliment that football staff.”

• 49ers QB Brock Purdy was “complaining of some soreness in his toe” on Monday but didn’t have any issues during the game. (Nick Wagoner)
• San Francisco HC Kyle Shanahan says “hopefully it won’t be too bad” on WR Ricky Pearsall‘s knee injury and initially thinks it’s a minor PCL injury. (Wagoner)
• Shanahan hopes S Malik Mustapha can start practicing after Week 6 as he works back from an ACL injury. (Matt Barrows)

Rams 

The Rams were coming off a 33-26 loss to the Eagles in Week 3, where they relinquished a 26-7 lead, responding with a 27-20 win over the Colts in Week 4. Los Angeles DE Jared Verse said HC Sean McVay addressed how they got away from “our morals.”

“That was the kind of game a lot of coaches would’ve been like, O.K., move on to next week, and not addressed it at all,” Verse, via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “Sean takes that head on. We gave that team that win. Obviously, that’s a very good Philadelphia team, but we gave them that win. We started going away from our morals and changing up how we play. And Sean made sure to adjust with that. We can dominate any team in the league but we have to be us.”

Verse said they focused on how they gave Week 3 away to the Eagles to ensure they don’t make the same mistake. 

“We made mistakes [in Philly] and they were able to come back,” Verse said. “You sit down and say, All right, this was on us. How do I make sure that never happens again? I’m glad it happened against one of the top teams in the league instead of another team that wasn’t as talented. We realized, that’s what can happen if you don’t keep your foot on the gas, take your foot off their neck. This is what my dad always told me, he would say, I don’t care if you’re up 100, or you’re up three, you keep your foot on their damn neck.”

Verse remains confident that they are one of the best teams in the NFL. 

“You could’ve asked me this if we were 0–4. I would say the same thing. I 100% believe we have one of the best teams in the league,” Verse said.

Seahawks

It was recently reported that teams are monitoring Seahawks CB Riq Woolen as a potential trade target ahead of the deadline. When asked about the rumors, HC Mike Macdonald said he’s glad to have valued players on his roster. 

“If teams are interested in our players, that means we’ve got good players,” Macdonald said, via Michael-Shawn Dugar of The Athletic. “So, I love having great players.”

Woolen currently leads the team in penalties and committed multiple penalties in their Week 4 win over the Cardinals. Macdonald thinks the cornerback is “pressing a little bit” and has been put in some tough situations.  

“Riq is playing hard,” Macdonald said. “I think he’s pressing a little bit with the situation going on. But it does seem like some of those penalties are in the same mode where it’s playing the deep ball when he is in phase. A couple of them, he was put in a tough spot where they looked like it was underthrown a little bit, and that’s a hard situation for the corner. But we can keep putting him in more situations in practice, give him some more exposure to those plays so he has some more confidence when he is put in those situations. Those are plays that he’s made throughout his career. We expect him to make them.”

As for CB Devon Witherspoon, Macdonald feels he played well in Week 4 despite giving up a couple of catches to Cardinals WR Marvin Harrison Jr.

“He played a good game,” Macdonald said. “There’s a couple plays he gave up, a couple catches that Harrison had on him, but Spoon’s going to be fine. The guy competes; he’s on his stuff. He’s a spark plug out there for us.” 

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