49ers
49ers HC Kyle Shanahan said the team strongly considered drafting QB Mac Jones third overall before shifting to QB Trey Lance.
“I loved how he played the position, especially in college,” Shanahan said, via PFT. “He got the ball to the right spots, didn’t take sacks, would hang in there and get hit and distribute the ball to his playmakers. I’ve seen him do it in the NFL at a high level. And we’re excited to get him working in our offense.”
Jones understands the responsibilities of being a backup quarterback after he was traded to Jacksonville last year.
“His mindset is just being the best quarterback he can be,” Shanahan said. “When you come in as a backup, you can’t always do that on Sunday. You got to be ready every week just in case. You don’t know when a guy will get hurt. I think he has a chance to improve every day. From what I hear about him as a worker, I think he will.”
Cardinals
“Honestly, they say, Year 2 (post-knee injury) is the best year, and honestly how I feel right now is as if it never happened,” Murray told PHNX Sports. “Talking to (offensive coordinator) Drew (Petzing) and Izzy (QBs coach Israel Woolfork), feeling like going into this year I’ll be able to do whatever I want to do. I do feel like I have to run more next year. I’m open to running more next year, just because it’s such a weapon, you know, it’s such a weapon. Like when I hand the ball off obviously I hand the ball off to James Conner, I hand off to Trey Benson, we’re a very good rushing team, which is a great thing. But when Lamar Jackson, hands the ball off everybody is like ‘Ahh’, like you can relax, Josh Allen hands the ball off, ‘Ahh’, you know what I mean? So I think for us, part of the emphasis going into next season is conceptually on time, I feel I’m one of the best in the league.”
Seahawks
Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald has spent a lot of time getting familiar with new QB Sam Darnold after signing him to a $100 million deal. Macondald is thrilled with Darnold’s leadership qualities and believes he will be a perfect fit in the locker room.
“I think it’s interesting because I haven’t had a relationship with Sam before a couple weeks ago, and it’s been awesome so far, our conversations,” Macdonald said, via SiriusXM NFL Radio. “It’s been really cool to hear about people that have had a relationship with him in his life kind of throughout his journey, and all positive things they say about him. All the way back to his college days at USC, we have some of those folks still in our building right now.”
“I’m most excited about the person, the leader, the teammate, that guy that we get to work with every day. I think he’s in a great spot from our conversations. I think he’s energized, he’s driven and just like the rest of us in the building, so he’s going to fit right in.”
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