The 49ers are keeping their focus on Mike Evans’ recovery, and John Lynch says the veteran receiver is grinding through the process after an Achilles injury.
Lynch said Evans is working “tirelessly” to get back, and he believes the approach is paying off. “Mike’s been working tirelessly,” Evans said, via PFT.
“He’ll continue to do that. He’s on a great plan, and I think the idea is you’ve just got to quiet that thing down.
We dealt with that with [RB] Christian [McCaffrey] last year-remember, he had that bilateral. We talked about that a lot, and fortunately with Mike, it’s just on the one side.
He’s dealt with it some throughout his career, but it got to a point where it was really inhibiting his ability to play. At that point, you’ve got to take him out and try to quiet the thing down.
Making good progress on that. We need to continue, and Mike will be tireless in his efforts to do that.”
In Los Angeles, Sean McVay made it clear the Rams are not rushing into deadline-mode just yet. The team is waiting on the return of EDGE Myles Garrett, TE Terrance Ferguson and WR Davante Adams from injured reserve, and McVay said that changes the way the front office is looking at the market.
When asked whether the Rams had talked trades, McVay pointed to the expected returns of those injured players and said the situation would look different if they were out for the season. “No, no, that’s not something - based on our situation, the good thing for us is, what you look at is hopefully some of those trades will be guys getting back from injury that haven’t played for us,” McVay said, via RamsWire.
“That’s the way that we look at it. Like I’ve told you in years past, you always think about it, but with the amount of guys that have not been available that are key and focal points for really both sides of the football, we look at those guys hopefully being able to return within a month.
That’s where that value lies for us. Maybe it’d be a different conversation if we’re talking about guys that are on IR and done for the whole season.
The good thing is a lot of the guys that are big, huge parts that we’re missing, we do expect to get back at some point, just not exactly sure when that is.”
Seattle’s Byron Murphy II is already making his presence felt in a defense that asks a lot from its interior linemen. Through seven games, the Seahawks defensive tackle has posted 24 tackles, five tackles for loss and three sacks, and defensive coordinator Aden Durde said the rookie-like learning curve in this scheme has been a big part of his development.
Durde explained that Murphy isn’t just lining up in one place and facing the same matchup over and over. “In this defense, you’re not always in the same spot, so it’s not like you’re studying one player and, ‘I’m going to play this player, and I know how he sets,’” Durde said, via Andrew Destin of The Athletic.
“He’s going to be playing (against) three, maybe four different players throughout the game. Knowing how to deal in those moments, that’s him learning.
That’s an experience that he’s gained over the last two years, and it’s coming to fruition now.”
That development showed up in a big way in Seattle’s 20-3 win over the Chiefs in Week 7. Mike Macdonald said Murphy was central to the performance.
“It starts with Murph,” Macdonald said. “I think the cool thing is the guys know it, too.
They can see how well he’s playing. I hope everybody else sees it as well.”
Murphy is in the third year of his rookie contract, and Seattle holds a fifth-year option to decide on for 2028. Jarran Reed believes the Seahawks should take care of that sooner rather than later and lock Murphy into a long-term deal.
In Other News...
Rams Are Still Waiting On Myles Garrett For One Frustrating Reason
Around the league, the trade market has been moving fast enough to make every big swing look better or worse by the week. The Seahawks, 49ers and Bears have all made headline-grabbing additions, and the Rams are still waiting for their own major move to pay off after landing Myles Garrett.
What makes the delay so frustrating is the context around the deal. Chicagos package for Jeffery Simmons was in the same neighborhood as what Los Angeles gave up for Garrett, but the situations are not the same, and the Rams are living through the riskier version right now. Garrett remains on injured reserve and has not yet gotten back on the field, leaving Los Angeles with the kind of wait that can make an aggressive trade feel a lot less certain in the short term. [Read more 🡒]
Myles Garretts Offseason Support For Chloe Kim Is Turning Heads
Chloe Kims recent conversation about her ADHD diagnosis offered a more personal look at life away from the competition, and it also put Myles Garrett in the spotlight for the way he has handled the adjustment. Kim described how the diagnosis has changed the way the two communicate, along with some of the everyday routines and small accommodations that have come with it. It was the kind of candid update that gives a little more texture to a relationship that has mostly been viewed from a distance.
Garrett, meanwhile, is navigating his own recovery after knee surgery, so both athletes are managing major parts of their lives at once. For the Rams star edge rusher, the offseason has clearly been about more than rehab and training, with Kims remarks suggesting his support has been steady through a process that can be as much about learning as it is about treatment. Kim continues her athletic career, and the overlap in their schedules and challenges makes this a notable subplot for anyone following Garrett beyond the football field. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Chargers Suddenly Carries Bigger Stakes Than Just Bragging Rights
The Rams Week 8 meeting with the Chargers is shaping up to mean more than the usual Los Angeles bragging rights. With the NFL trade deadline set for Nov. 10, the game arrives at a moment when both teams could be thinking beyond the scoreboard, and the ripple effects may reach well past Sundays final whistle.
The Chargers are widely expected to be sellers no matter how the matchup turns out, which adds another layer to a game already carrying local intrigue. For the Rams, though, the stakes are more fluid, since their appetite for moving veterans could hinge on how they look in this stretch, while outside chatter has already started tying possible Chargers trade pieces and potential Rams targets to the deadline market. [Read more 🡒]