49ers
The 49ers acquired DE Bryce Huff from the Eagles earlier this offseason. San Francisco DL coach Kris Kocurek said Huff’s speed off the edge has been evident in practice.
“His speed is always showing up. His ability to get off, to close space on tackles really quick, make air disappear and win on the edge. And then with his built-in leverage in his body, he has the ability to (convert) speed to power. When tackles overcompensate and over-set on him, he can beat people across his face, inside, as well,” Kocurek said, via Matt Barrows of The Athletic.
Huff played under DC Robert Saleh during his time as the Jets’ head coach. Kocurek points out Huff went from playing with his hand on the ground in Saleh’s system compared to a standing role in Philadelphia’s defense.
“It was hand in the ground versus playing the stand-up outside linebacker role. It’s different — the foot sequence. If you’re born into a hand-in-the-ground defense, it’s an adjustment period to turn yourself into a standup outside linebacker and vice versa. … I still saw a good player on tape (in Philadelphia). He had a wrist injury about midseason that I think kind of derailed his progression with him being a stand-up player. But I thought he was really coming along.”
Rams
Davante Adams joins the Rams following his tumultuous time with the Raiders and Jets last season. The veteran receiver said coming to Los Angeles has been refreshing for his career.
“I feel like this is what I needed just based off the vibe and the aura of the building,” Adams said, via Sarah Barshop of ESPN. “And everybody’s in a good mood. It’s not like a dark cloud over the building. And I’ve experienced that quite a bit over the last few years. So, it’s a glaring difference when you come into a building like this.”
Adams mentioned that Matthew Stafford and Los Angeles’ young roster were key factors in his decision to sign with the Rams.
“And [they’ve] got a really good quarterback in here,” Adams said. “Got a really good, young team that shows a lot of promise and was obviously really close to being able to have a chance at the whole thing last year. So, just knowing how hungry this team is and seeing the work that they’re still putting in after having a year last year just kind of confirms that I’m in the right place.”
Adams said he heard a lot of good things about HC Sean McVay from players around the league.
“You can see why he’s had so much success and why everybody kind of looks at him and looks to him the way that they do in this building,” Adams said. “And before I even got a chance to really get together with a lot of these guys, I’d heard some of the feelings and sentiments from different players about him, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen any uniformity toward any individual ever in the past before that. And getting to know him now, it just kind of backs it up footballwise and him as a person. So, when your leader is that way and it makes it easy to come to work, it just makes the whole thing a lot more fun.”
Seahawks
Seahawks OL Abraham Lucas said the offense will look completely different this coming season under new OC Klint Kubiak, with an emphasis on establishing the run to open up the passing game.
“It’s entirely new, so pretty much everything,” Lucas said, via the team’s website. “Just downhill, running off the ball, establishing the run. I know we got a lot of criticism for that, so moving into this year, we’re looking to really get after it in the run game, specifically.”
Lucas added that nearly every new coach wants to establish the run, but Kubiak made it clear that this unit will ensure that the running game comes first.
“When you get a new staff in — I mean, everybody wants to run the ball — but when you come in and it’s a non-negotiable like, ‘We’re running the ball. We put a fullback in the backfield. We’re changing it up, we’re doing things differently.’ It’s like an old-school mentality with a new-school principle. Definitely looking forward to getting after that. I’ll put it like this, we’re trying to be elite at very few things, but those few things are what the offense is going to be based around, and that’s the run game. We’re going to be elite at the run game. That’s the philosophy with it. It’s not some hodgepodge of a bunch of different stuff we’re just throwing in. We’re going to be elite at the basics to make sure that they work so we can do it against anybody.”
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