Cardinals
Cardinals WR coach Drew Terrell said that WR Marvin Harrison, Jr. is still learning the nuances of the game, and he’s starting to play more freely.
“There were a lot of things he had to learn, he had to adapt his way of thinking,” Terrell said, via the team’s website. “I’ve seen the biggest change from him is probably his mindset and how he thinks about football, which has been good. He’s playing a more free style of football.”
Cardinals WR Michael Wilson has quietly elevated himself into the team’s WR1 role.
“I know Mike’s process more than most and he definitely deserved all the credit he is getting,” he said. “Kept putting good things on tape, approached the game the right way, and I couldn’t be more proud of Mike and what he accomplished. He deserves it.”
Rams
The Rams had 42 total passing attempts in their Divisional Round win over the Bears despite playing in the cold temperature of Chicago. Los Angeles HC Sean McVay said some of their offensive mistakes contributed to their pass-heavy approach.
“There were some instances where we did have runs called and we ended up getting to some other stuff, some of which we wanted, some that we didn’t,” McVay said, via RamsWire. “Those are areas that I think at the end of the day, I have to be better. I have to be able to have some clarity. I think to your point, there were some instances where we weren’t able to do that at a high clip. I thought we did have success early on on that first drive. Then you start talking about the second series when we had three plays where we went three and out. We made a mistake that occurred on the third-and-four. Then on the third series we ended up having another mistake on the first-and-10 after we gained a first down after we ended up hitting ‘Ferg’ on the on the third-and-11. Then on the fourth series, again we had a mistake protection wise.”
McVay added that he’s more concerned about their execution as opposed to their run-pass balance.
“I think at the end of the day, we have to consistently execute,” McVay said. “We have to provide clarity. I’m not necessarily worried as much about the run-pass balance as much as our snap in and snap out execution. That wasn’t good enough. Then what I’ll also make sure that there’s ownership on so it’s not misunderstood is if we aren’t having successful outcomes, let’s pivot a little bit quicker when the situation and the circumstances dictate if that gives us a chance to have more success. I thought that did illustrate itself later in the game, but it took a little bit too long. That’s where I was critical of myself and I won’t run away from that.”
Seahawks
Seattle traded for WR Rashid Shaheed at the deadline, and he’s made his mark in a big way thus far in the playoffs, including a kick return touchdown to open the Divisional Round against the 49ers. Seahawks HC Mike Macdonald discussed how game planning for Shaheed when he was with the Saints made them want to target him at this year’s deadline to make big plays like he has.
“He was someone that we were targeting throughout the process,” Macdonald said, via Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk. “From my perspective, the coaches’ perspective, he’s a player we really respect. When he’s catching the ball on kick return you’re like, ‘Here we go, we’ve got to contain this guy.’ When he’s on the field on offense, you can’t let him get behind you, and the receiver run game is something you have to account for as well. It really does help the team big-time, so that was awesome.”
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