49ers

49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk is still recovering from a torn ACL and MCL he suffered in October against the Chiefs. San Francisco WRs coach Leonard Hankerson said Aiyuk is taking on a coaching mindset this offseason. 

“Those are things he hasn’t seen from his perspective,” Hankerson said, via Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports. “He’s seen it from a player’s perspective. But sitting in that meeting room now, I’ve said to him, ‘Brandon, you can be in here and be my coach, you can be my assistant.’ And he loves that because he can coach up the guys and he helps big-time with that. So just mentally, it’s been one of the biggest things for him.”

Hankerson reiterated that Aiyuk has been great in their meeting room. 

“He’s been in meetings and catching up on the mental part, as far as seeing it on film,” Hankerson said. “He’s also been doing a great job in meetings, having an extra set of eyes for myself. I ask him questions and have him coach up the guys.”

Rams 

Rams OLB Jared Verse is entering the second year of his career after winning the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year award. Reflecting on his rookie season, Verse thinks he missed on a lot of “big plays.” 

“The biggest thing I realized was how many sacks — and not even just sacks but big plays — I missed out on,” Verse said, via Stu Jackson of the team’s site. “Dropping in coverage, I could have done this; or rushing the pass, I could have done that. Even in the run game a couple of times, there were things where I’m a little too far inside, I’m a little too far outside, and I could have made a big impact play. So realizing that this really is a game of inches — whether it’s just stopping the ball or actually just doing your job — there’s a couple of things I could’ve done better.”

Rams DC Chris Shula said they don’t want to put “any extra pressure” on Verse to exceed last year’s performance. 

“It’s not really (about getting him to) elevate… we were just talking about it this morning,” Shula said. “We don’t want him to put any extra pressure on himself, just like we talked about with Kobie Turner last year. You don’t got to replace (former Rams defensive lineman) Aaron Donald. You don’t have to do anything else — just be the best version of yourself. That’s all we’re challenging him to do is understand his ops (opportunities) within the scheme of the defense, which we started to do in the middle of the season last year, and to just be himself. We’re not looking for any stats, not looking for anything — just want him to play hard and be his best self every single day.”

Verse added he’s not feeling “too much pressure” going into 2025 and just wants to be the “best version of me.”

“I don’t really feel too much pressure,” Verse said. “If I am who I am and I take the strides that are needed to be taken, I’m going to be the best version of me and I’m going to be able to help the team in any facet that they need.”

Seahawks third-round QB Jalen Milroe has made a positive early impression on OC Klint Kubiak with his work ethic.

“The guy is a worker,” Kubiak said, via NY Times. “You see him in there at 4:30 in the morning on the field going through his plays. Nobody asked him to do that, but he’s putting in extra time. I’ve seen him grow a lot from rookie minicamp to now, so I’ve been impressed with the kid.”

Kubiak called Milroe a great athlete and said that he’s doing a fantastic job of picking up and learning a new offense.

“The guy is putting a lot of time in learning a brand new way of communicating an offense,” he said. “His ability to make plays with his feet. He’s got excellent arm strength, great athleticism, and he’s in the process of having his mind catch up to his feet. And the whole offense is doing that, learning a new system. But he’s doing a heck of a job at it thus far.”

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