49ers

Vikings veteran WR Jauan Jennings said he turned down a trade back to the 49ers because he is comfortable in Minnesota.

“I just thought it was best for both teams,” Jennings said, via ESPN. “No distractions. I love where I’m at.”

“I’m not the coach, so I don’t call the plays,” Jennings continued. “I’m a player, so I just play the game. I feel like anybody who watches football, who watches sports in general, kind of understands what comes with it.”

Cardinals

• The Cardinals are doing tests on QB Gardner Minshew‘s right elbow/arm after taking a hit near the end of the first half. (Darren Urban)
• Urban adds C Hjalte Froholdt is in concussion protocol.
• Cardinals HC Mike LaFleur said it’s possible Minshew’s injury could be long-term. (Josh Weinfuss)

Rams

By all accounts, the Rams plan to stay quiet at the trade deadline, even though their record isn’t what people expected by now. Part of their rationale is the return of injured cornerstone players like DE Myles Garrett, who Los Angeles got in the trade of the year this past summer. Rams players said getting Garrett back now after a couple of months on injured reserve feels like they just traded for him. 

“Yeah, that’s what it feels like, no doubt,” Rams DT Braden Fiske said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “Any time you got somebody that broke the sack record out there on the field, the presence is felt just by the communication that is forced from the offensive line — they gotta slide his direction or they got to send a chip his direction. So all together, it just really opens up opportunity across the entire front, especially when we got all our best rushers out on the field. I mean, it just creates unbelievable opportunities, which I think you saw today.

“And he had three sacks on his return. I think the rust got knocked off pretty quick.”

Garrett’s three sacks, along with a forced fumble he chipped in, were exactly the kind of impact the Rams expected when they traded away a bounty of draft capital and beloved DE Jared Verse. The Rams needed it too in a tight win over a competitive Commanders team. 

“You can take any of the sacks that he got and just how quickly that he was able to bend the edge — there was one point he got left one-on-one and he literally just made a pay off the rip — and it’s just like, Yeah, that’s why he is who he is and gets paid what he does and is considered the best in the game,” Fiske said. “No doubt, you see it firsthand. Just overall, I’m happy for him. He’s happy, healthy, playing a game he loves and being around his guys. It’s cool.”

The win moved the Rams to 5-4 and gave them a winning record for the first time this season after a rocky start. Fiske thinks that with Garrett in the fold, the Rams have a chance to hit their stride and peak when it counts. 

“I do think that the sense of urgency, it’s hard to look yourself in the mirror when you’re 2–4. And the only way to do it is go back to work,” Fiske said. “November, December, that’s when the best ball’s got to be played, that’s when the real football starts to get played in the NFL. And we’re definitely looking forward to it.”