NFC Notes: Fred Warner, Mike LaFleur, Matthew Stafford, 49ers, Cardinals, Rams

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49ers 49ers LB Fred Warner is fully cleared for football after working his way back from a broken and dislocated ankle. Warner explained how he turned to swimming for rehab to reduce swelling and take pressure off his ankle. “I was constantly dealing with swelling,” Warner said, via Matt Barrows of The Athletic . “So when I would put it in the water and just kick, it was a natural flushing of the ankle. Every time I got out of the water, my ankle looked so much better than it did going in.” San Jose State women’s swim and dive coach Sage Hopkins met Warner at the school’s pool and helped teach the All-Pro linebacker how to swim. Hopkins was blown away with Warner’s ability and believes he swims better than some Division I water polo athletes. “He was going with almost a full bucket of water, which is a lot,” Hopkins said. “We’ve got sprinters on our team that couldn’t pull as much as him. So I figured this was stuff that would really resonate with him, that was in his wheelhouse.” “Our curve was just exponential. I wish I would have videoed our starting point. As I told him (recently), he swims better than a lot of Division I water polo players.” Warner felt his endurance was in a great spot during Wednesday’s practice, which could partially be attributed to his time swimming this offseason. “My endurance was great. That was the least of my worries,” Warner said. “That was something I wondered about — kind of being thrown into the fire of a Wednesday practice format. And I just got thrown into all the individual drills with no restriction. I felt great. I thought it was a best-case scenario of how it went that day.” Cardinals Mike LaFleur embarks on his first venture as an NFL head coach with the Cardinals in 2026. His older brother, Packers HC Matt LaFleur , said he was impressed by his brother’s introductory press conference with Arizona. “We are as close as anybody,” Matt LaFleur said, via Darren Urban of the team’s site . “There are no other siblings. I was so fired up coming to Phoenix for his first press conference. I was nervous for what he could do and then it was, ‘Holy sh*t, that’s a lot better than I could do.'” As the Commanders’ quarterbacks coach back in 2011, Matt LaFleur said he and fellow assistant and future Rams HC Sean McVay began quizzing Mike on his offense when he was Saint Joseph College’s offensive coordinator. “There were a couple of questions he couldn’t answer,” Matt said. “It was such a great lesson for him. Probably a humbling moment. But taking that one experience, I think there is a reason where he is.” Mike LaFleur’s NFL career began in 2014 as a coaching intern with the Browns under then-OC Kyle Shanahan . Mike recalled his brother lining up the job for him. “He said ‘Kyle took the Cleveland job and you’re going with him,'” Mike said. “I thought I heard him say he was going with him, and I’m like, ‘But you’re going to Notre Dame?’ And he says, ‘No, you’re going.’ I said, ‘Seriously?'” Matt LaFleur told him that learning from Shanahan would be instrumental in his coaching career. “I said, ‘Hey buddy, pack your bags you’re going to Cleveland. And oh by the way you’re going to take a paycut, you’re gonna make 25 grand,'” Matt said. “It was one of those opportunities, we have so much respect for Kyle, I knew what Mike was about to learn from one of the best in the business.” Rams During a recent appearance on the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast , Rams HC Sean McVay said QB Matthew Stafford ’s preseason back…