NFC North Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers

Bears

The Bears were one of the best teams in the NFC last season and would have been a game away from the Championship game if not for an infamous missed field goal. This year, Chicago has the same expectations, but the players aren’t taking anything for granted given how quickly things change in the NFL. 

“You’ve gotta win,” Bears DE Khalil Mack said via the Chicago Sun-Times’ Jason Lieser. “Gotta win now.”

“You’re running out of time, man,” Mack continued. “All these older dudes let us know at an early point in my career, man, we ain’t got no time to waste.”

Lions

Lions WR Marvin Jones is ready to move on to 2019 after 2018 didn’t live up to his own high expectations. The veteran wide receiver played in only nine games because of a knee injury and had some of the lowest totals of his career since his rookie season. 

“There’s always fuel,” Jones said via Tim Twentyman of the official team website. “It’s the same when I went down in 2014, I didn’t play that year. I came back and it’s always motivation. You always want motivation to pull from when you’re heading into the next year, particularly after injury. I’m just here, I’m up and moving now, moving great and just taking it day-by-day.”

Headed into his third year, Lions WR Kenny Golladay is expected to assume the mantle of Detroit’s No. 1 wide receiver. Though he’s earned the nickname “Baby Tron” for his similarities to Lions great Calvin Johnson, Golladay says no one puts higher expectations on him than himself. 

“I know everybody has high expectations for me but their expectations aren’t as high as mine,” Golladay said via Tim Twentyman of the team website. “I feel like I just have a lot to prove.”

Packers

• Per Matt Schneidman, Packers HC Matt LaFleur sat S Josh Jones for tackling and fighting unnecessarily: “I told him to get out at that particular moment. That’s not what we want to be about.”
• Packers first-round S Darnell Savage told reporters that he doesn’t feel behind, despite missing the first five practices of training camp. (Tom Silverstein)
• The Packers activated Savage from the NFI list. (NFLTR)