NFC North Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers

Bears

Bears HC Matt Nagy said QB Mitch Trubisky has embraced competing with Nick Foles for the starting job this offseason

“Any person, when that happens, you’re just going to feel like, ‘OK, how do I make this better?’” Nagy said, via ProFootballTalk. “And for probably a day or two, [Trubisky] was that way. After that and ever since, he’s been really good. And I appreciate that about him.”

• NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport confirms both Bears quarterbacks will play in any preseason games Chicago has this year as they compete for the starting job. 
• Over The Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald has the Bears ranked in the bottom tier in his cap health index for 2021, which measures a team’s estimated cap space, cap flexibility and pending free agents. 
• The Athletic’s Adam Jahns points out 2020 is a big season for Bears LB Roquan Smith, as Chicago will need to decide on his fifth-year option next offseason and are still waiting to see more from him after a dicey 2019 season. 
• The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain says Bears WR Allen Robinson is the only likely candidate to be extended before the start of the season, though RB Tarik Cohen and DE Roy Robertson-Harris are names to monitor after the season. 

Lions

Lions P Arryn Siposs is a little different than most undrafted rookie free agents trying to make a team this year. For starters, Siposs is 28. He’s also already been a professional athlete in his home country of Australia playing their version of football. After an injury ended his career there, he and his fiancee moved to the United States where he was Auburn’s punter for the past two seasons. 

Packers

The relationship between Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and HC Matt LaFleur was already scrutinized more than normal given LaFleur’s status as a rookie head coach and Rodgers’ reputation as being difficult to work with. They managed to quiet much of that with a successful first season together in LaFleur’s new offense, but when the Packers drafted QB Jordan Love in the first round, it re-ignited some of the speculations about the duo’s relationship. Both sides have tried to put that out in public comments since the draft. 

“We talk four times a week whenever we get those opportunities to meet in those individual meetings, and I feel really good about where we’re at,” LaFleur said via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “We both understand that this is a business. When that whole thing went down it was just one of those situations where there were a couple of guys targets that had just previously been picked and Jordan was the next guy on the board.”