NFC North Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings

Bears

So far during training camp, the Bears offense has been noticeably inconsistent. While some of that comes from the caliber of Chicago’s defense, Bears HC Matt Nagy is also throwing a lot of new things at the offense in their second year in his system. Bears QB Mitch Trubisky says the team has “been in a lot of situations this camp that we haven’t seen in the past couple years or in practices” while QB coach Dave Ragone said now was the perfect time “to push the envelope” in practice. Nagy says he isn’t getting caught up on the mistakes in practice. 

“When you do that, you’re going to beat your head into the ground,” Nagy said via ESPN’s Jeff Dickerson. “You can’t do that. We have big picture. There’s going to be some balls in here, there’s interceptions. I said it last year. We don’t get frustrated over that. We’re testing some things out.”

Lions

The Lions have yet to see surprise training camp addition DT Mike Daniels for them on the field during team drills yet. Daniels has been taking it easy as he presumably continues to work back from a foot injury that ended his 2018 season. 

“I’m ready to go,” Daniels said via Kyle Meinke of MLive.com. “I’m ready to go. But like I said, it’s just a matter of being smart. I’ve been through plenty of camps in my career, and not saying I don’t want to get the work, which is why I’ll be out there next week, but it’s just being smart. As you get older, you have to be smart. You can’t just beat yourself into submission every day, which is what I prefer to do.”

Lions G Graham Glasgow has only missed one snap the past two seasons for Detroit, starting at both left guard and center. Glasgow is moving full-time to right guard this season, but his starting spot doesn’t appear to necessarily be secure. He’s rotated with both the first and second-team so far during training camp and Lions HC Matt Patricia said Glasgow, like everyone, is “in competition right now.” 

“I think that group inside, there’s a lot of rotation that’s going on inside,” Patricia said via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “That’s good. That’s what you want. It’s training camp, that’s what everybody expects. Everybody expects to go out and work hard and compete and we’ll see how it all unfolds in the end.”

The Lions have had a heavy rotation at the left guard spot as well. Birkett notes, however, the Lions have not rotated LT Taylor Decker, RT Ricky Wagner or C Frank Ragnow. Meanwhile, the team just gave G Joe Dahl a two-year extension, possibly signifying an early leader for the job at left guard. Glasgow is still set to hit free agency following this season. 

“Um, you know, it’s just the way it is,” Glasgow said. “It’s what the coaches feel like is going to help the team and I’ll do whatever they ask me to do and I’m trying to build as much chemistry with whoever I’m next to. I think it’s good to get reps with guys that you’re normally not around, so in that regard I think it’s good. Yeah, I just do what I’m told.”

Packers

An unproductive 2018 season coupled with a looming $5 million roster bonus led to speculation the Packers would move on from 32-year-old TE Jimmy Graham this offseason. However, Graham is back in Green Bay and motivated to prove everybody who “thinks I’m old and slow now” wrong.

“When I get those opportunities, I have to show him that I’m the biggest, fastest thing out there. I have to go up and get those grabs for him,” Graham said via Madison.com’s Jason Wilde. “I’ve been focused and I’m ready to get this thing started obviously. We have four more weeks here, but I’m about as fired up as I’ve ever been to go and shut a lot of people up.”

• Per ESPN’s Rob Demovsky, Packers RB Corey Grant‘s deal includes a $60,000 signing bonus, an $805,000 base salary and $18,750 for each game he’s on the active roster. 

Vikings

The Vikings spent a second-round pick on TE Irv Smith despite already having Kyle Rudolph on the roster. While there was some speculation Rudolph would be traded, Minnesota elected to re-sign him to a four-year, $36 million extension this offseason. That doesn’t mean Smith won’t see the field, though. 

“They’re moving all of us all over the place,” the rookie said via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “One play I can literally be out wide, one play I could literally be in the backfield (or) in the slot with my hand in the dirt. There’s so many different things that Coach Stefanski and Coach Kubiak have implemented in this offense and it’s very tight end friendly.”

• Vikings CB Bene Benwikere‘s deal includes an $805,000 base salary, $90,000 roster bonus and a total of $105,000 in per-game roster bonuses. Benwikere receives no guaranteed money. (Ben Goessling)