NFC North Notes: Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

• Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune writes that there is “reason to believe” second-year QB Mitch Trubisky will succeed in HC Matt Nagy‘s offense, but there’s also “a ton of unknown” with him after his up and down rookie year.
• Regarding the outside linebacker spots, Biggs believes the team will have to “overhaul” the position at some point in the future with former first-round Leonard Floyd being the key player to watch.
• As for Bears RB Jordan Howard, Biggs does not think he’s a good fit in Nagy’s offense, considering his prior struggles as a receiver out of the backfield.
• Nagy expects RG Kyle Long (ankle/shoulder) to be fully recovered in time for the start of training camp this July.

Lions

• Michael Rothstein of ESPN mentions WRs Teo Redding and Chris Lacy as two undrafted free agents who have looked good during OTAs and could make the active roster if they continue playing well during training camp.
• Rothstein writes that it is unclear how long Lions DC Paul Pasqualoni, who is 68-years old, will continue his career and it doesn’t appear as though there’s a successor on the team’s coaching staff at this point.
• If a current Lions’ coach replaced Pasqualoni, Rothstein suggests DBs coach Brian Stewart as someone to keep an eye on, given that he has former defensive coordinator experience with the Cowboys, University of Houston, University of Maryland, and Rice.

Vikings

Vikings new QB Kirk Cousins has been working with the receiving corps to develop chemistry this offseason and get on the same page in time for the 2018 season.

“He’s definitely a blessing to be around as far as the energy that he brings,” WR Stefon Diggs said of Cousins, via ESPN.com. “As far as being our general and the guy that’s going to lead us, I put 100 percent faith in him and I trust him.”

“It’s hard to figure that out if it’s paying off or not,” Adam Thielen explained. “I know that it doesn’t hurt. I think something like that is just a jump-start to a long journey of getting on the same page. I think people underestimate how much time, how much effort and how much repetition it takes to get on the same page with a quarterback.“