NFC North Notes: Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

New Bears S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix said he’s happy to be a part of a Bears defense with sky-high potential in 2019 as the team seeks its first Super Bowl win since 1985. 

“I’m glad to be a part of something special going on in Chicago right now,” Clinton-Dix said via Chris Hays of the Orlando Sentinel. “We have a chance to be special and I’m glad to be a part of this unit.”

Bears S Eddie Jackson says there no shortage of motivation for the Bears this season. 

“Everything — how short, and how far, we came,” Jackson told the Chicago Sun Times’ Patrick Finley. “From the losing record to the winning record. How short we came, with the first-round playoff game with the field goal. Right now we just want to build off everything and let that be the fuel to our fire. We plan on taking this whole thing.”

Packers

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers took some flack for his propensity to freelance in former HC Mike McCarthy‘s offense. While he says he’ll always trust his playmaking instincts, Rodgers says he’s putting an emphasis on learning the structure of Green Bay’s new offense. 

“I think it comes down to instincts,” Rodgers said via PackersNews.com. “That’s the most important thing we’ve got when we play. But I think you can retrain those instincts as well, and with a new offense I’m really trying to trust the progressions and my eyes and learn timing on different things. And in order to do that, you’ve really have to give it a chance to develop. That being said, once you get into a live environment, I’m not just going to stand there in the face of a bearing down defensive lineman and get rocked, especially in the preseason. So I think the most important thing for me is to train my eyes so I know exactly where guys are going to be, when the progressions open up…then I can go out and play.”

Vikings

Vikings CB Holton Hill says his suspension for the first four games of the 2019 season comes from a pre-workout substance he took that he wasn’t aware was on the banned substances list.

“I’m just learning from my mistakes, knowing what you put into your body,” Hill said via the Pioneer Press’ Chris Tomasson. “I’m responsible for everything that goes into it. I’m taking it as a learning experience, and I’m just growing from there.”

Hill said he’ll continue to practice and prepare as if he’ll be on the field Week 1 instead of Week 5. 

“Just knowing that I’m not going to be here for the first four games, I still prepare myself as if I was going to be here,” said Hill. “Everything that I put into the tank, it’s going to eventually come out, and the more work I do, it doesn’t matter when I get the opportunity, it’s going to come for sure.”

• Hill will lose $134,118 of his $570,000 salary due to the suspension.