NFC North Notes: Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

Bears DC Vic Fangio admitted that not having first-round LB Roquan Smith in training camp is “not advantageous to anybody.”

“Obviously, it’s not advantageous to anybody that he’s not here, and I’ll just leave it at that,” Fangio said, via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune. “Talk to Ryan [Pace, the General Manager] and his salary-cap guys about that.”

“I think he has the potential to be a good player — a really good player,” Fangio said of Smith. “I would have loved to have him here the first day. But we’ll adapt and adjust and get him ready.”

Regarding negotiations with Smith, Bears HC Matt Nagy admitted that they’re currently in a “stalemate.”

“It is at a stalemate, but at the same time I’m not going to get into any more of where it’s at publicly. I don’t think it’s fair to him, I don’t think it’s fair to his agent, I don’t think it’s fair to our organization. We’re going to keep it between us and I think that’s the best thing to do right now,” Nagy said, via Mark Potash of the Sun Times.

Packers

Packers HC Mike Pettine was asked about the loss of ILB Jake Ryan to a season-ending knee injury and how they’ll deal with it.

“Certainly, we have an experienced guy and a guy who was very productive last year in Blake [Martinez]. The rookie [Oren Burks] has flashed some things, but the transition from the college game takes some time. Ahmad Thomas has flashed some coverage ability, and then we have some younger guys,” Pettine said, per Rob Demovsky. “We’ll see how it plays it. It’s a big loss with Jake.”

Pettine added  that the coaching staff is scheduled to meet and discuss potential roster needs and there’s been “open lines of communication with the personnel department.”

Vikings

The Vikings announced five front office promotions on Wednesday including:

• Project Executive Don Becker has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Real Estate Development and Strategic Projects.
• Assistant General Manager George Paton has been promoted to Vice President of Player Personnel/Assistant General Manager.
• Director of Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer Eric Sugarman has been promoted to Vice President of Sports Medicine/Head Athletic Trainer.
• Executive Director of Public Relations Bob Hagan has been promoted to Vice President of Football and Media Communications.
• Executive Director of Communications Jeff Anderson has been promoted to Vice President of Strategic and Corporate Communications.