NFC North Notes: Jordan Love, Sam Darnold, Lions, Packers, Vikings

Lions

Lions HC Dan Campbell said he was trying to get K Jake Bates to the range where he could’ve kicked a 73-yard field goal.

“I was trying to get him there,” Campbell said, via PFT. “That’s probably a little much, if I thought we could’ve gotten to the minus-45 it would have been worth it just to see him swing at one. I would have liked to see that too. I told [Lions special teams coach Dave Fipp] today, it would have been nice to let him swing at one, but we couldn’t quite get there. . . . It was just too far. . . . If it’s a little low, it gets blocked and it’s too much of a risk.”

Packers

Packers QB Jordan Love mentioned he came out of Week 4’s game with some general soreness around his injured knee but feels confident after not suffering any setbacks. 

“I’d definitely rather not get hit on the leg for sure,” Love said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “But like I said before, that’s one of the question marks going into the game, how would it feel getting hit, getting twisted, things like that? And I think I came out of the game fine. Obviously, it’s going to be a little sore from taking hits and whatnot but … I like where my knee’s at coming out of the game and like you said, it gives me confidence going forward. But I’d like to try to limit those hits as much as possible.”

Packers HC Matt LaFleur said Love looked good in Wednesday’s practice.

“I thought just in our limited practice today, he did a really nice job,” LaFleur said. “It looks like he’s just getting back in the groove.”

LaFleur also thinks WR Christian Watson dodged a serious ankle injury. 

“Just talking to him today, I think we got lucky. We dodged a real bullet there because it looked pretty ugly.”

Vikings

Vikings QB Sam Darnold is set to play against his former team in Week 5 against the Jets in London. He feels things could’ve gone better in New York after being the organization’s No. 3 overall pick in 2018.  

“I had a lot of opportunities in New York and I always felt like I could have played better there,” Darnold said, via ProFootballTalk.

• Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell said they’ve elected against designating G Dalton Risner (back) to return right now, per Andrew Krammer.