Lions
Lions OT Penei Sewell has been stepping up as a leader since being drafted in 2021. He describes that he’s been finding his voice in the locker room.
“I think it definitely starts in the locker room,” Sewell said, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s official site. “That’s where we spend the most of our time with each other and get away from football and actually learn about the human being across from you that you’re going to war with. I think it starts there.”
Sewell said they have “way higher” expectations in 2023 and feels like they are coming out with a “different intent” going into next season.
“Shoot, sky is the limit,” Sewell said. “Definitely off the bat expectations are way higher than last year. We’re coming out with different intent and different purpose than we were here last year. Attention to detail has to go up. Room for error shortens a lot.”
Packers
Packers HC Matt LaFleur has steadfastly stood by DC Joe Barry at the end of each of the past two seasons as Barry has come under fire for Green Bay’s perceived underperformance on his side of the ball. Barry understands it will be tough for LaFleur to shield him for a third season.
“There were a number of things, it starts with me,” Barry said via NFL Media’s Kevin Patra. “I have to do better. In order for this group to play better, I have to do better.”
Barry specifically cited playing with more overall consistency and sharpening their details in situational football as the necessary fixes in 2023.
“If you do go back and really critique last year, the inconsistencies were the things that really got us,” Barry said. “We played well at times, we didn’t play well at times. And that’s what you can’t do in this league. … On our side of the ball, on the defensive side of the ball, that’s the thing that we’ve got to do week in and week out, is that we’ve got to show up and play our best version of football, our best version of defense. We can’t be up one week and down the next. We’ve got to find that consistency and show up every single week.”
Vikings
When asked about going into a prominent role next season, Vikings RB Alexander Mattison responded he didn’t initially anticipate returning to Minnesota before signing a two-year extension.
“Well, there wasn’t much anticipation, I actually didn’t think I’d be back in Minnesota. So, it’s a blessing to be back and be in a place where I spent the first four years of my career, I love it there,” said Mattison, via SiriusXM NFL Radio.
As for his expected role in 2023, Mattison said he sees a lot of upside going into his second year under HC Kevin O’Connell and they are working to identify areas for improvement.
“With this opportunity in front of me, I see so much upside. Just coming into Year 2 of this offense under [Kevin O’Connell] and Wes Phillips, they know what they are doing. We’ve gone back to the drawing board and have seen where we can improve from last year, especially in the run game. It’s pretty exciting,” said Mattison.
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