NFC Notes: Bears, Buccaneers, Packers

Bears

The competition for the Bears starting quarterback gig between Mitchell Trubisky and Nick Foles is on hold for now, as competing virtually would be impossible. But at some point the team will take the field and the two will duke it out. Foles has already neutralized the playbook advantage Trubisky had, as HC Matt Nagy, who coached Foles in Kansas City, said the veteran picked up the scheme like it was riding a bike. But Trubisky has familiarity with his teammates on his side and has been able to have small throwing sessions with them during the pandemic. Despite Chicago declining his fifth-year option, they say Trubisky is in good spirits. 

“I think the biggest thing for any player in the league is just when it comes to a situation like that, you have to just focus on yourself,” Bears WR Allen Robinson said in a radio interview with ESPN via the Athletic’s Adam Jahns. “You can’t think too much about it. You just got to go out there and try to continue to improve yourself as a player, which I think he’s doing.”

Buccaneers

• Albert Breer of SI points out that HC Bruce Arians had previously sold the idea of learning a new offense to QB Tom Brady, rather than having the entire team learn an offense that revolves around Brady.
• An NFC executive tells Jeremy Fowler that he thinks the Buccaneers could be much improved in the run game this year: “They have a chance to be a lot better in that area. I think that’s where they’ll improve coming out of the draft.”
• An AFC executive added that he could see first-round pick Tristan Wirfs eventually playing left tackle for the Buccaneers: “He projects as a right tackle, but with [Wirfs’] athleticism, I bet he could make the transition pretty smoothly.”

Packers

At some point in the next few years, Packers first-round QB Jordan Love will face the challenge of stepping into the shoes of his predecessor, Aaron Rodgers, who’s a strong candidate for the Hall of Fame and is seen by many as one of the most talented quarterbacks to ever play. That doesn’t leave a shortage of pressure or expectations for Love, but it still falls short of the level he says he sets for himself. 

“No matter where I would have landed, that was the goal for me,” Love said via NFL Media’s Omar Ruiz. “You gotta go out there, prove yourself and make a name for yourself. It’s a job, you gotta be able to keep that. For me, just trying to learn the offense and prove myself.”