NFC Notes: Bears, Jeff Okudah, Lions, Vikings

Bears

• Matt Lombardo reports the Bears met with Clemson DE KJ Henry following his pro day. 

Lions

The Lions have put a lot of effort into retooling their secondary this offseason after it was the biggest weakness for a unit that was historically bad for half of the 2022 season. Detroit signed Cameron Sutton, Emmanuel Moseley and C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and all three could end up starting, with Gardner-Johnson manning the nickel corner position. The catch is that current players like CBs Jeff Okudah and Jerry Jacobs are suddenly on shakier footing. The money indicates the Lions believe their free-agent additions are going to start, although HC Dan Campbell didn’t commit to anything. 

“It adds depth and it adds competition,” Campbell said via the Athletic’s Colton Pouncy. “That’s what it does. That’s what we desperately need. I see those guys coming in and competing, (Okudah) and Jerry. That’s the other thing. Just because you acquired these guys, that doesn’t mean it’s a lock that they start. Probably a pretty good chance, that’s why you acquired them. But gosh, the best guy is going to play and they all know that. All you do is you raise your level of competition. You raise the floor and that’s a good thing for everybody.”

For Okudah in particular, it’s the latest development that clouds the future for a player whose future once looked so promising as the No. 3 pick in the draft. He’s battled a lot of injuries and last season was basically his first extensive playing time since his rookie year. It’s unfortunate, but the Lions just reached a place where they couldn’t bank exclusively on him anymore. 

“I hate just saying he’s a young player, but he is a young player,” Glenn said. “And he still has a ways to go. He came in and he got hurt his first year. Obviously, he got hurt his second year. And he had a chance to really play this year. He understands there’s always going to be competition. And we’re always going to create that competition, regardless of who we have. But, yes, he has to improve, I will say that. Along with everybody else on our defense. And he knows that, and he did improve.”

Vikings

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell said he wants to stay consistent with his “football philosophies” in order to build off of their success in 2022. 

“It’s staying true to your football philosophies and what you want to be as a team from a culture standpoint,” O’Connell said, via Jeff Howe of The Athletic. “But then it’s really taking a long look at what made us successful as the 2022 Vikings. And how do we build on that? How do we take the next step?”

O’Connell thinks the additions of FB C.J. Ham and TE Josh Oliver will allow them to exploit more defenses with formation versatility even after losing WR Adam Thielen. 

“I think you’ve seen that a little bit with some of the moves we’ve made, either making sure we have C.J. Ham as our fullback for the next couple years, bringing in (free agent) Josh Oliver at tight end when we’d already traded for T.J. Hockenson, (which) might lead one to believe we might play with a little bit more 12 personnel on the field. And just try to dictate a little bit more with guys like (wide receiver) Justin Jefferson and T.J. and our offensive line with where we want to go from an improvement standpoint to build on what they did in year one. I think we’ve got some really good thoughts on how to put all that together in a way that becomes a real positive to build off from last year but not necessarily changing who we are as an offensive or defensive identity,” said O’Connell. 

O’Connell had high praise for passing game specialist and game management coordinator Ryan Cordell.

“It all comes back to your preparation and who you have working with you,” O’Connell said. “I have a great situational game management guy in Ryan Cordell. He does an unbelievable job. We meet during the week. We talk a lot about different aspects about how we’re going to have to play each individual game (differently). And then as an offensive staff, I felt we were pretty collaborative in our game planning; we had a lot of really smart coaches bringing ideas forward and helping build what we built in year one. Although (play calling) was a lot at times, I never felt overwhelmed by it. I just know there are ways I can do better and be better and improve in Year 2 and moving forward.”