Bears
When appearing on the Rich Eisen Show, Bears QB Justin Fields addressed trade speculation and said he doesn’t worry about what he can’t control.
“How I look at it is just controlling the controllables,” Fields said. “No matter what happens with me, I can control what I can control, and that’s how I approach the game. That’s how I train for the game and how I carry myself within the game. It’s just those three aspects to where I kind of just have to look myself in the mirror and kind of say, ‘What can I control?’ It is what it is and just move on and be the best quarterback I can be. Now is the time to where I’ve been trying to grow personally, spiritually, as a quarterback, so I’ve grown a lot these past few weeks of the offseason.”
Regarding Chicago having the No. 1 overall pick, Fields said he would appreciate being kept in the loop on quarterback workouts or interest.
“Everybody would love honesty in the process,” Fields said. “I would definitely like to know that. It’s a business, so I totally understand. No hard feelings. But like I said, I control what I can control and control my work ethic and control how I carry myself each and every day.”
Fields thinks he hasn’t shown what he can do on a consistent basis in the NFL.
“I think I’ve shown a little bit, but I don’t think I’ve shown the world what I can do in terms of playing the full quarterback position and playing it consistently,” Fields said. “I think there were some times this year where I was better than others. Like my last game of the season against the Lions, that wasn’t a good game. So just being more consistent for my teammates, for my coaches, for the fan base. Once I do that, once I just keep progressing and keep getting better, then I’ll be good.”
Lions
Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson was happy with what he was able to accomplish in his rookie year but plans on taking his game to the next level in year two.
“That was just a little appetizer,” Hutchinson said, via the team’s website. “That’s how I view it. A little appetizer. That was me being a rookie and not quite knowing – especially early in the year – not quite knowing the NFL and how things go and stuff like that. You give me this whole offseason of training, I’m going to take off to a new level. Being able to produce in all aspects of the game, which I did this year, it was frickin awesome. Man, it was so cool. Catching interceptions. I’ve got all the balls at the house right now. I love it all, dude.”
Hutchinson’s elite preparation and work ethic allowed him to avoid the dreaded rookie wall.
“You have to find that joy and love of what you’re doing,” Hutchinson said. “I love the game of football so much, playing at a high level and producing. It gives me so much joy. Having to look forward to things like that made that rookie wall not even a thing.”
Hutchinson believes his game and the teams are on an upward trajectory.
“We’ve got so many young guys in the room it’s ridiculous,” Hutchinson said. “I just think all around the board we are young. Give everyone one more year and it’s just like we’re going to get that much better and that much better and that much better. I feel amazing going into Year 2. I feel like I’m about to light it up, dude.”
Packers
Packers RB Aaron Jones said QB Jordan Love is “ready” for a starting job and he has a lot of trust in his abilities.
“Jordan Love is ready. He will be that guy,” Jones said, via PackersWire. “I got a lot of trust in Jordan.”
Jones praised Love’s work ethic and is confident the quarterback will be “that guy” once Aaron Rodgers is gone.
“From the time he’s come in until now, he’s just continued to work, work, work,” Jones said. “You could see the confidence starting to come out even more and more. He got some time to play in games this past season, and you can tell he made that jump and he’s confident out there and he’s capable and he can do it at a high level. So I feel like he’ll definitely be that guy when A-Rod’s gone.”
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