Bears
- Bears RB David Montgomery said he isn’t concerned that he’s in the last year of his contract and is focused on recovering from his ankle injury: “I just want to get healthy and go out and play with the guys, honestly. I’m not really into the whole contract talk thing because I’m a firm believer in whatever works out, works out. That’s how I see things.” (Courtney Cronin)
- Montgomery said he was feeling “really good” at Thursday’s practice and will be a “game-time decision” for Week 5. (Courtney Cronin)
Lions
Lions HC Dan Campbell is looking to make changes defensively but says that second-overall pick DE Aidan Hutchinson is improving each week.
“I mean I think every week, he’s getting a little bit better,” Campbell said, via Pro Football Talk. “I think he’s one of the players that I think we need to look long and hard about, ‘Do we need to move him in some different spots? Do we need [to] see if we can give him an opportunity to have more success?’ But look, I think he did a lot of good things in the run game yesterday, and look, I think he’s kind of where our defense is right now, where we’ve just got to improve, I mean get a little bit better, and I think we can all help each other. Just like when we get good coverage, we’ve got to get rush. When we get a good rush, we’ve got to be able to cover, so — but I’m certainly not disappointed in him.”
Campbell added that Hutchinson could be playing out of a two-point stance more than a three-point stance, as this gave him success in college at Michigan.
“Some of that could be with thinking about moving him a little bit potentially,” Campbell said. “If you decided you were going to put him on the open edge or do you keep him in the close — if he’s going to be down over the tight end, it’s hard to be in a two, just to play the run. Not that you can’t, but you’re going to be much more on top of a tight end or a tackle, where it’s a little easier on the other edge. So look, we’re all open to whatever is most comfortable. Like if he feels like he can get his job done up, listen, no problem. So, I don’t feel like that’s an issue with him or that’s going to change anything, but we kind of take it all into account. If it’s something he feels like he’s more comfortable at, we’ll go with that.”
Packers
Packers QB Aaron Rodgers said his future decision on when to retire will depend on how he feels physically and mentally but added that the development of WRs Romeo Doubs and Christian Watson will also be a factor.
“Look, my decision, when it comes down to it, will be, obviously, the physical part, the mental part, seeing where the team is at,” said Rodgers, via Jason Wilde of Madison.com. “There’s some moving pieces that’ll factor in, for sure. But seeing the development of those guys can’t help but be a part of the decision.”
Rodgers thinks that Doubs and Watson must continue developing their confidence and they will have an opportunity to make “big jumps” over the first three years of their careers.
“I think both guys can be ‘dudes,’” Rodgers said. “It’s going to be, how does their confidence progress? How many plays can they lock and anchor into their mind as places to go back to and think about when they’ve maybe had a stretch where they haven’t played their best ball or maybe they need some inspiration? How many memories can they lock into their brain that they can access in the moment? And then, how do they work on their craft? There’ll be opportunities for big jumps between Years 1 and 2 and Years 2 and 3, especially, which we see from a lot of young players. But I think they both have opportunities to be really, really good players in the league.”
Rodgers added that Doubs and Watson must focus on their “mental approach” to the game.
“It’s about development, really, for them. It’s about their mental approach, especially,” Rodgers said. “It’s understanding what it means to be a pro and figuring that out, hopefully. I think every young player should lean on an older guy and get some advice. I think as older guys, we’d love to share the mistakes that we made with the young guys so they don’t repeat those things, and things that worked for us as young players, things that didn’t work, things you’d like to see them do. I think it’s really important to pass on that knowledge.”
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