Bears
- The Athletic’s Kevin Fishbain writes that Colts DT DeForest Buckner and Chiefs DT Chris Jones could be interesting trade targets for the Bears in 2023, as HC Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles have a lot of familiarity with them and they would fill big needs.
- Both veterans could be up for new deals this offseason due to how their contracts are structured, and if either Indianapolis or Kansas City balk at that, Fishbain notes they might be interested in draft compensation from Chicago.
- The Bears place a high value on the three-technique defensive tackle spot that Buckner and Jones play. They initially signed DT Larry Ogunjobi to a monster deal before he failed his physical, and the biggest free agent contract they handed out this offseason was to DT Justin Jones.
- Bears HC Matt Eberflus said the team hasn’t had a chance to evaluate WR Chase Claypool‘s skillset due to him being injured: “You always want to see what they can do, you want to see their skillsets, you want to be able to evaluate those things, and when a player’s out, you don’t get to do that. And that’s always the case. It doesn’t matter if it’s Claypool or whoever else it is. We always want a chance to evaluate our guys in practice and then put them in the best position to succeed.” (Courtney Cronin)
Lions
Lions LB Alex Anzalone feels that he’s been playing his “best football” and he’s begun getting recognition because of Detroit winning the last six of seven games.
“I feel like I’ve been playing my best football,” Anzalone said, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s official site. “It’s just when you start winning it gets a little bit more noticed. I feel like I’ve been playing at a high level all year and I’m starting to get recognition because we’re winning.”
Lions LB coach Kelvin Sheppard thinks that Anzalone has reached “another level” after committing to his development in the offseason.
“This year he’s just gone to another level,” Sheppard said. “Now he’s really reaping the benefits of a lot of self-awareness things that he had to look in the mirror at this offseason. He looked at it head on and he was willing to put the work in and I know that meant a lot for him. He’s been playing his butt off down in and down out dating back to training camp. I always preach finish on the ball and that’s something Alex does religiously.”
Lions HC Dan Campbell believes their improvement in making tackles this season is a product of identifying their issues last season.
“I mean you just make an emphasis of it, and that’s something that we’ve talked about for a long time, and you’ve got to be able to tackle,” Campbell said. “You’ve got to work it. We do work it, and we’ve done a good job. It was something that we identified and look, you want a good defense, you better be able to tackle. And you better get takeaways, and we’re doing those things right now, so that’s a credit to (defensive coordinator) Aaron Glenn and his staff.”
Packers
- Packers HC Matt LaFleur said they do not need to shut down OT David Bakhtiari for the rest of the season after undergoing an appendectomy earlier this month and they will see if he’ll be able to practice on Friday. (Matt Schneidman)
- Regarding the Packers signing OL Elgton Jenkins to a four-year, $68 million extension, LaFleur called it a “great day” for the organization: “It’s a great day for us, a great day for Elgton. Obviously he’s earned it. He’s done it the right away.” (Rob Demovsky)
- Although Jenkins has been lining up at left guard, LaFleur thinks he could line up at any position: “The more people you have like that, it allows you to put the best five out there.” (Demovsky)
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