NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers

Bears

Bears WR Darnell Mooney and S Eddie Jackson are not in attendance at OTAs right now but HC Matt Eberflus said there’s no concern for either. Both are recovering from season-ending lower-body injuries in 2022 — both in Week 12 coincidentally — and are “progressing right along where they’re supposed to be” in their rehab, per Eberflus. 

“It’s all positive and we expect them back soon,” Eberflus said via USA Today’s Alyssa Barbieri. “When they’re back, they’re back. When the medical staff clears them, they’ll be cleared.”

Lions

Lions OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai revealed that he considered retirement after undergoing back surgery but is now back with the team and is healthy. He spoke to reporters about his mindset which made him think about walking away from the game.

“I’m like, ‘What am I doing? I can’t decide what to do,’” Vaitai said, via LionsWire.com. “The only thing I know is football, and so – but it was great. I got to reflect on my life and my career in the league, so it was really good and just sit down with my wife and just talk over a lot of things.”

“I mean, I can’t leave Penei, I can’t leave my guys, I can’t leave them,” Vaitai added. “I love this team a lot. I want to help Dan (Campbell) win one.”

Packers

The quarterback gets all the hype, but the Packers are also making a move from a longtime franchise stalwart to a young, unproven player at the kicker position this season. Veteran K Mason Crosby is out, and sixth-round K Anders Carlson is in. Rookie kickers are usually a rollercoaster but Green Bay sounds prepared to ride things out in 2023. 

“If Anders can perform like we think he can and can improve,” Packers ST coordinator Rich Bisaccia said via the team website, “I think we’re prepared organizationally as well as with a majority of the other draft picks to weather the storm to some degree positionally, and hopefully they can keep improving and get better with time. I think that’s how we’re going to approach the majority of our class and I’d like to think we do that with the majority of young players that we have.”

It will help that Carlson has a huge vote of confidence from Bisaccia, who coached his older brother, Raiders K Daniel Carlson, for years in Las Vegas. 

“The relationship Rich had with him was a positive factor,” Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said after the draft. “The familiarity there helped. With kickers, Rich has a long track record and a very successful one, and I felt really good about how he felt about him.”