NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings

Bears

Bears first-round QB Justin Fields loves the passion coming from Bears fans thus far, but he hopes the fanbase will also throw their support behind veteran QB Andy Dalton while he’s on the field.

“I noticed it, of course. The fans are awesome, but they also have to realize Andy is a human being too,” Fields said, via PFT. “Andy is out there on the field right now, so I really think it’s kind of disrespectful to Andy, them cheering my name like that. They have to trust in coach to make sure he’s making the right decisions and cheer Andy on. That’s not helping Andy play better, them cheering my name. That’s not doing that. So I would say my advice to them would be just cheer for who’s out there playing on the field.”

• The Athletic’s Adam Jahns noted Bears WR Rodney Adams might be pulling ahead of Javon Wims and Riley Ridley in the competition for roles and roster spots. 
• He added CB Artie Burns has been working with the starters with Desmond Trufant away for personal reasons and was one of the few bright spots this weekend. 
• Bears HC Matt Nagy said DT Bilal Nichols didn’t practice with a toe injury, but doesn’t think it’s serious. (Dan Wiederer)
• New Bears LT Jason Peters said he wasn’t focused on the Bears before OL coach Juan Castillo called: “I wasn’t monitoring nothing. I was fishing when Juan called me.” (Kevin Fishbain)

Lions

• Lions HC Dan Campbell said he trusts UDFA CB A.J. Parker, who has been operating as the starting slot corner: “He’s very aware, he’s very smart He’s very un-rookie like, mentally.” (Dave Birkett)
• Campbell mentioned WR Breshad Perriman is dealing with a hip injury that is making it tough to evaluate him: “It’s hard to say right now. There just hasn’t been enough out there.” (Chris Burke)

Packers

• According to Rob Demovsky, fourth-round OL Royce Newman took reps at left guard with the first-team, while OL Lucas Patrick played right guard.
• Packers DL coach Jerry Montgomery on fifth-round DT Tedarrell Slaton: “6-4, 330, 18 percent body fat. He’s a man, and he’s got a lot of tools. He could be a force in the running game.” (Ryan Wood)

Vikings

• The Athletic’s Arif Hasan and Chad Graff think the Vikings will keep an eye out for an upgrade at backup quarterback given how Jake Browning has struggled this preseason. Browning could still land on the practice squad. 
• The two add Vikings OL Oli Udoh has pretty much locked up the starting spot at right guard, which could push veteran Dakota Dozier and former fourth-rounder Dru Samia off the roster. 
• Graff and Hasan point out that with how deep the Vikings are on the defensive line, they could keep 10 players and still potentially not have room for DT James Lynch, DE Jalyn Holmes, DE Kenny Willekes or DT Hercules Mata’afa.
• Per the duo, Vikings CBs Harrison Hand and Tye Smith might be tracking toward practice squad spots at this point rather than landing on the active roster. 
• Vikings LB Christian Elliss was fined $3,731 by the NFL for unnecessary roughness for his penalized hit in the preseason games against the Broncos. (Chris Tomasson)
• Vikings HC Mike Zimmer commented in his trademark style on CB Kris Boyd starting over CB Cameron Dantzler with Patrick Peterson resting: “Boyd’s been doing better.” (Tomasson)
• Zimmer said he’s more or less given up on coaxing vaccine-hesitant players like QB Kirk Cousins to change their minds: “I went pretty hard there for a while with our quarterback, and a bunch of other guys, good players, who are not vaccinated. I’ve said my piece. They’re got their heels dug in. I think it would’ve showed them what could happen when we had one quarterback for practice and we had to bring in two guys off the street. But they’re not gonna change. I just said the heck with it. I’m done talking about it.” (Peter King)
• The Vikings drafted QB Kellen Mond in the third round which sparked some discussion about Cousins’ future given his high cap figure in 2022. Cousins says he’s paid it little thought, though: “Not a lot. I think it’s just about going out and doing your job, whether they bring in a first-round pick, third-round pick, sixth-round pick, or they bring back the exact same room as the year before. You just go to work. You know that you’re always being evaluated. You’re never feeling like you’ve arrived as a player, so you’re always trying to prove it.”