NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Seahawks

Bears

Bears DC Vic Fangio is hopeful that their group of edge rushers can produce the kind of pass rush they’ll need this season for the defense to be successful.

“Leonard [Floyd], when he’s been healthy, has proven to be proficient enough,” Fangio said, via the Chicago Tribune. “[Aaron] Lynch, he’s had a checkered career to say the least, but there has been some display of talent throughout his career at times. Hopefully we can get that to be more consistent. Sam Acho made some improvements last year in that area. We’ll see how Isaiah and these young guys come along.”

Fangio admitted that the injuries Floyd dealt with has hindered his development.

“It has — there’s no way around that,” Fangio said. “Everybody needs as many reps in practice as they can get. He’s really anxious to do it. He’s been begging the trainers and medical people to let him out there a little earlier. But I think he’ll overcome it.”

Lions

Lions WR Golden Tate, who is in the final year of his contract, said during an interview with Sirius XM NFL Radio that it bothers him that some are pointing to his age when he hasn’t shown any signs of declining ability.

“The only thing that really bothers me with this contract is that now people are trying to use 29 going 30 against me and I don’t think that’s fair because I haven’t shown any decline,” Tate said.

We have Tate featured in our Top 25 – 2019 NFL Free Agents list.

Seahawks

New Seahawks OC Brian Schottenheimer has made it clear that improving the team’s rushing attack is going to be an area of focus for them moving forward.

“Obviously, the running game,” Schottenheimer said when asked what the hallmarks of his offense will be.

“When you emphasize things in coaching, you normally get results,” Schottenheimer said, via ESPN.com. “That’s just something that we’ve talked about from the very beginning when I first started talking to Pete. You’ve got to have the ability to run the football when people know you’re going to run the football. And when you lose that, you become one-dimensional, and that’s hard.”

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll has also stressed a commitment to the running game.

“It’s a commitment,” Carroll said. “It’s a commitment to that’s the style of play. That fits directly. You go back a couple years ago, when he had Mark Sanchez back there, starting him off, and they ran the football like crazy, and they won a couple [AFC] championships there, really with a young quarterback based on the commitment to the run and playing defense.

“Well, you know us. That’s something that we understand about how you play the game of football. He’s committed to it. He gets it, and it’s also why connecting with Mike Solari was so important, too, because they had somewhat of a common background and like commitment and all that and were all on the same page on it, so that was all very necessary. So it really goes back to commitment, and then you’ve got to get your guys in the right spots and do it.”