NFC Notes: Bears, Packers, Panthers, Steve Wilks

Bears

• If the Bears finish with the No. 2 overall pick in the draft, the Athletic’s Adam Jahns and Kevin Fishbain note they have three options to decide between. The first is selecting Alabama DE Will Anderson to augment their pass rush which has become a massive weakness since trading away Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn. 
• The second would be taking Georgia DT Jalen Carter, as HC Matt Eberflus‘ defense is heavily reliant on a dominant three-technique defensive tackle who can wreak opposing offenses with interior disruption. Fishbain and Jahns note what the Bears are able to do in free agency could dictate their approach in the draft. 
• The third option, and the one Fishbain and Jahns like best, is trading down with a quarterback-needy team and accumulating as many picks in the top 50 as possible to make up for the fact that it’s a weak 2023 free-agent group. 

Packers

• Packers QB Aaron Rodgers said he is feeling “a lot better” on Wednesday after injuring his knee in Week 16 and isn’t concerned about his availability for Sunday’s game. (Matt Schneidman)
• Green Bay hosted DB Tyrell Ford and RB Abram Smith for workouts on Wednesday. (Aaron Wilson)

Panthers

Panthers DT Derrick Brown said that the players want interim HC Steve Wilks to earn the full-time role in 2023.

“I’ll speak for everybody in that locker room and say that we want coach Wilks to be our next head coach,” Brown said, via the team’s official Youtube. “That’s for sure. I think every single week when we come in, he’s gonna tell you exactly how it is. He doesn’t sugarcoat nothing. He keeps it plain Jane, per se. He lets you know exactly what’s going on. You can be one of the best players, but you walk into that building on Monday and he’ll tell you exactly how he felt about how you played. That level of clarity — that’s exactly what we want.”

• Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated thinks Wilks has a “very legitimate chance” of being hired as the full-time head coach. 
• Breer writes Panthers’ owner Dave Tepper is well aware that Wilks helped unite the locker room and build a “real identity” for the team.