NFC Notes: Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

The biggest reason for the Bears’ step back in 2019 compared to the previous year was clearly the offense. Chicago went from ninth to 29th in the NFL in scoring offense and often looked like they were trying too hard to make things happen from a creativity aspect. Bears RB Tarik Cohen is a good example, as the multifaceted offensive weapon was bottled up in 2019 compared to 2018. His yards per carry dropped from 4.5 to 3.3 and his yards per catch fell from 10.2 to 5.8. 

“I feel like we’ll probably go back to the things we were doing in 2018,” Cohen said via Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “I feel like we’re just going to simplify things. I feel like at times we just made things too hard on ourselves and we didn’t have people guessing. I feel like we were kind of just showing our cards a little bit.”

• Ben Volin of the Boston Globe writes the Bears are one of 11 teams where QB Colin Kaepernick would be a fit. 

Packers

Former Packers WR Jordy Nelson signed a one-day contract with Green Bay last summer to retire with the organization he spent all but one year of his career with. He recently revealed, though, that he had some discussions with Packers QB Aaron Rodgers about returning to play another season in 2019, though it’s unclear if the Packers front office ever considered that possibility. 

“I don’t know how serious they got, just because there’s only so much control that we had over it,” Nelson said via Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal. “There’s other people in the organization who make those decisions, make that decision on who’s on the team and who’s not. So I wasn’t going to dive into a hard-core conversation unless I knew there was a chance to come back. . . . I think [Rodgers] knew deep down that if there was an opportunity right after Oakland, I probably would have [come back]. But obviously it’s not up to us.”

Regardless of what might have been possible last year, Nelson says he’s retired for good now. 

“We’re not coming back,” Nelson said. “There’s no doubt about that. We’re done. . . [W]hen you first get in the NFL and you’re performing very well, you’re underpaid, and then when you sign a big contract, you become overpaid. When you’re towards the end of your career, you get released and people say you’re too slow, you’ve lost a step, you can’t play anymore; and then apparently when you retire, everyone wants you to come back. . . . I’m confused on what I need to do, so I’ll just stay at home. No one’s ever satisfied.”

Vikings

• As the Vikings enter a transition year in 2020, the Athletic’s Arif Hasan and Chad Graff think linebacker is now the strength of the team with Eric Kendricks, Anthony Barr and Eric Wilson.
• Running back is also a strong position with Dalvin Cook, Alexander Mattison and Mike Boone.