NFC Notes: Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

  • The Chicago Bears announced that they have hired Jim Arthur as their new strength and conditioning coach.

Packers

  • According to Jeff Darlington, the Packers hiring QB coach Tom Clements out of retirement is a โ€œkey moveโ€ in keeping Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback.  
  • Rob Demovsky reports that OLB coach Mike Smith is leaving the organization to โ€œpursue other opportunities.โ€
  • Demovsky mentions that this wasnโ€™t a rash decision and has โ€œbeen in discussion for a while.โ€ 
  • The Packers announced that they have hired Jason Rebrovich as their new outside linebackers coach to replace Smith. 

Vikings

  • Vikings HC Kevin Oโ€™Connell is โ€œanticipatingโ€ QB Kirk Cousins being with the team in 2022 and is planning on building the offense around him: โ€œI know heโ€™s under contract and Iโ€™m excited to coach him. Weโ€™ve already started thinking about how weโ€™re going to build our system for himโ€ฆIโ€™m anticipating Kirk being a part of what weโ€™re going to do.โ€ (Nick Shook)
  • Cousinsโ€™ accuracy intrigues Oโ€™Connell, and he believes that he can build a similar system to what Rams QB Matthew Stafford has in Los Angeles: โ€œThe one thing Iโ€™ve always noticed about him is heโ€™s incredibly accurate with the footballโ€ฆI think we can build an offensive system like we had in LA to take advantage of that skillset.โ€ (Shook)
  • Oโ€™Connell mentioned that he likes LB Anthony Barr, who is an impending free agent. (Chris Tomasson)
  • Oโ€™Connell will call offensive plays. (Courtney Cronin)
  • Oโ€™Connell said the Vikings will operate primarily out of an odd-front, but noted that there will be nickel and other hybrid packages that the team will utilize as well. (Ben Goessling)
  • Vikings Co-Owner Mark Wilf was adamant that the team is not rebuilding and plans to be successful right away: โ€œI certainly do believe and even more so now that weโ€™ve got our leadership here in place that we are built to be successful right away. We feel very confident about that and like you heard before, weโ€™re going to work with Kirk as our quarterback and weโ€™ll move forward from there but for 2022, for sure, weโ€™re going to be super competitive. Sustained success is the goal and I think we have it with this leadership.โ€ (Cronin)
  • When asked about the Vikingsโ€™ interest in Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh, owner Mark Wilf responded that they felt Kevin Oโ€™Connell was their โ€œbest fitโ€ to succeed: โ€œWe have tremendous respect for (him)โ€ฆ We had wonderful experiences conversingโ€ฆ Ultimately we wanted to have a coach that would be the best fit, give us the best chance to win, and we feel very pleased with Kevin as our head coach.โ€  (Chris Tomasson)
  • Jordan Schultz reports that Vikings QB Kirk Cousins has โ€œzero intentionโ€ of accepting a pay cut and a possible extension would cost around $40 million per year.

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