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 “key move” in keeping Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback.  
• Rob Demovsky reports that OLB coach Mike Smith is leaving the organization to “pursue other opportunities.”
• Demovsky mentions that this wasn’t a rash decision and has “been in discussion for a while.” 
• The Packers announced that they have hired Jason Rebrovich as their new outside linebackers coach to replace Smith. 

Vikings

• Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell is “anticipating” QB Kirk Cousins being with the team in 2022 and is planning on building the offense around him: “I know he’s under contract and I’m excited to coach him. We’ve already started thinking about how we’re going to build our system for him…I’m anticipating Kirk being a part of what we’re going to do.” (Nick Shook)
• Cousins’ accuracy intrigues O’Connell, and he believes that he can build a similar system to what Rams QB Matthew Stafford has in Los Angeles: “The one thing I’ve always noticed about him is he’s incredibly accurate with the football…I think we can build an offensive system like we had in LA to take advantage of that skillset.” (Shook)
• O’Connell mentioned that he likes LB Anthony Barr, who is an impending free agent. (Chris Tomasson)
• O’Connell will call offensive plays. (Courtney Cronin)
• O’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: “I certainly do believe and even more so now that we’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, we’re going to work with Kirk as our quarterback and we’ll move forward from there but for 2022, for sure, we’re going to be super competitive. Sustained success is the goal and I think we have it with this leadership.” (Cronin)
• When asked about the Vikings’ interest in Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh, owner Mark Wilf responded that they felt Kevin O’Connell was their “best fit” to succeed: “We have tremendous respect for (him)… We had wonderful experiences conversing… 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.”  (Chris Tomasson)
• Jordan Schultz reports that Vikings QB Kirk Cousins has “zero intention” of accepting a pay cut and a possible extension would cost around $40 million per year.