NFC Notes: Bears, Panthers, Redskins

Bears

Bears OC Mark Helfrich explained that they’re focused on fixing some of the turnover issues QB Mitch Trubisky dealt with last year.

“Obviously, he has turned the ball over too much,” Helfrich said, via Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune. “Some of that has been his fault, some of it not, which is usually the case. But the quarterback gets the blame. And so we’ll get it fixed. It’s so far so good. We’re nowhere — nowhere — near where we need to be. But we’re … trending in the right direction.”

Helfrich added that Trubisky is still in the learning stage when it comes to the new offensive system the team is implementing.

“In a game plan situation, he’ll know what’s coming,” Helfrich said. “So for a quarterback, you just want an immediate picture in your head of what’s going on. One thing to think about, not seven.

“Right now, we’re still at that stage where it’s, OK, who’s at this position? What’s my personnel group? What’s the snap count? And all the things that take place. It is truly a process right now whereas that will be seamless.”

Panthers

Panthers LT Matt Kalil says he’s “way ahead of the curve of where I started last year” at this point.

“I think from Week 4 on I started playing better and better, and toward the end of the season I was playing where I want to be,” Kalil said, via the Charlotte Observer. “I think that carried over to [organized team activities] and to camp, and obviously I’m way ahead of the curve of where I started last year.”

• Panthers OC Norv Turner said Thursday that he believes it’s “realistic” that RB Christian McCaffrey could get 25-30 touches per game this season. (David Newton)

Redskins

Redskins HC Jay Gruden said Wednesday that they didn’t have any questions about rookie RB Derrius Guice‘s character during the draft process.

“Quite frankly, we didn’t have any questions on his character,” Gruden said, via Pro Football Talk. “You know, in every interview that we had with him and talked to him, we never had a concern about him at all. I think when you’ll watch his college tape the year he played with [Leonard] Fournette, he was a dynamic player. We thought he might be the first player picked in the draft. Then the last year he played, he was playing through some injuries and he didn’t look quite the same. I think that’s probably why he fell more so than his character. So, grabbing him in the second round was obviously a great treat for us, but character was never a concern. He’s been great, never been late, attentive, great attitude, always happy, happy-go-lucky and fun to be around quite frankly.”

Gruden added that Guice falling to round two was largely because of the number of quality running backs available in this year’s draft class.

“There was five or six good backs in the draft,” Gruden said. “Now, he wasn’t the only good back in the draft. I mean, you talk about [Nick] Chubb and the other kid, Sony Michel, and [Rashaad] Penny. I mean it’s not like he’s dropping. Those guys are good players. So it just depends on what type of back you wanted for your team. It just so happens that he was there when we picked him and we took him. So all those guys are good players, you get drafted in the second round you’re a damn good back; it’s not like you’re a scrub. So this guy’s a good player, and a lot of great players have been taken in the second round so we anticipate him being one of them.”