Bears
Bears HC Ben Johnson quickly picked up a reputation as a demanding and detail-oriented coach during OTAs and training camp. The regular season has not dulled Johnson’s edge in this particular area at all, especially with the 0-2 start. Following the 52-21 loss to the Lions, his former team, Johnson called out his squad saying, “our practice habits are yet to reflect a championship-caliber team.”
“We should be going to the football, finishing hard,” he added via NFL Media. “We talk about it all the time with the offensive players that our fundamentals, our finish and our technique, they need to show up in walk-through, they need to show up on the practice field. That’s how it shows up on game day. Simple things of how do we properly block? How do we catch the ball? How do we block after the catch? Ball security and things like that. It’s the little things that you learn in youth league football that even at this level, they make a huge difference.”
Packers
Packers WR Christian Watson is on the Physically Unable to Perform list after suffering a torn ACL in Week 18 last season. Watson feels like he would be able to play if they were competing in the playoffs.
“I feel like if it was the NFC Championship Game tomorrow, I would be able to go out there and feel confident, for sure,” Watson said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “But I mean, at the end of the day, I gotta be as smart as I can with it and not let it be a long-term thing. Nine months is long enough, so I wanna get the nine months out the way and come back and be 100-percent Christian Watson and go out there and not have to worry about it anymore.”
Watson is eager to get back, but wants to be sure he’s fully recovered before getting back on the field.
“I’m already chomping at the bit,” Watson said. “I gotta listen to both shoulders. I gotta understand what’s the smartest way to go about it at the same time. I feel like I’ve learned from experiences in the past of trying to get out there too quick, unfortunately, and I just gotta try to be as smart as possible so when I know that I’m ready. I’m gonna wanna get out there, but at the same time, I’ve gotta know that I’m 110 percent.”
Watson recently signed a one-year, $11 million contract extension. The receiver said he weighed the “risk and reward” before signing his deal.
“I know what I’m worth as a player when comparing it to the market and whatnot, but it’s a risk and reward when it comes down to it with the injuries that I’ve had in the past and obviously coming back from a major injury like this,” Watson said. “So just weighing the risk and weighing the reward of going both ways with it … from the stuff on the field and the stuff off the field, definitely took a lot of pressure off of my mind and all that for sure.”
- Packers WR Jayden Reed is out indefinitely after undergoing surgery for a broken clavicle and Jones fracture in his left foot. He had been trying to play through the foot injury and put off surgery but elected to have both repaired. (Adam Schefter)
Vikings
- Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell says DB Harrison Smith (personal issue) could “possibly make his debut” Sunday vs. the Bengals. (Kevin Seifert)
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