Bears

Ben Johnson enters his second year as the Bears’ head coach after leading them to the NFC North title and Divisional Round. When asked what he learned last season, Johnson wants to improve his situational awareness and ensure his entire team is on the same page. 

“I’d like to think I’m better in situations than I’ve been in the past,” Johnson said, via NFL.com. “You continue to grow, and you learn from your own mistakes or things that have gone well for you. You look to tailor it to the guys that are available, and we have different guys this year than we had last year and certainly anywhere else I’ve been. The challenge is making sure that we’re all coordinated, on the same page, and putting them all in a spot to succeed.”

Johnson wants to find ways to maximize offensive threats like WR Luther Burden, WR Rome Odunze, TE Colston Loveland and TE Cole Kmet.

“I love the challenge of looking at Luther Burden and how do we get him the ball and maximize what he does best, along with Rome (Odunze), along with Colston (Loveland) and Cole (Kmet),” Johnson said. “We have this whole slew of weapons that we’re looking to maximize. I think that’s the fun part. The plays don’t matter so much to me. It’s more so, how do we get these guys the ball with a little bit of space to do what they do so well?”

As for QB Caleb Williams‘ development, Johnson said his improvisational skills will continue to make them difficult to defend. 

“There is a lot of unpredictability that comes along with it,” Johnson said. “As he continues to grow and develop, if the structure of the play is there for him, then he’ll take it. But what he can do out of structure is really unique, and I think it makes us even more difficult to defend.”

Packers

Packers TE Tucker Kraft enters the offseason program recovering from a torn ACL he suffered in November. Kraft said his goal is to continue conditioning throughout training camp so he has no limitations in Week 1. 

“With how I feel, I would say I’m gonna get all the conditioning I need in camp to start Week 1 on no pitch count,” Kraft said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. 

Kraft mentioned that he’s feeling better than expected because of the work he’s done on his rehab. 

“I’m doing better than expected,” Kraft said “I would really attribute it to the time and the commitment I put into my rehabilitation early on the first three months. That really has catapulted me to where I am now. I feel great. My quad looks great. Swelling is minimal to none. No like weird pains and aches coming out of my treatment and my trainings, so we’re really excited to get this ball rolling and we’re gonna take off.”

Kraft feels there wasn’t a better tight end in the NFL at his Y position. 

“I thought that at a combination of the do-it-all ‘Y’, that there wasn’t another guy in the league that was doing it as well as I was,” Kraft said. “Some people might think I’m delusional to say that, but … the film is going to speak for itself. Outside zone, inside zone, screen game, down the field, as far as putting it all together I felt like I was at a great spot.”

Vikings

• Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell believes first-round DT Caleb Banks should be ready for training camp as he continues to recover from a broken foot. (Kevin Seifert)
• O’Connell said he plans to continue the quarterback competition into training camp. He cautioned against reading too much into “who gets what on which days.” He admitted that it will still be a headline this offseason: “Me saying that was the waste of the time that I took to say it.” (Seifert)