NFC Notes: Cardinals, Lions, Packers

Cardinals

Cardinals’ QB Kyler Murray injured his shoulder while running last season and it may have been responsible for the drop in Arizona’s passing game later in the season. Murray says he wants to throw more often this year, and only use his running skills when absolutely necessary.

“Honestly, the way I see it is, my legs should be a luxury,” Murray said, via AZCardinals.com. “And it kind of wasn’t like that last year. It was me having to run for us in a sense. Once my shoulder was banged up and I wasn’t trying to put myself out there and take those hits, we hit a lull. Honestly, I think it was a lesson for us. We can’t be one-dimensional. We’ve got be better in all aspects of the game.”

Cardinals’ HC Kliff Kingsbury knows that Murray is confident and ready to step his game up in 2021.

“You can definitely see that he’s very confident,” Kingsbury told reporters. “He has a look in his eye that he wants to take a huge step this year. He definitely has the ability to do so. We did some good things last year and made some big strides. I anticipate us doing even more this season.”

Lions

Lions’ CB Jeff Okudah returned to practice after sitting out due to a minor injury, with HC Dan Campbell saying he bumped heads with WR Damion Ratley in walkthroughs and was held out for precautionary reasons.

“It was nothing big,” Campbell said, via Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic. “He and (receiver Damion) Ratley bumped noggins in the walkthrough. It was just precautionary. We’re good. Both of them are good.”

• Baumgardner believes that the Lions need to add more help at safety prior to training camp, as safeties Tracy Walker and Will Harris still have more to prove.

Packers

Packers HC Matt LaFleur feels that TE Robert Tonyan has progressed mightily over the last two years and thinks he’ll continue to develop going forward. 

“He’s probably progressed as much as any player we’ve had in the two years,” LaFleur said, via ProFootballTalk. “I know he had a really good season last year and I think there’s still more there for him.”

LaFleur mentioned that they are having Tonyan run “different routes” this offseason in order to potentially expand his role. 

“Right now is just a great time for us to experiment with him on different routes, so hopefully we can feature him a little bit more in our offense next season.”

• The Packers contract with LB De’Vondre Campbell is a one-year, $2 million deal that includes a $1.01 million signing bonus, four voidable years so that his cap number is around $1.19 million in 2021 and $500,000 in playtime incentives. (Tom Silverstein)
• Packers’ TE Jace Sternberger tweeted a statement about the incident that led to his suspension: “In February 2020 I made a horrible decision. While on Anti-Depressants, I decided to drink which led to me falling asleep behind the wheel. My Coaches and teammates were the first people to know. I want to apologize to the GB Packers organization and everyone else who has supported me along this journey. It is never okay to drink and get behind the wheel. Over the past 16 months, I’ve been going to therapy and continuously working to be a better person. I will never ignore my mistakes, I have owned up to my poor decision and accept the consequences.”