NFC Notes: Dan Campbell, Matt LaFleur, Jordan Love, Lions, Packers

Lions

Lions G Jonah Jackson (knee) and TE Brock Wright (arm) were both injured against the Buccaneers and HC Dan Campbell said after the game that he doesn’t expect to have either player back against the 49ers for the NFC Championship game.

“It doesn’t look real good for next week,” Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “But we’ll see.”

Lions

Lions C Frank Ragnow gave all the credit to HC Dan Campbell for the win over the Buccaneers on Sunday.

“He’s the best leader I’ve ever been around by far,” Ragnow said during a postgame interview, via LionsWire.com. “He authentically loves his guys. Same guy every single day. I can’t say enough about him. He’s the man.”

Packers

Packers HC Matt LaFleur and RB Aaron Jones praised QB Jordan Love for having a great season despite the team’s exit from the playoffs after their loss to the 49ers.

“He’s had an outstanding season,” LaFleur said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “I know it didn’t end the way we wanted it to. I couldn’t be more proud of just who he is as a man, first and foremost, as a leader of this team. I know this one’s going to hurt him. I’m sure he’ll be really hard on himself. He’s just got to use it as fuel to continue to get better. But I think you saw so much growth throughout the course of the season, not only from just his ability to go out there and play consistent winning football, but also I think he grew as a leader. And I think that’s very important, obviously, to be the franchise quarterback that I expect him to be for a long time around here.”

“It’ll sting for a while,” Love said after the loss. “Watching all the games going forward, it will sting just knowing that we had an opportunity to win and we dropped the ball on that one. It’ll sting for a while, but we’ll be able to look back on it and see some good things we did. Obviously during the offseason, trying to work on the things we didn’t do as well and the things we need to get better at. But definitely going to get to it and attack it, but it will sting for a while.”

“We got us a great quarterback,” Jones added on Love. “He’s shown it over 21 weeks. I think he’s just going to continue to get better with the reps he gets. His time with the guys up front, it’s my job to make his job easier as well. He’s a real deal quarterback.”

• Packers WR Christian Watson will consult with the Packers medical staff and will undergo offseason tests to determine why he’s had so many hamstring injuries: “I’m not going to say it’s my fault, but it’s my body, so I need to take accountability for it.” (Ryan Wood)
• Packers OL Jon Runyan is an impending free agent and was emotional about the thought of not returning next season: “This is a special place. I don’t want to leave, but it’s out of my hands.” (Wood)
• Packers OLB Kingsley Enagbare initially thought he had a bone bruise but was later told he had a torn ACL. He is yet to undergo surgery, saying: “I don’t think this is going to be too big of a setback.” (Wood)
• LaFleur spoke to reporters and said he was surprised to see Love throw an interception that ended the game against the 49ers, but added it will be a good lesson for the young quarterback: “We shouldn’t have been in that situation, quite frankly. When I watched the tape, that’s how I saw it.” (Wood)
• LaFleur on Love: “He had a hell of a year. Let’s not look past that. He really did, just to see the growth. I talked with him about it last night, the growth in him as a commander. He’s an extension of us.”(Wood)
• LaFleur thinks that CB Jaire Alexander bounced back well from the suspension and responded well to adversity. (Tom Silverstein)
• As for QB coach Tom Clements, LaFleur is hopeful he makes his return: “We’re all better for having Tom Clements around.” (Silverstein)
• LaFleur on RB Aaron Jones‘ future with the team: “The product looked pretty good to me. He certainly had an impact on our offense, an impact on our team and the late-season push. I don’t know if we do all that without him.” (Wood)
• The team will also keep conversations open with LT David Bakhtiari, with LaFleur saying: “I mean, he’s a hell of a player, right? He is a hell of a player, and he had a big-time injury. So I’m sure we’ll evaluate that, get more information, talk to Dave, and those decisions will be made in the near future.” (Wood)