NFC Notes: David Montgomery, Bears, Lions, Packers

Bears

Bears QB Justin Fields wasn’t surprised that people attempted to create a quarterback controversy between him and QB Tyson Bagent.

“That’s the world we live in nowadays,” Fields said, via Bears Wire. “Everybody wants to cause media attention, boom, boom, boom, comments, stories. That’s just what comes with it. I knew that was going to happen from the get-go so it came to me as no surprise.”

Lions

Lions RB David Montgomery feels like he’s playing better at this point of his career than ever before. 

“I feel like I’m playing the best that I’ve played in my career up to this point,” Montgomery said, via Eric Woodyard of ESPN.

Montgomery is approaching Week 11’s game against his former team, the Bears, like any other Sunday. 

“I go to sleep at the same time the night before the game. I go to sleep at 10:15, fall asleep with a movie on, I’m good,” Montgomery said. “So, it’ll be the same this week. The usual.”

Lions rookie RB Jahmyr Gibbs said Montgomery has been like a “big brother” to him. 

“He’s like my big brother really,” Gibbs said. “As soon as I came in, he’s guided me every step of the way with anything I’ve needed help with, and he was there.”

Packers

Packers ILBs coach Kirk Olivadotti had high praise of ILB Isaiah McDuffie and feels he does things “the right way.” 

“He plays extremely hard. His finish at the football. He’ll run. He’s explosive,” Olivadotti said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “He tries to do things the right way, play the right way. Those are the things that I think show up and are evident. My wife’s like, ‘I like the way he plays.’ It’s pretty obvious when you look at him.”

Packers DC Joe Barry compared McDuffie’s qualities to veteran DL Kenny Clark.

“You know exactly what you’re going to get from Kenny Clark every single day,” Barry said. “Now, Kenny’s a Pro Bowl player, but that’s the thing I’ve really grown to really enjoy about Isaiah, is that you might go a week and you might not hear the dude talk, but he’s consistent every single day with the way he works and the way he grinds and the way he prepares.”

Packers HC Matt LaFleur thinks McDuffie is playing at a “really high level” after predominantly appearing with the special teams unit in previous years. 

“Isaiah’s been huge,” LaFleur said. “I think just his ability to step in there and play at a really high level — obviously he’s been contributing for some years now on special teams, but every time we ask him to go in there and take on a larger role, he seems to excel at it. So we’ve got a ton of confidence in him. I view him as a starter, whether he’s starting or not.”