NFC Notes: Ennis Rakestraw, Kingsley Enagbare, Lions, Packers

Lions

The Lions took CBs Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw in the first two rounds of the draft to bring drastic change to a previous weakness. Rakestraw is ready to bring a tough mindset to Detroit with his willingness to play downfield and lay powerful hits.

“I call myself the ‘Tone-setter.’ My defense used to call me the firecracker of the team, because yeah, I’m a corner, but I’ll come up and set that edge,” Rakestraw said, via Jeff Risdon of the Lions Wire. “I’ll hit you like a linebacker and I just let my presence be felt every play that I’m out there.”

• The Lions will host free agent DT T.J. Smith for a tryout at their rookie minicamp next week. (Jeremy Fowler)

Packers

Green Bay HC Matt LaFleur spoke on the adjustment period the team will have due to new DC Jeff Hafley’s scheme.

“The vision is there. It’s already laid out, mapped out, and now it’s about the execution of that vision,” LaFleur said, via Mike Spofford of the team’s website. “It’s teaching our players their assignments, what coverages, what fronts we’re going to run, and then just trying to get everybody to play to a certain style. You have to go through the whole process. There’s going to be some learning along the way.” 

Kingsley Enagbare

Packers DE Kingsley Enagbare was feared to have torn his ACL in the team’s Wild Card Round win over Dallas but he avoided needing surgery. Green Bay HC Matt LaFleur and GM Brian Gutekunst updated Enagbare’s status and recalled their thoughts when he first went down.

“He looks pretty good right now. He’s still fighting his way back,” LaFleur said, via Zach Kruse of the Packers Wire. “It was never confirmed it was an ACL. He did not have surgery. He’s still rehabbing through it, and we’re still optimistic about it.”

“We certainly feared for the worst when he went down. Pleasantly, we got some good news and I think that we may have avoided something as serious as a complete tear,” Gutekunst added. “So he’s working through that right now. We’re very hopeful he’ll be able to avoid surgery, but we will see how that goes.”