NFC Notes: Giants, Lions, Packers

Giants

New Giants TE Kyle Rudolph assured that he won’t “miss any football” after undergoing foot surgery this offseason after New York’s medical staff caught an injury after offering a two-year, $14 million deal to the veteran. 

“As far as football goes, I was extremely fortunate that the Giants organization and everyone involved [caught it], and how they were able to handle my situation, that I won’t miss any football,” Rudolph said, via Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News. “At this point it’s about taking each day and taking that opportunity to not only get myself healthy but get myself better. It’s one thing to get and be healthy, it’s another to be ready to go and play in an NFL game. So I’m taking that day by day.”

Rudolph was non-committal about being available for the start of training camp and added that he’s following the team’s plans in order to recover in time for the regular season. 

“I want to do everything to make sure I’m getting better every single day, and whatever that is is up to Joe, [offensive coordinator] Jason [Garrett], [director of rehabilitation] Leigh [Weiss] and everybody else involved,” Rudolph said.

When speaking about his foot surgery, Rudolph explains that he felt “completely fine” at the end of last season and intended on returning in time for the 2020 playoffs if Minnesota qualified. 

“I had no symptoms. I didn’t feel anything,” Rudolph said. “I felt completely fine coming out of last season. After I rehabbed [a foot injury during the 2020 season], I was anticipating coming back for the last game of the year and then playing through the playoffs. Unfortunately that didn’t work out for us as a team last year in Minnesota, so there were no playoffs.”

Rudolph feels fortunate that the Giants’ doctors were able to catch his foot issue back in March ahead of the offseason program. 

“Then I continued with my offseason as if I was completely healthy,” Rudolph said. “So I was extremely fortunate the Giants medical staff was able to find this in March and it isn’t something where I came back here all fired up for OTAs in June and then hurt myself and put myself at risk for missing football games.”

Lions

• Lions HC Dan Campbell said he has a firm approach with players and wants everyone to be accountable: “I told (the players), honestly, day one, I said, ‘Look, I’m not carrying your toilet paper around. I’m not gonna wipe your butt. You’re gonna wipe your own butt. You handle it and I’ll treat you like men until you prove otherwise.'” (Mike Silver)

Packers

• Wes Hodkiewicz of Packers.com selects RB AJ Dillon as his breakout player for the Packers in 2021.
• Hodkiewicz also mentions that OC Nathaniel Hackett could be the Packers’ coach who takes the next step towards becoming a head coach after this season, along with QB coach Luke Getsy, who could be eyeing an offensive coordinator position in the league.
• Defensively for Green Bay, Hodkiewicz wonders why the free-agent market wasn’t stronger for LB De’Vondre Campbell, whom he adds brings a unique skill set to the unit that will complement those around him.
• Another linebacker drawing praise from Hodkiewicz is LB Krys Barnes, who was a pleasant surprise in 2020 and showed he was capable of making plays for the Packers as a rookie.
• Aside from solving the situation with QB Aaron Rodgers, Hodkiewicz says that getting a deal done with WR Davante Adams should be at the top of the Packers’ priority list.