Bears

Bears DL Shemar Turner appeared in just five games last season before suffering a season-ending torn ACL. Chicago GM Ryan Poles said Turner is still working on his rehab and conditioning, but expects him back “at some point.” 

“He’s already doing position work off to the side,” Poles said, via Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic. “We’ll simulate some individual and practice-type things to get him prepared mentally and physically, and his endurance needs to continue to improve. But he’s working his butt off. I would imagine him being back at some point here when he gets through this little last phase of his rehab.”

Poles wants to see Turner’s “instincts come back” once he’s fully ready to go. 

“Knocking that rust off and becoming a football player, starting to get that short-area quickness and really being able to react and have the instincts come back,” Poles said. “Especially playing defensive line, you’re getting hit from every different direction. … When that happens it’ll be great and we’ll get him back out there, but I’m not exactly sure of when that all is going to occur.”

Lions

Jared Goff is set to enter his sixth season as the Lions’ starting quarterback. Detroit HC Dan Campbell highly praised the veteran, saying Goff always holds himself to a high standard and is “unbelievably coachable.” 

“Because, first of all, he gives a crap,” Campbell said, via Albert Breer of SI. “And he is very hard on himself. He demands a lot of himself. And he’s unbelievably coachable. Like, you coach him hard, man, and he wants you to, because he wants to get better. But he also knows if we get after him, everybody on that team sees it. And so nobody’s got an excuse. If we’re getting on Jared Goff, then we can get on the rookie free agent, and, listen, man, nobody’s off limits. It means that much to him. … And then, man, look at the guy. First of all, he can see, he’s big, he’s tall, he’s tough, he’s smart. His processing speed reminds me of [Drew] Brees. He sees it, he sees it. And every year it’s gotten faster and faster. And then watch him under duress. Nobody makes a more accurate throw under duress than Jared Goff.”

Goff mentioned that he has a lot more freedom in the pre-snap process since coming to the Lions than when he played under Sean McVay with the Rams. 

“All the presnap stuff, where I can get us in and out of the best play and help the O-line if I can see some things, pick up the blitz, change the play, the freedom I’ve been given here [in Detroit] is much more than I was given previously,” Goff said. “So you’re able to learn through some mistakes. Over the last five years, being able to change the play or get in and out of things has been fun.”

Goff has a deeper understanding of deciphering defenses now, entering the 11th year of his career. 

“The guys who have played 10-plus years, you’ve seen a lot of coverages, you’ve seen a lot of things, and you’re able to eliminate options pretty quickly, so if there’s four guys out in a pattern, I know two of them aren’t going to be open, I can really work two of them based on what I know about the coverage and using your cues presnap,” Goff said. “And you’re able to lower your options, which increases your odds, right? So, that. And I think my feet, being able to, again, move through progressions quickly with my feet is about as good as I’ve ever been. Accuracy, I’ve always been pretty accurate, but that’s improving, too.”

Packers

The Packers re-signed C Sean Rhyan to a three-year, $33 million extension as he enters the fifth year of his career. Green Bay HC Matt LaFleur said Rhyan takes “full accountability” and is always looking to learn. 

“It’s been really cool to watch his progression, and one thing I’ve always really respected about Sean is he takes full accountability for everything, even probably to a fault. When you have that mindset, that’s when you get better. Football is an imperfect game, there’s going to be mistakes, and the guys that own it and just keep it moving and learn from it, typically end up becoming better football players, and that’s exactly the approach he’s taken,” LaFleur said, via PackersWire. 

Packers QB Jordan Love praised Rhyan for making sure the entire offensive line is on the same page in their pre-snap buildup. 

“He’s the one making all those initial calls and he’s done a good job making sure guys are on the same page up front, with the run game, with the pass game. We know Sean’s gonna bring that physicality out there which you love to see,” Love said. 

Love added that Rhyan has “grown tremendously” during their time together. 

“He’s grown tremendously, just his understanding of our offense and technique-wise. Since he got here as a rookie, he’s put in a lot of work, and you can see he’s definitely grown; he’s a much different player from when he got here,” Love said.