NFC Notes: Jared Goff, Romeo Doubs, Bears, Lions, Packers

Bears

Due to a combination of having a year of experience under his belt and being locked into just one position in the secondary, Bears CB Kyler Gordon says he feels a lot more comfortable heading into the 2023 season. 

“I do feel extremely comfortable,” Gordon said via NBC Sports Chicago. “I feel like I know my place, where I’m supposed to be and stuff like that, so definitely coming back this second year, I definitely don’t have any of the ‘where am I?’ like I did the first year. I feel like I know where I’m at, what’s going on.”

Gordon adds it’s nice to have a smaller workload this time of year now that he’s not learning multiple positions and trying to get as many reps as possible to be ready to start. 

“It definitely was a thing during training camp because I was playing nickel, corner, and I’d be with the ones, twos and threes,” Gordon said. “I was feeling it all in my legs. It was a lot. But I still appreciated it because I needed those reps and experiences. I understand why I was out there a lot and stuff like that.”

Lions

There’s no win or loss record in the offseason but the Lions still pulled off a major upset by being able to keep upstart OC Ben Johnson, who turned down significant head coaching interest from other teams to stay in Detroit. Johnson has cited feeling like he has unfinished business with the Lions, and he elaborated recently on another reason he stayed — the chance to keep working with QB Jared Goff.

“He’s one of the biggest reasons why I didn’t want to leave,” Johnson said via the Athletic’s Dan Pompei. “I feel we are tied together to a degree. He’s an extension of me, and I’m an extension of him. I’ve told him multiple times his success is my success and vice versa.”

Johnson and Goff had already forged a bit of a relationship in their first year together in 2021 even though Johnson was the TE coach and didn’t work directly with Goff until the latter part of the season. When Johnson took over as the play-caller, he made it his top priority to partner with Goff to build an offense the veteran would be comfortable operating. Detroit finished No. 5 in scoring offense and No. 4 in total yards, and the resurgence of Goff was a huge part of that success. 

“That’s where I think the secret sauce is — they have to believe in it,” Johnson said. “If they don’t believe in it, it doesn’t work. But if they believe, it typically does work.”

“I know anything I say to him will be taken pretty seriously,” Goff added. “He really values my opinion and cares about what I’m saying. That’s huge for a quarterback.”

If the Lions sustain that kind of success, Johnson probably won’t be around much longer. Goff worked with nearly all of the notable members of the Sean McVay coaching tree when he was with the Rams, like Packers HC Matt LaFleur, Bengals HC Zac Taylor and Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell, and he says Johnson fits right in with that group. 

“I’ve been around a handful of great coaches who became head coaches in the league, and he reminded me of them,” said Goff.

Packers

Packers QB Jordan Love has drawn praise from WR Romeo Doubs and is now returning the favor. 

“When in doubt, you can throw it out there and you know he’s going to make a play, and he’s done a great job of going and getting the ball wherever it’s at,” Love said of Doubs, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “He’s made some really tough catches, and it kind of just builds everybody’s confidence. It builds my confidence in him, just being able to throw the ball out there and know he’s going to make a play.”

“You always got to be careful,” Love added. “That’s the biggest thing, and especially for me, just try not to force the ball. We had a couple today. I tried to squeeze it in to him on the goal line. But at the same time, you kind of got to push those boundaries because he made some great plays. So it’s just kind of finding that in-between.”

“I just know that coming into this year, I will have a huge role in this room,” Doubs said. “Whether it’s with clicking with Jordan or having some of the rookie receivers that I’ll have to guide through, as well.”

• ESPN’s Rob Demovsky thinks Doubs has become Love’s “go-to guy” this offseason and has been one of the team’s biggest standouts so far.