Bears

Both Bears OL Joe Thuney and Drew Dalman were elected to this year’s Pro Bowl. Thuney highly praised Dalman, saying the center has a deep understanding of HC Brian Johnson‘s system.  

“He’s such a tough, smart, really good football player,” Thuney said, via CHGO Bears. “He knows the offense inside and out, he’s a great resource to have just talking about the game. We’re always communicating for everything, he made my life a lot easier on a lot of things. I really appreciate playing next to him.”

Packers

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said he believes QB Jordan Love played some of his best football late in the season and said that his best is still yet to come.

“I thought Jordan played really, really good football — some of his best football, especially down the stretch,” Gutekunst said, via PFT. “I actually thought he was one of our guys that played very, very well down the stretch. Continues to be an unbelievable leader for our football team. I couldn’t speak more highly of what I think about Jordan and where he’s headed. As good as he’s been for us, I do think he’ll continue to get better because it’s important to him. He works at his craft. He’s always looking for another edge. So, yeah, I feel really good about that.”

Packers

Packers GM Brian Gutekunst gave his explanation of why the offensive line fell short of expectations this season.

“It was a lot of moving parts and we never got off the way we wanted to,” Gutekunst said, via Packers Wire. “We had some young players playing, some guys that had moved positions, some injuries happened and some guys were moving around, some players in contract years, so there were a lot of things going on there.”

Gutekunst said he was excited about rookie OL Anthony Belton and his development throughout the season.

“Really proud of him,” Gutekunst added. “He was moving around a little bit early from tackle to guard, midseason he stepped in there at the right guard spot and brought a different kind of physicality to us, aggressiveness. Love the way he finishes, really excited to see where his career takes him, I think he’s going to be an impactful player for us moving forward. Still a ton of room for improvement, but I thought for a rookie, with what we asked him to do, he did a really nice job.”

Gutekunst lastly said that OL Jordan Morgan will have every opportunity to earn the left tackle spot, but also mentioned that versatility will always be paramount when they build their offensive line.

“He’s going to get a lot of opportunity,” Gutekunst said. “I thought he played really well in the preseason at that spot, probably did enough to win that job, but then we had some injuries and had to do what’s best for the team. You know how I feel about versatility, we’ve talked a lot about that up here. They need to be able to play multiple spots, and I don’t really care where they think they may be better, when they’re in, they need to perform.“