NFC Notes: Jordan Love, J.J. McCarthy, Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

Bears GM Ryan Poles praised assistant GM Ian Cunningham, who received a contract extension last month, for helping them rebuild the team in 2022 and getting them up to this point.

“I am blessed out of my socks to have him by my side through this process,” Poles said via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “Especially when you reflect back to the first two years getting this thing off the ground. To have a guy like him that not a ‘yes man’ that keeps me in line when I start getting off track, to keep our staff together when I get pulled in different directions. We wouldn’t be where we are today if it wasn’t for Ian as well being there and being an unbelievable partner.” 

Packers

Despite being eligible for a new contract, Packers QB Jordan Love has been present throughout the start of OTAs. Green Bay HC Matt LaFleur spoke on what it means for them to have their leader in attendance despite his contract situation.

“Oh, it’s everything to us,” LaFleur said, via the team’s YouTube. “I think if you look at our attendance here — I know we had one guy missing today for a personal matter, but we’ve had almost 100 percent the entire offseason, which has been the best that we’ve had since I’ve been here. And I always think that when you look at the league, when your quarterback’s there, it just naturally has a way of attracting everybody to come.”

“And we’re still a very young football team as well, so these guys, they want to put in the work. I think we’ve got a lot of guys that love the game and love the process of grinding together and going through some tough things together. But to have him here, you can’t put a value on that.”

Vikings

Vikings first-round QB J.J. McCarthy felt comfortable with the offense to begin rookie minicamp and believes he is off to a strong start.

“It didn’t feel like my first day,” McCarthy said, via ESPN’s Kevin Seifert. “I’ve been going over the offense for a long time now. So being able to [go] out there and perform and execute, that’s new, but it was nothing that was overwhelming or too much.”