NFC Notes: Justin Fields, D.J. Moore, Bears, Lions, Packers

Bears

The No. 1 goal for Bears QB Justin Fields and WR D.J. Moore this offseason has been building chemistry together to be ready to go when the season starts. So far so good, with Fields saying he was even surprised at how quickly he and Moore gained a rapport. 

“It did come on quickly,” Fields said via USA Today’s Alyssa Barbieri. “I didn’t really expect anything because it’s different for each guy, but I feel like with DJ, his body language is pretty easy to read. Early on we communicated on how we want each route ran and stuff like that. Of course, he has a lot of experience.

“He’s been in the league for a good period of time now. He’s played a lot of football, so he knows different coverages really well. That’s one thing that I was kind of impressed about with the offense coming in and just understanding, seeing coverages really well on short routes and stuff like that. He’s been great. And you know, the chemistry has really picked up.”

Lions

Lions CB Jerry Jacobs believes that the team has brought in a few impactful free agents like CB Cameron Sutton and S C.J. Gardner-Johnson that will turn the tide of their defense this coming season. 

“We got guys like Cam Sutton, C.J. (Gardner-Johnson). The veteran guys, they’ve been in the room these OTAs and minicamp and they’re helping us out a lot with just learning the scheme and playing in the NFL and making the defense better,” Jacobs said on Good Morning Football. “Cam Sutton has been in the league for seven years, so getting every knowledge from him. Emmanuel Moseley, he’s coming back from an injury, but he’s still in there 24/7. … Chauncey, man. Chauncey, he’s gonna make the game more fun. I love his enthusiasm. I love the way he comes out there and talks trash. That just turns us up. Man, the guys that we added this offseason, I think that we’re going to be pretty dominant in the back end.”

“We’re just knocking out the outside noise, even though they gave us the big game — NFL Kickoff vs. Kansas City — man, we’re not looking into nothing like that,” Jacobs added. “We’re just going out there ready to compete, man, bounce back off from last season. We finished pretty strong, and we just want to keep that momentum going, pass over to the upcoming season. We don’t really pay attention to the media, things like that, just because … we’re on the rise to be great and we just want to keep going and get better game by game and week by week.”

Packers

Packers HC Matt LaFleur praised WR Romeo Doubs‘ development but wants him to prove himself in the regular season. 

“Rome has done a nice job of really making that next step,” LaFleur said, via PackersWire. “Now he has to go out and do it in games, but what we’ve seen from him in practice…just how deliberate he is with what he’s trying to work on. He’s doing a great job of getting his feet in the ground, running violent routes, violent cuts. Being aggressive with his hands. I think he’s shown a lot of progress.”

LaFleur has also noticed an early bond between Doubs and new starting QB Jordan Love.

“Just the rapport that those two guys have shown throughout eight practices has been pretty solid,” LaFleur said.