NFC Notes: Kelvin Sheppard, Bears OL Coach Search, Lions, Packers

Bears

• Brad Biggs reports the Bears are interviewing Ohio State OL coach Justin Frye for the same role in Chicago. 
• Biggs also notes the Bears are expected to interview Tulane OL coach Dan Roushar, who previously had a 10-year stint with the Saints. 

Lions

The Lions recently named Kelvin Sheppard their new defensive coordinator, promoting him from linebackers coach. Sheppard played under HC Dan Campbell when he was the Dolphins’ interim head coach in 2015, describing how he built a close relationship with Campbell during that time. 

“I can remember him bringing me up to his office and him acknowledging my knowledge and him acknowledging my leadership ability,” Sheppard said, via Colton Pouncey of The Athletic. “From there, it was being the captain of his team. I kind of attached to Dan as someone that cared about me more than just a football player. I would reach out to him for advice. And through that, he was like, ‘You’re going to be coaching one day.’”

Sheppard said former coaches like Steve Spagnuolo and Lou Anarumo knew he would venture to the coaching ranks someday. 

“I went to the Giants in 2016,” Sheppard said. “There, I ran Coach Spagnuolo’s defense. Coach Spags, that’s my guy. He’s in Kansas City now as the D-Coordinator, and he told me, ‘You’re going to be a coach when you’re done.’ Lou Anarumo, D-Coordinator in Cincinnati. He said, ‘You’re gonna be a coach when you get done.’”

• Aaron Wilson reports that the Lions have moved on from assistant DL coach Cameron Davis.

Packers

A lot was asked out of Packers second-round DB Javon Bullard during his first season in the NFL, but he took it in stride and embraced being versatile on the back end of the defense.

“Adapt to sudden change,” Bullard said, via the team’s website. “It’s probably what I’m most proud of about myself. Moving around in the back end, playing multiple positions and producing at each position, I feel like that’s probably one of my strong points.”

Bullard added that learning multiple positions during his first year was a tough adjustment for a rookie.

“That (stuff’s) hard, man,” Bullard admitted. “I’m not gonna lie. I’m not going to sit here and tell you it’s easy when it’s not. It takes a different level of focus to turn that on and turn it off, to switch modes like that.”

Packers DB coach Ryan Downard said that Holland having to learn multiple positions early on will help him down the road as he continues his career.

“That’s something we tried to address in the right way, not to put too much on his plate at one time,” Downard said, while also admitting sometimes the coaches had no choice. “He knew from learning all the safety stuff what the jobs were at the nickel, but it’s different when you actually put yourself in those positions. I think it’s going to serve him down the road. He’s going to be a player that you don’t know where he’s going to line up at, because he can do all these different jobs. I think it’s going to be a good thing as he continues on in his career.”