NFC Notes: Kirk Cousins, Justin Fields, Aaron Jones, Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

• Bears HC Matt Eberflus on QB Justin Fields‘ decision-making in the first game of the season: “We always want him to look downfield. That’s an important piece to this. Certainly, before he scrambles and runs, we want him to take a look downfield to see open receivers if they are (open). We have to continue to work our scramble drill, which we work a lot on because that’s where our explosive plays come from.” (Dan Wiederer)

Packers

• Packers HC Matt LaFleur says they are still evaluating RB Aaron Jones‘ hamstring injury that saw him leave near the end of the team’s Week 1 win over the Bears: “The encouraging thing was he was able to jog off the field, and we were in a situation where we didn’t need to put him back in the game.” (Ryan Wood)
• The Packers worked out S Bubba Bolden, S Nico Bolden, and OT Jalen McKenzie on Tuesday, via Aaron Wilson. 

Vikings

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell recalled QB Kirk Cousins‘ interception with the game tied at 10-10 against the Buccaneers in Week 1, describing that he wants Cousins to continue being aggressive in those moments. 

“I think it was a situation where he felt like, that’s not even half a click, that’s maybe a quarter of a click away from probably being a catch and then KJ’s got a chance to split two and maybe score,” O’Connell said, via ProFootballTalk. “I think looking at it again, 13-yard line, where we were, it’s going to be a little tighter, things happen faster. That’s a play that Kirk has executed multiple times and he knows that he’s going to continue to stay aggressive in those moments. And [it’s] just an unfortunate outcome with how the defender, outside leverage defender kind of ended up, where that ball ended up with KJ trying to make a tough catch there. It was tough, it was a tough part of the football game when I look back on it, knowing where the momentum was at the time. We had hit Justin [Jefferson] on an explosive, we had hit another decent play down there to still having a couple of timeouts there and the ability to kind of manipulate the end of the half there. There’s no question that we would’ve loved to finish that drive with a touchdown, but always want him to be aggressive, play what he sees, and he did a lot of really good things yesterday as well to help us stay in the football game — despite the turnovers and the penalties being so favored critically against us.”

• Vikings S Josh Metellus‘ new two-year extension included a $3 million signing bonus and base salaries of $1.25 million and $3.675 million in the new years of the deal. (Over The Cap)
• His 2024 base salary is guaranteed and he has up to $50,000 annually in per-game roster bonuses as well as an annual $50,000 workout bonus.