NFC Notes: Lions, Aaron Jones, Packers

Lions

Lions QB Jared Goff praised 49ers LBs Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw ahead of the NFC Championship game, calling them both intelligent and fast linebackers. 

“Both those guys are really dang good,” Goff told reporters on Championship Wednesday. “I’ve been fortunate, or unfortunate enough, to be on the other side of the ball from them for quite some time. They’re really good. They’re both very smart, fast and play sideline to sideline. They’re both involved in the run game and pass game. I have a lot of respect for both of those guys.”

Warner thinks Goff has gotten “a lot better” since his time with the Los Angeles Rams. 

“[He’s] a lot better,” Warner said. “Not to say that he wasn’t good when we played him back when he was with the Rams, but I think he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the league right now with the way that he’s playing. I think he finished, what, top three in passing yards this season. I think, just the delivery of the football, his decisiveness, obviously with the amount of playmakers that he has on that side, I think he’s the one that’s leading that group.”

When asked about Detroit not having as many players who are considered superstars as on San Francisco’s roster, Goff feels their players haven’t had the national stage up to this point. 

“I know what you’re getting at,” Goff said. “Yes, I do. I think we’ve got a ton of great players who maybe haven’t had the national stage up to this point that a lot of other guys have, and obviously, they have a ton of good players as well and a ton of Pro Bowlers and All-Pro players over there. Yeah, we feel like we’ve got a lot of good players, too, though, like you mentioned and excited to play on another national stage and be able to showcase that.”

Aaron Jones

Packers RB Aaron Jones believes the team is building a special foundation heading into the 2024 season.

“I feel like what we’re building here is special,” Jones said, via Packers Wire. “You can feel it. You can see it. The chemistry. The bond. The standard that we’ve set. I feel like with the standard we’ve set, we know what our expectations are when we come back next year. Our standard is high. We have no reason not to reach that standard every day because we’ve shown that we can do it this year, and we showed we can do it game after game after game, we can put it together. We’re going to be dangerous, we’re going to be special. This is a special team, a special group of guys. We’re building something special here. We defied expectations. No one thought we’d be in the playoffs, let alone the second round of the playoffs. It was a great building block for us.”

Packers