NFC Notes: Lions, Aaron Rodgers, Packers, Vikings

Lions

• Lions HC Dan Campbell on DT Levi Onwuzurike‘s back surgery: “It’s a last resort, but we felt like that was where he needed to go with it. Saw a number of doctors, we’ll see where it goes.” (Kyle Meinke)
• Campbell said it looks like DL John Cominsky could play this week. (Justin Rogers)
• Campbell also still plans for OLB Romeo Okwara to play this season. (Rogers)
• Defensively, Campbell is still planning to make changes and has spent time with DC Aaron Glenn and the other defensive coaches reviewing things. (Colton Pouncy)
• Okwara, FB Jason Cabinda and first-round WR Jameson Williams won’t be returning to practice this week, with Cabinda being the closest to returning. (Dave Birkett)

Packers

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers spoke to the media about what the team needs to do differently following their loss to the Jets on Sunday.

“I’m not attacking anything,” Rodgers said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “I just think that based on how we’ve played the last two weeks, I think it’s going to be in our best interests to simplify things for everybody — for the line, for the backs, for the receivers, especially with [Randall Cobb‘s] injury. Just simplify some things, and maybe that’ll help us get back on track.”‘

“That’s why we need to simplify things because, on the couple drives that we did move the ball, it was very simple things,” Rodgers continued. “Very simple plays, no motion, so we need to look at everything and the guys that we’ve got and what we can accomplish with them, and let’s be smart about moving forward. Nobody works harder than Matt on the plan each week, and nobody comes up with better ideas than he and his staff. But if it’s not working, it’s not because those guys aren’t grinding. It’s because we’re not executing. If you think we have the right players, then we need to simplify things. If you don’t, then that’s a whole other conversation.”

Rodgers did say that he trusts GM Brian Gutekunst and his staff, and hopes that if there is a trade to be made that the general manager will pull the trigger. He also said he was unhappy with the way some of his teammates responded to the loss in New York.

“I trust him and his staff; if they feel like they need to add that they will,” Rodgers said. “I think there’s enough on this team to be a successful team. There’s the possibility, if certain guys emerge, of us having a chance to make a run. I know Brian believes the same thing. But if there’s an opportunity, I would expect that Brian will be in the mix.”

“It’s going to be interesting to see how we all respond to this tomorrow and this week,” Rodgers added. “I feel like we had a great week of practice, so this performance today was surprising. We’ve got to watch our language and the kind of energy that we’re manifesting, but I’m going to be steady with the guys and I expect our leadership to do the same.”

Packers HC Matt LaFleur says the team has more to figure out on why they can’t seem to put together a solid offensive performance.

“That’s a fair question,” LaFleur said. “I don’t know. I mean, obviously, if I knew we wouldn’t be in this spot, right? We’re in a pretty bad predicament right now. We’re going to have to take a good hard look at everything and really do some great evaluations from a coaching perspective in terms of what’s working, what’s not working and try to find a different avenue because today was not good enough.”

• The Packers are working out WR Ty Fryfogle on Tuesday, who was with the Cowboys before suffering a hamstring injury in training camp. (Mike Garafolo)

Vikings

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell and WR Adam Thielen are excited about their victory in Miami and the 5-1 start to the season but plan to use the bye week to fix any remaining flaws in their game plan.

“I told the team (on Saturday), by this time tomorrow, we’ll have six examples of who we are as a football team,” O’Connell said, via VikingsWire.com. “And will we come out of this stadium 5-1 and be able to say we’re a little bit more of a third of the way through our season with different identities? Sometimes it may feel like to Vikings fans, depending on what Sunday it is, but what I would say is we’ve got a tough resilient group that maybe doesn’t always play the most consistent. But they are willing and able to have each other’s backs in all three phases.”

“Obviously it’s right where we want to be,” Thielen said. “I think if you asked anybody in this organization or the fanbase if we could be 5-1 at this point before the season started, I think everyone would be like ‘heck yeah, I’ll do whatever it takes to get to that point,’ right? But we know we’ve got to get a lot better. I’ve been on teams that have started fast and not made the playoffs. So we have a lot of guys on this team that has had that experience and know that we have to stay on top of it, we’ve got to keep getting better. The teams that find ways to get better throughout the season are the teams that do things at the end of the season, and that allows them to make the playoffs. We’ve got to take advantage of this bye week and then go back to work.”