NFC Notes: Lions, Packers, Seahawks

Lions

Lions HC Matt Patricia said first-round TE T.J. Hockenson (concussion) has been “really great” but they are being patient with his return. 

“He’s been really great,” Patricia said, via Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “I think with all rookies, and he’s a young player, you always try to tread those waters and really learn about the guy.”

Patricia explained that he tries to look for “small subtleties” with players working their way back from concussions. 

“I think just my own personal experience with those things, as you go through and you deal with players or when you’re playing or whether you’re coaching, you’re just trying to look for small subtleties,” Patricia said. “There might be situations where a guy looks good, he feels OK and all that stuff, but maybe you as a coach or you as a friend or you as a teammate start to see something that maybe is just a little bit different. You just try to be really aware.

“For a guy like T.J., to kind of go back to the question, is just really trying to be observant with him as we learn him as a young guy, but he has been — he loves football,” said Patricia. “He’s all in on football, you know what I mean? He’s just one of those kids that just absolutely loves the game, loves to play, and you appreciate that.”

Packers

• The Packers officially ruled out S Darnell Savage Jr., TE Robert Tonyan, and WR Davante Adams for Monday Night’s game against the Lions and list CB Tony Brown as doubtful. 
• Packers C Corey Linsley cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol and said he will play in Week 6: “I’m all good.” (Ryan Wood)

Seahawks

Seahawks HC Pete Carroll praised Jadeveon Clowney and Quinton Jefferson‘s performance in Week 5 and feels their defense is on the verge of a breakout. 

“There was real good activity from Jadeveon for certain, as well as Quinton [Jefferson] was really active too,” Carroll said, via Brady Henderson of ESPN. “Those guys were around the ball a lot. We were so close to three or four sacks. You can just feel it’s coming alive. I think just the combination with Zig [Ezekiel Ansah] outside and what’s going on inside, I think we’re going to be able to work together better.”

Regarding the Seahawks’ Week 6 game against the Browns, Carroll believes they’ll be able to play to the strength of their pass rushers in this matchup. 

“We’ll be able to help those guys more,” Carroll said. “I think this was the game I now can see some things that we can do better, and we can utilize our guys a little uniquely for their strengths. They’re playing really hard, with really good, consistent effort. … It’s the first time I really could see enough and feel like we’ve seen these guys out there enough to make some evaluations to make the kind of tweaks and stuff so we can help them out.”