NFC Notes: Lions, Packers, Vikings

Lions

Lions DL coach Todd Wash would be ecstatic if DE Aidan Hutchinson was named Rookie of the Year but thinks the defensive end is focused on winning games. 

“I think if he ends up winning the rookie of the year, it’s just some icing on the cake for him,” Wash said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “But that’s the last thing in his mind. He just wants to win football games and be a positive role for our team, and if it happens, it happens.”

Wash said that they plan to keep Hutchinson on the left end and thinks he’s showing consistent improvement. 

“We’re keeping him on the left side for the most part, I think he likes that,” Wash said. “But just constant pressure is what we’re kind of looking for and that’s our expectations and that’s his expectations. He missed a couple again last week. But that’s the biggest thing. I think he’s really improved when we looked at the tape last week. He has really improved on setting the edge and staying square. Our edges are getting set, and he’s really took a lot of pride in that. Early on we were turned, we talk about ‘ass to the sideline.’ But he’s staying square and doing a really nice job in the run game. We want to see consistent pressure, and that’s not just for him, that’s for the rest of our guys. We got some guys who can rush the passer, we just got to finish.”

As for Hutchinson falling to them at No. 2 in the 2022 NFL Draft, Wash said that he was the No. 1 player on their draft board. 

“We liked him. I liked him,” Wash said. “But I mean, he was a big, physical, powerful player and we liked him going into the draft. But I will say this, I love the one we got.”

• Lions HC Dan Campbell said he hasn’t decided on WR Jameson Williams‘ status for Week 13. (Eric Woodyard)
• Lions RB coach Duce Staley said that RB D’Andre Swift (ankle) is beginning to look stronger: “He’s starting to feel better. He’s starting to see it.” (Eric Woodyard)

Packers

Packers HC Matt LaFleur was unwilling to discuss the idea of defensive playcalling being removed from the duties of DC Joe Barry.

“We’re not going to go down that road,” LaFleur said, via Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “If I thought there was an issue there, then I would certainly, we’d make the change. But we work as a staff. And collectively, we’re all in this sucker together.”

Vikings

• Vikings ST coordinator Matt Daniels feels that he has been “holding back” return specialist Kene Nwangwu and vows to correct things for him going forward: “I’m kicking myself about how I was going about using this elite player. … Quite honestly I was holding him back, and I can assure you that won’t happen moving forward.” (Kevin Seifert)
• Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell said OT Christian Darrisaw (concussion) is progressing from his injury but they are not rushing him back: “He’s progressing right along where the doctors want him to be, but we want to make sure we can give him a little bit more time.” (Kevin Seifert)