NFC Notes: Lions, Packers, Vikings

Lions

New Lions DL coach Todd Wash was particularly impressed with DL Da’Shawn Hand when he was reviewing tape of his new group. Hand has yet to play a full 16-game season but Wash is thrilled about what he could do in 2021 if he reaches that goal. 

“When I came in, he was a young man that we had a lot of conversations about. When I flipped on the tape, and when he’s healthy, he’s something. I think he’s something teams are going to have to deal with,” Wash said via Justin Rogers of the Detroit News. “That’s my job, is to get him to be able to stay healthy, get him prepared physically and athletically. He has a chance to be a special player in this league, we just got to keep him healthy. And we’re going to do everything we can to get him on the field as much as we can.”

Packers

Packers HC Matt LaFleur reiterated that the organization wants Aaron Rodgers to return as their starting quarterback. 

“Aaron definitely knows how we feel about him, how he’s such an important part to our football team, such an important part to our organization,” LaFleur said, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. “We’re just going to continue to try to work through this and hopefully can get him back in the building at some point.”

As for Jordan Love, LaFleur mentioned that it’s clear has put work in throughout the offseason to get better. 

“You can tell he put some work in this offseason on his own,” LaFleur said. “I think the ball is really jumping out of his hands well right now. You know, it’s Day 2 of OTAs, and all we’ve really done is thrown routes on air. We had some 7-on-7, but you guys could see the team periods, they’re not full speed. We’re excited about some of the progress we’ve seen with him, but certainly there’s a long way to go there.”

• Packers OLBs coach Mike Smith said OLB Preston Smith appears “a lot leaner” this offseason after coming into last year’s training camp overweight: “I think he does look a lot leaner than he did coming into the last training camp. … I’m sure Preston has trained his butt off which you can tell when he came in.” (Rob Demovsky)

Vikings

• ESPN’s Courtney Cronin points out the Vikings’ first-team offensive line in Tuesday’s OTAs included: LT Rashod Hill, LG Ezra Cleveland, C Garrett Bradbury, RG Dakota Dozier, RT Brian O’Neill.
• Minnesota’s second-team offensive line featured: LT Christian Darrisaw, LG Dru Samia, C Mason Cole, RG Wyatt Davis, RT Oli Udoh.