Packers
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst said time isn’t running out on fifth-round DE Collin Oliver and seventh-round OL John Williams to return, as neither has practiced with the full team this offseason.
“Missing this amount of time is tough on rookies but, hopefully, particularly with Oliver, hopefully we can get him out there before camp ends and see how he might be able to help us,” Gutekunst said, via SI . “Williams is probably going to be a little longer than that.”
Gutekunst said the team drafted Oliver because of his ability to get after the passer on the edge, even though he’s versatile enough to play inside linebacker.
“Another versatile player, can play inside backer and edge,” Gutekunst said. “We drafted him as an edge guy because of his ability to come off the corner and rush the passer with speed. We haven’t had a ton of those guys like that. But I think the versatility, as well, the ability to rush the passer with his hand down, stand up and do some of those things as an inside/outbacker and then also special teams, I just think his skill-set was really intriguing to us.”
- Packers fourth-round DE Barryn Sorrell sprained his MCL, but he doesn’t think he will be out more than a few weeks, per Rob Demovsky .
- Packers S Omar Brown is improving but still remains hospitalized in Indianapolis with his chest contusion. (Bill Huber )
- Packers RB coach Ben Sirmans was asked if he’s seen anyone with injury luck as bad as RB MarShawn Lloyd : “I have not, and I don’t think any of us – or very few of us – have. The way he works, you gotta believe he’ll get past all this.” (Demovsky )
Bears
Bears HC Ben Johnson is looking to solidify the team’s left tackle position, with three players currently vying for the spot, including Braxton Jones , Ozzy Trapilo and Kiran Amegadjie .
“We’ll go as long as we need to go to find the right guy,” Johnson said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN . “But we’d like to see someone go ahead and make it clear to us that he is that guy, and we just haven’t seen that yet as a staff. There’s been too much up and down. We’d love to go ahead and solidify that spot and move forward from there. And it might be one of those things where, when we make that decision, it’s not final for the season. It could be that we have to reassess after a couple of weeks of the season, or by the bye week, we might have to reassess. It might be something that goes on. Wouldn’t be ideal, but that’s the thing with the league.”
Bears OL coach Dan Roushar spoke about how the holes in Jones’ game have prevented him from securing the left tackle job.
“On the day off, [Jones] and I had a little communication,” Roushar told reporters. “I thought on Friday against Miami in the one-on-ones [during a joint practice] — and I’m not speaking out of the side of my mouth here — I saw him set with balance. His hips were down, and he used his length, and I saw a player that we can win with. When I watched him Sunday, as I told him, I said you reverted back to whatever this is for you, but that’s not acceptable, and so every day we have to go in and we’ll have a standard. We’ll maintain that standard or hold those guys to that, because what he does, or anybody playing the left tackle or any other position, impacts the entirety of our group.”
The team is sending Trapilo to right tackle with the second-team unit as they hope to get him experienced at both positions and increase his movement speed. Meanwhile, Amegadjie is working his way in with the backups after a leg injury caused him to miss the first preseason game.
“There are times where the feet have gotten a little bit slow at times, both in the run game and in pass pro,” Johnson said of Trapilo. “The mental of just speeding up, ball, snap, let’s go ahead and get in a good physical position here to block the man in front of me, it’s been a little bit of up and down.”
“He’s missing some quality reps there,” Johnson noted on Amegadjie. “He was getting better, too. That’s the shame of it. He’s getting better. We were very pleased with the trajectory in which he was headed. Hopefully, we’ll get him back here sooner rather than later so he can get right back into that mix. This is not going to be a revolving door. That’s not what we want. We want one guy to clearly come out and say this is his job.”
Lions
- Lions HC Dan Campbell said LB Josh Paschal (knee) will return from the Non-Football Injury list will be “a little later than expected,” per Justin Rogers.
- Aidan Hutchinson is entering the final year of his rookie contract before his fifth-year option starts in 2026. When asked about contract negotiations, Hutchinson said he’s allowing his representation to handle the situation: “I think the business side can take away from your love of the game a little bit and that’s kind of the reality of the NFL.” (Eric Woodyard )
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