Bears

When the Bears hired new HC Ben Johnson, QB Caleb Williams said he was excited for some hard coaching. That’s exactly what he’s gotten so far, with Johnson relentlessly drilling Williams on the details he wants to see in his game. 

“Before it was a little bit more, ‘How can we just bridge him to this first year?’” Bears GM Ryan Poles said via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “This is like, ‘We have to set your foundation and you don’t really have a choice.’ It’s tough love, and I think he was looking for that. It’s honest feedback. No gray.”

Johnson’s exacting approach has been applied to the whole offense, not just Williams, and it’s led to a lot of critical reports about the Bears’ offense as a whole through camp so far. However, the players are saying the approach is opposite from the one the staff took last year and that led to disastrous results. 

“The way Ben Johnson coaches, if the offense gets out the huddle and the receiver’s supposed to be plus two and he’s plus three, he’s sending everybody back,” Bears S Kevin Byard said. “So it’s not like, ‘Oh, Caleb’s not getting’ — no, it’s just how detailed he is with everything. And so like I said, I think those are going to help us out because I would personally just say last year that wasn’t happening and I think that’s what it takes to be great, and I think everybody’s doing all the necessary things to take this thing to the next level.” 

• Poles mentioned Bears first-round TE Colston Loveland has been a much better blocker than anticipated, which opens up some exciting possibilities with their personnel groupings: “It just forces a decision from a defense: Do you go big and stop the run? Or do you have to respect Loveland’s athleticism and route-running ability to separate where you go light?”
• Bears QB Case Keenum on Loveland: “He’s friendly to throw to. He’s got good body language. There’s that non-verbal communication that lets the quarterback know that he knows where the ball is and should be and has good body position in relation to defenders.” (Kevin Fishbain)

Bears

Bears WR Rome Odunze said he’s trying to improve his route-running to be able to be consistently counted upon as a top target for the offense. 

“I’m just really just trying to carry that (momentum from last year) over and expand on that within my entire route three, so that’s something that I think I can do well, as well as the contested catches and all those things that I have kind of carried on since college,” Odunze said via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler. “So all those different things, honestly, just looking to expand on and take it to a new level.”

The Bears have a crowded skill position group with Odunze, WR D.J. Moore, TE Cole Kmet, second-round WR Luther Burden, and first-round TE Colston Loveland. Odunze said he’s not worried about the label of No. 1 receiver. 

“I really don’t look at it that way,” he said. “Honestly. I think I deserve from what I put on the practice field to be an option on every single play. But at the end of the day, in a wide receiver room, I don’t believe in a wide receiver 1, wide receiver 2, I think we all got to come together to have a good wide receiver corps, so I’m just glad to be part of it.”

Lions

• Lions HC Dan Campbell said, “I think it’s going to be a while,” regarding the timeline on CB Ennis Rakestraw Jr.’s shoulder injury. (Adam Schefter)

Packers

Packers HC Matt LaFleur spoke about QB Jordan Love and his evolution into being a team leader. Love has made strides this offseason to be more vocal and take charge of the group.

“I think the next step is just to continue to evolve as a vocal leader,” LaFleur told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.  “That just comes with the position naturally. I think he’s taken steps to get there, but I think he can really demand a lot because the locker room respects him.”

“Night and day,” LaFleur later added. “Even from last year, and I thought he took a big jump last year. Way more presence. As the kids say, he’s got aura. You can see the urgency he’s playing with right now. A lot of times in this [era], you’re going to go as far as your quarterback goes. But it does take everybody around him playing at a high level. (His teammates) all respect him, but when things aren’t quite right, I think he can voice that as well, when guys aren’t doing quite what they are supposed to be doing. He’s one of the guys I talk to about that. It just means more when it comes from your quarterback than from me or one of our other coaches.”

“One thing about being a leader, it’s not always easy, and it’s not always doing what’s comfortable,” Love noted. “Sometimes you got to ruffle feathers, sometimes you got to hold people accountable. That’s something I try to do, I try to say the things that people are afraid to say.”

• Per Ryan Wood, Packers CB Emanuel Wilson thought he suffered a torn ACL when he left practice last week, but he revealed it’s just a bone bruise.
• Wilson wants to play in the preseason opener on Saturday, but knows he has to return to practice first. (Wood)
• Per the wire, the Packers tried out NT Kevin Hester and DT Justin Rogers.

Packers

Packers QB Jordan Love has been impressed with first-round WR Matthew Golden, who has been showing his skillset since first arriving in Green Bay.

“Man, I think he’s shown up since Day 1 and just really shown his play style, shown what he’s all about,” Love said. “He came in really polished and has been making plays since Day 1. He’s got very aggressive hands, he’s a smooth route runner, he’s got speed. So I think for him, it’s just continuing to understand the playbook and wrap his head around everything we have in. We have a very deep system. But you can see, when he knows what he’s doing, and he’s feeling confident, he’s been playing lights out. He’s gonna be a stud.”

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