NFC Notes: Jaylon Johnson, Matt LaFleur, Bears, Lions, Packers

“That doesn’t have anything to do with me,” Johnson replied when asked if he hears outside opinions on the team. “The only thing that has anything to do with me is the work that I put in and the work we put in as a unit. Taking the steps in the right direction. Other than that, the talk, the hype and all that — I mean, hype doesn’t win you no games. I’ve been here a minute; I’ve been through the hype and we don’t win games. For me, if it’s not about winning, quite honestly, I don’t really care about it.”

Lions

The Lions have had one of the best offenses over the last few seasons, but they have major question marks heading into 2025 after former OC Ben Johnson took the Bears’ HC job. Detroit HC Dan Campbell believes the players are more important than the scheme and thinks they will be fine without Johnson. 

“This is a Detroit Lion offense, is what it is,” Campbell said, via Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “This offense is Jared Goff, (Amon-Ra) St. Brown, (Jahmyr) Gibbs, (David) Montgomery,” Campbell said last week, via the Detroit News. “It’s Frank (Ragnow); it’s (Penei) Sewell; it’s (Taylor) Decker. I can keep going. It’s (Jameson Williams). … That’s what we are.”

“We can say, ‘Well, this is our scheme, this is what we’re running.’ No, no, no. (The players are) The ones who make it what it is. That’s our playbook, those guys.”

Packers

Packers HC Matt LaFleur commented on the team’s need to make improvements in the passing game.

“That’s an area that we have to clean up,” LaFleur said, via Jason Wilde of Channel 3000. “You’ve got to finish the catch. Some of those were some challenging balls to catch, but ultimately, that’s what they get paid to do. You’ve got to catch the ball, and that’s got to be primary. I think most of it was focus-related. I don’t think it’s a lack of effort or skill. I think our guys are capable. I think we’ve seen that from them.”