Lions
Lions QB Jared Goff said their offense is looking for “creative ways” to get RBs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery involved.
“We’re working on how many different ways we can use them,” Goff said, via ProFootballTalk. “As often as we can get both those guys on the field is a good thing for us. Finding creative ways to do that is the hard part, and that’s the challenge upstairs for those guys, but they’re doing a good job of figuring it out. You don’t ever want to take either of them off the field, so we’re trying to find ways to throw it to one of them and have one of them block, and then throw it to the other guy have the other guy block, hand it to one of them. It’s a lot of fun and those two guys are good.”
Packers
Green Bay first-round WR Matthew Golden has made his mark thus far during the early parts of camp and preseason. Packers GM Brian Gutekunst praised Golden’s consistency and playmaking ability for someone who left college early.
“For a third-year player coming out of college, I think he’s done a really good job adjusting to our culture here. His work habits have been excellent,” Gutekunst said, via Zach Kruse of the Packers Wire. “He’s one of those rookies that has made one or two plays every day, and when you start to see that consistency of that, there’s a lot of history here that those guys make it and are pretty good players in the league. He’s just scratching the surface. He’s still learning quite a bit, but he’s made plays when he’s had opportunities to make plays, and that’s a good sign. Certainly a lot more out there for him, and he’s working hard to get to those next places.”
- Golden became the first receiver to be taken in the first round by the Packers since Javon Walker in 2002. Jordan Schultz cites an anonymous source who points out Green Bay must’ve been astonished by Golden in the pre-draft process: “Green Bay isn’t a team that uses a Round 1 pick on a wide receiver. When they do, you know they saw something.”
Vikings
Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell has been impressed by LB Jonathan Greenard in their offseason program, noting how he consistently wins one-on-one situations.
“We call him the closer,” O’Connell said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “How many times have we seen him win a one-on-one, or even with help from the back or the tight end, and he just wins and ends the drill?”
Greenard is entering the sixth year of his career and his second year with the Vikings. He said he approaches every practice looking to learn something new.
“It takes a lot of humility to just say, ‘Hey, I’m ready to learn today,’” Greenard said. “I’m trying to learn something every single day so I can just build up on my game, so that nobody can stop me. They may know I do a certain move, but I may have added something else to the move that they’ve never seen before. And at that point, you’re balling.”
Vikings DC Brian Flores said Greenard has improved his pass rush and setting the edge since coming to Minnesota.
“He’s worked on his pass rush,” Flores said. “He’s worked on setting the edge in the run game. But also: How do I set somebody up? I think he’s that sort of unselfish player.”
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