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 OT Penei Sewell is entering the fifth year of his career after being a first-round pick back in 2021. Sewell reflected on taking more of a leadership role and how the game continues to slow down for him.
“It’s a lot different. A lot more mature than I was rookie year. A lot has changed. I’ve got a family now. I’ve got three kids. But it’s all for the better and I wouldn’t change anything for the world,” Sewell said, via Eric Woodyard of ESPN. “Football-wise, how everything just keeps on slowing down. I’m getting more comfortable with everything.”
Detroit was forced to make changes to its offensive line this offseason following the retirement of C Frank Ragnow and veteran G Kevin Zeitler signing with the Titans. Detroit OL coach Hank Fraley is embracing the “great challenge” of replacing both players.
“It’s a great challenge; we’ve gotten younger and that’s good. It’s a young man’s game, too, sometimes and us old guys wanna hang on as long as we can play it,” Fraley said. “Because once you walk away from the game, you’re done. You’re not going to play pickup tackle football in the backyard at all.”
Fraley called their offensive line’s identity still a “work in progress,” but is pleased with the development he’s seeing in practice.
“I just joke with everybody, coaches and family and all that, even my own wife and say, ‘we’re a work in progress.’ And we’re gonna know Week 1, but we’re always gonna be a work in progress for the rest of the year,” Fraley said. “All I know is this, effort and finish and attitude… that’s what you’re always gonna see. That physicality will show itself, but I love the progression where we’re going. It’s hard to see it right now, but it’s going there.”
Packers
Packers HC Matt LaFleur said the frustrating penalties that kill drives need to get tightened up after RT Anthony Belton got flagged for a block in the back away from the play.
“That’s the one that really bothers me because that is — I mean, they all bother me — but you can’t be getting personal fouls because that really hurts the team, puts you in a really tough position,” LaFleur said, via NY Times. “That is completely unacceptable in my mind. I appreciate the effort that he plays with and I thought he did a really nice job … I love the effort. It’s just, you got to be smart in those situations.”
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