Bears
Bears S Kevin Byard hasn’t missed a single game in his 10-year career. Byard said it is a testament to how much he cares about his teammates and winning.
“For me, it’s about how much I care about my teammates and how much I care about winning,” Byard said, via Dan Wiederer of The Athletic.
Bears TE Cole Kmet missed the first game of his six-year career in Week 8 due to a back injury. Kmet points out that staying available depends on how you train, eat, and push yourself.
“With something like that, there’s a lot of work that goes on year-round that people don’t see or maybe don’t give you credit for. It’s how you train, how you eat, how you push yourself to continually be ready. K.B. is impressive, man,” Kmet said.
Byard feels it’s important to make an effort to maintain the longevity of his career.
“I don’t get it with some guys around the league,” Byard said. “You worked your ass off through high school to make it in college. You worked your ass off in college to open the doors to the league. Now, shouldn’t you be going 1,000 times harder to make this last? This is the time to mash the gas.”
- The Bears hosted P Brock Miller for a tryout on Thursday, per the NFL Transactions wire.
- Bears WR Luther Burden was fined $11,075 for unnecessary roughness.
Lions
Rams HC Sean McVay is proud of how Lions QB Jared Goff has grown since leaving Los Angeles.
“I see outstanding maturity. I see outstanding growth and ownership,” McVay said, via PFT. “You can see they give him a lot of things at the line of scrimmage like mike-point IDs, calling multiple plays, and getting in and out of the right looks whether that be in the run game or in the pass game, unbelievable accuracy and anticipation. Jared’s played really great.”
McVay said he’s happy with how Goff has turned the Lions around and how he’s been able to build them back up.
“I’ve been very open and very clear about [how] I had a lot of growing up to do back when that thing went down,” McVay said. “There were a lot of great memories and a lot of really good ball that he did here that I’ll always cherish. I’m truly happy for him. He’s married and has a beautiful little girl now. It’s awesome to see. I think I’m reminded of those things and then you’re also reminded of when you need to be able to grow up and handle things a little bit better. I’ll never run away from that. What I’m grateful for and appreciative of is that he’s got such grace towards me and understanding. I’m happy for Jared.”
- Lions LB Alex Anzalone was fined $17,968 for striking/kicking/tripping/kneeing.
Packers
Packers Javon Bullard talked about playing through a fractured heel during the final three games of his rookie season.
“If you can play, you can play from where I come from,” Bullard said, via the team’s website. “Everybody is hurting. If you can go, you can go, man. It’s really a mindset. Can’t (stuff) stop you unless you stop yourself. We got some things we’re playing for.”
Packers DC Jeff Hafley called Bullard one of the defense’s “most valuable players” and said it’s hard to take him off the field.
“I think the world of the guy. He’s hard to take off the field,” Hafley said. “Somebody was asking the other day ‘Why do you put him here? Why do you put him there?’ Because he’s a guy that really deserves never to come off the field, so we’ve got to continue to find ways to use him.”
- Packers HC Matt LaFleur on RB Josh Jacobs: “He’ll be out there in a limited capacity. We’ll see how he’s feeling. Talking to him, it sounds like he’s feeling pretty good.” (Hodkiewicz)
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