Bears
The Bears signed RB D’Andre Swift as one of their aggressive moves to add playmakers around first-round QB Caleb Williams. Chicago HC Matt Eberflus detailed Swift’s profile and described how important his pass-catching ability is for the offense.
“We just felt that we wanted a home run hitter there,” Eberflus said, via Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic. “I think D’Andre brings that. We wanted a weapon back — a guy who could be a weapon out of the backfield. … He’s got tremendous speed. You can feel that when he is running the football, but you can definitely feel that as a pass catcher.”
“I know that in situational football it’s very difficult to be able to have the two guys outside covered, two tight ends covered, and then you got another situation where you have the weapon back inside. So that was critical.”
Packers
Packers TE Tucker Kraft spoke about having higher expectations for himself going into his second season, with hopes that he can play in Week 1, as he is currently unsure if he will take the field during the preseason.
“Without a doubt,” Kraft said about his return following his first practice, via PackersWire.com. “I’m not supposed to talk about timelines and stuff like that, but if you see me out there today, you’ll see me in Brazil. You guys don’t see me, but I was in the indoor for the last three weeks and just grinding in there trying to get as familiar with contact as possible. We’re progressing really well, so you guys will see me a lot more involved down the road.”
Kraft has set goals for himself this season now that he feels more comfortable in the NFL.
“I set a precedent for myself. A large goal of mine this year, I want to be the best tight end in the outside zone,” Kraft added. “That’s a huge ask, especially in our offense, and I want people to feel confident putting me out there to pass protect, putting me out there to run block, putting me out there to run routes. I want to get back to playing with an edge again, and I think that the next two weeks will allow me to do that. I’m just going to come out every snap, and if I don’t feel like I can put my best competitive effort forward, then I’m going to let the staff know, and we’re going to be on the same page. But as far as I’m concerned, I feel great. We’re in this ramp-up period right now, and I’m very excited to get back on the field completely.”
Vikings
Vikings owner Mark Wilf said they’re not discussing contract extensions at this time with HC Kevin O’Connell or GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah.
“It’s not something we’re talking about at this point,” Wilf said, via ESPN.
Wilf said it’s fair to assume that the team will shelve any discussions until the season is over.
“I think that’s fair. I think right now we’re just focusing on the season and putting those things aside for now,” Wilf added.
Wilf expressed confidence in O’Connell and the roster that Adofo-Mensah built while acknowledging that the upcoming season will have its share of challenges.
“We know we’re in a tough division but I know Coach O’Connell is getting everybody ready,” Wilf said. “We feel like our roster is in a good spot. We’ve had the issues we’ve had, the tragedy (of rookie cornerback Khyree Jackson’s death) and some injury stuff. But overall I think our roster is in a very good place.”
Nevertheless, Wilf still has high expectations for 2024 and expects the team to be competitive in a tough division.
“We’re going to evaluate all the factors that go into how we did and how we’re doing,” he said. “Everybody’s evaluated the same way, on how they’re performing. It’s a competitive business. We have big expectations of our squad and feel very good about our direction under Kevin and Kwesi.”
O’Connell isn’t worried about being a lame-duck coach and said that he’s focused on the upcoming season.
“You do not have time, energy or anything like that to worry about things that are outside of your control,” he said. “I’ve got a full-time gig here where I’ve got to focus on these players, these coaches, making sure we’re having ourselves the best training camp we’ve ever had here, which will hopefully lead into a successful season. But I’m very much focused on the task at hand and doing my job every single day, looking for any way I can be better for this organization and this team.“
This article first appeared on NFLTradeRumors.co and was syndicated with permission.
