NFC Notes: Dan Campbell, Luther Burden, Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

After being projected to be a first-round pick, Bears WR Luther Burden III remained on the board until pick 39 overall in the second round. Burden has no intentions of forgetting all the teams passing on him and plans to use it as motivation.

“No, that’s staying with me forever,” Burden said, via ESPN’s Courtney Cronin. “Everybody who passed up on me gotta pay.”

Although Burden totaled 536 fewer yards in his senior season compared to his junior year, Chicago director of college scouting Breck Ackley believes the skillset is still there and none of his elite traits faded to cause a production dip. 

“It was the same offensive coordinator, the same quarterback, but you still saw the flashes of the same skill set,” Ackley said. “That’s what really matters. Yes, I get the production was down. Our jobs is to answer the question: Was it a difference? Did something happen? Was he less explosive or slower? We saw none of that. He was the same level of player that we saw before.”

Lions

Lions HC Dan Campbell has no fear when it comes to any games on the team’s schedule; in fact, he is pumped up for what lies ahead for Detroit.

“We’ve gotten to where we’ve gotten because we haven’t been complacent and we have gone and put the work in again,” Campbell told reporters, via NFL.com. “Done all the little things that you have to do to win games and win the division again, so we’ve got to do that all over again. And yeah, they do have to play us. I just think the challenge of it is what you really love. It’s why you love this game. The NFL, that’s why it’s at its best. Not only here at home, our own division, going on the road, I mean some of these teams, it’s awesome, man. To me, by the end of the year we ought to be just scarred up. We should be scarred up and ready to go, hardened for battle, and ready for the playoffs. It’ll be nothing easy about it. Just to get through our own division is gonna be brutal, but it’s the right kind of brutal.”

Vikings

Vikings OLB Andrew Van Ginkel signed a one-year extension this offseason after a Second-Team All-Pro selection in 2024. Van Ginkel expressed love and gratitude towards the organization and city, and he also spoke on his comfort level in DC Brian Flores‘ defense. 

“First off, I just want to start by thanking the Wilf Family for, obviously, adding another year to my contract,” Van Ginkel said, via Rob Kleifield of the team’s website. “I love this place. I love this organization. It’s a family atmosphere, and it’s a big part of who I am.”

“Spending a majority of my career with Flores, I kind of know all the ins and outs, and I kind of know the expectations; what he’s trying to get done, and how we’re trying to attack different offenses.”