Bears

Bears HC Ben Johnson told reporters why he pulled the team’s starters in the fourth quarter against the Falcons.

“You’re trying to thread the needle a little bit. If we didn’t have the Thursday night game, I don’t know that we’d do things like we did. So that’s part of the equation. I do believe if we hadn’t had that fumble on offense, that maybe we would’ve gotten out of there the way that we wanted to. But things happen, and we’ve got to keep playing. We know that’s the case, especially with an offense like that. Once again, we’re trying to thread the needle and do what’s best for us. Not just [that] we had to win this game first and foremost, which we did. But of course, we want to think long term also.” Johnson said, via Bears Wire.

Lions

With several starts at left tackle under his belt, Lions HC Dan Campbell commented on Penei Sewell‘s switch from right tackle to left tackle.

“The switch has been outstanding and yes, I have [seen growth]. I still feel an ascending player. I feel like in some regards he looks even more smooth than he did at right. And I never thought he’d looked out of place at right or didn’t look smooth. It almost feels like he’s found even another little gear here [with] his ability to get out of his stance, and anchor, and punch, and run off the football.” Campbell said, via Pro Football Talk. “But it’s a credit to him. He’s banked a lot of reps and honestly, he can go anywhere. I mean, you can put him in the left, you can put him at right. That’s why we move him a little bit. But he’s playing high-level football right now at left tackle.”

• Campbell talked about S Brian Branch and C Cade Mays‘ status, per the team’s social media: “Barring anything negatively happening between now and the game, we plan on playing both of those guys.” 

Packers

Packers RB MarShawn Lloyd said he watched the clip of his power run and wants to keep the angry runs coming now that he is finally healthy and back on the field.

“I’ve seen it a million times now,” Lloyd said with a laugh, via the Packers’ official website. “Everywhere I go, everyone’s showing me. My family, everyone’s texting me and showing me the video. It’s been pretty cool. Now it’s kind of like on to the next. Not trying to think too much. Hadn’t played the game in a minute, hadn’t been out there in two years, but now everything’s settling down. I’m understanding things. Confidence, for sure. I think that’s the biggest thing. Once you have your confidence, I think anything’s possible.”

“Each week I feel like there’s something I’ve worked on that I’m getting better at,” Lloyd added. “Now it’s just learning the game more, being around it, being out there more. The more opportunities I get, the more opportunities I’m able to get better and learn from my mistakes. Now I just need to keep growing.”

“That was how we need him to run — with that pad level, with that physicality,” Packers HC Matt LaFleur said of Lloyd. “That was definitely a positive. He seemed more decisive, I would say, as well, when he was running the football. A lot less thinking, just cut it loose and go.”

“That’s what it’s got to be. He knows what that is,” Packers QB Jordan Love mentioned. “You’ve got to run behind your pads and there’s always going to be an unblocked defender. You either got to make him miss or run somebody over, and he did that.”