BEARS
Johnson is attempting to learn from former Bears CB Charles Tillman, who made a name for himself forcing dumbles, setting NFL records of 12 in one season and four in a single game.
According to Johnson, he met Tillman for the first time during the Walter Payton interviews. “It was incredible to be able to converse with him, up close and personal, about personal matters and football.” I just got his number, so that relationship will grow. I didn’t see him in a team setting or hear him give a speech to the team, but just us two being able to shake his hand, talk to him, and look him in the eye.
LIONS
Jared Goff said he doesn’t pay attention to criticism after the Lions won five of their last six games and thinks people are changing their tone.
In his interview with ProFootballTalk, Goff said, “I really just enjoy winning with these guys, and whatever people may have said earlier on in the year, they were probably justified in some ways. We were 1-6, not playing very well. Currently, we’re playing pretty well, and everyone seems to have changed their minds about us, and we’ve been trying to stay in the middle.”
Their “biggest challenge” going forward is to show maturity, according to Goff.
“I think our biggest challenge now is to show our maturity, to show that we can handle a little praise and a little thought that we’re good, and not change the way we approach every week.”
In the NFL, receiving criticism is normal, especially for quarterbacks.
“What would I lash out at?” Goff asked. “Tom Brady gets criticized, everyone gets criticized, we all get criticized.” “That’s part of this business, especially when you play quarterback. It’s not the first time, probably won’t be the last, and I’ll handle it like I’ll handle success. There is good and bad, and you move on.”
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The Lions and Seahawks also placed waiver claims on Rams DT Larrell Murchison, Field Yates reports.
VIKINGS
According to Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell, Kirk Cousins was “trying to will our football team to victory” yesterday.
As O’Connell told VikingsWire.com, Cousins was trying to will his team to victory. I thought Justin played incredibly fast and explosive after making adjustments since the last time he played against these guys, and Kirk was right there with him every step of the way. As much as I’m proud of those guys, I believe they will continue to help us in the future as well. Our pass game today consisted of a lot of different things to kind of create a plan of attack based on what we saw against the Lions last time. The combination of that with a better day running the football puts us in a position where we feel like we can compete offensively.”