Bears GM Ryan Poles isn’t hiding how much the team wants Kyler Gordon back, but there’s still no clear timetable for the cornerback’s return from a calf injury.
Gordon has been on PUP, and Poles said the Bears are doing everything they can to get him right after he spent the offseason training with the team. Still, the injury has pushed his return into an unknown window.
“ Kyler Gordon on PUP, with his calf, he was here all offseason training, getting right. We had a delay in that.
All hands on deck to get him back,” Poles said, via Pro Football Talk. “He’s frustrated, we’re frustrated.
We just want him back. He helps our football team.
But we have to move forward with the guys we have, and when he’s ready to go he’ll be ready to go. Everybody here is putting all their time and effort to get him back right.”
Poles also made it clear the Bears are thinking beyond just getting Gordon on the field again.
“I really don’t know. He’s got to get right and the important thing we’ve all talked about is when he gets back he’s got to stay back,” Poles added. “When he gets back he’s got to earn that trust back.”
In Detroit, Dan Campbell said the Lions are hoping to have safety Brian Branch back in practice late in training camp or at the start of September, according to Tim Twentyman. Campbell said Kerby Joseph is on a similar schedule, though getting him ready for Week 1 would be a bonus.
The Lions also had running back Jahmyr Gibbs out of practice while he and the team continue contract talks, Dave Birkett reported.
Over in Green Bay, Packers DC Jonathan Gannon praised the decision to bring in defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, calling him a player who checks every box the team values. Gannon pointed to Hargrave’s work ethic, toughness, football IQ, and team-first approach as the reasons the move made sense.
“He’s a good player; that was a good defense with a lot of good players, and he was a part of that defense,” Gannon said, via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “When we had the ability to acquire him or the chance to acquire him, team-first guy, loves football, smart, and he works his butt off and he’s tough as nails.
So, anybody that kind of checks those boxes, you want to acquire them if you can. He checked all those boxes.
I’m excited to get back with him.”
The Vikings section centered on Kyler Murray, who is in his first year with Minnesota after seven seasons in Arizona. One anonymous former Cardinals coach believes the move could unlock the “best version” of Murray, and Murray’s former colleagues seem convinced the quarterback is ready to show more.
“I think you’re about to see the best version of Kyler Murray,” the coach said, via Alec Lewis of The Athletic. “And I’m f-ing pissed that I’m not going to get to be a part of it. I’m going to be jealous when he’s in a good environment, his headspace is good, and he shows people who the f- he is.”
Former Cardinals and current Commanders running back Chase Edmonds echoed that confidence, saying Murray’s recent stretch of his career may have been part of the process.
“I think how his career has gone the last two or three years has been necessary for his growth,” Edmonds said. “The Vikings are going to be getting the best Kyler Murray that anyone has ever seen in terms of consistency.”
Former Cardinals assistant and current UMass WRs coach Jordan Hogan also said Murray wants to operate from the pocket and avoid exposing himself to unnecessary punishment.
“He is not an idiot, and neither is his inner circle,” Hogan said. “Being in the NFC West, he knows what this type of offense is about.
He wants to live in the pocket. He wants to be a pocket passer.
He doesn’t want to run around because that’s how you get hurt at that level, and he knows that.”
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There is still some room for the picture to change, especially with younger pieces like Dallas Turner and Donovan Jackson not yet fully written into the long-term evaluation. But the overall verdict is clear enough to sting: for a team that has leaned on the first round to shape its future, the outside view says the return has been far from uniform, and the next update could matter just as much as the last one. [Read more 🡒]
Jamal Adams Just Put More Pressure On His Vikings Arrival
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The bigger question for Minnesota is what Adams can still be at this stage of his career, especially after the injury that changed his last few seasons. He talked about the challenge of getting back to full health and confidence, and he also framed himself as the kind of defender who can move around the formation and fill different roles. For the Vikings, that kind of flexibility is intriguing, but it only matters if the version of Adams they are bringing in can hold up once the pads come on. [Read more 🡒]