North Notes: Packers, Vikes, Shazier, Ravens

As a high-octane Super Bowl LII enters its defining stretch, here’s the latest from the North divisions, starting with a perennial Super Bowl contender.

  • Aaron Rodgers interprets the language coming out of Packers headquarters this offseason as indicating he’ll have more help in 2018. The 34-year-old quarterback said his team will need to improve on both sides of the ball. “I think based on some of his comments, he’s going to be aggressive,” Rodgers said (via Nate Davis USA Today Sports) of new GM Brian Gutekunst. “We gotta get better on both sides of the ball. And that’s on Brian’s staff, that’s their job responsibility to give us a product we can work with and then it’s on Mike (McCarthy) and the staff and leadership to make it work.” The Packers have been perhaps the stingiest team in the league regarding non-street free agency investments, and with Rodgers entering his mid-30s, it would make sense for the franchise to go after the window it has.
  • Earlier Sunday, a report surfaced regarding Ryan Shazier‘s progress. While Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reported Shazier has a regular walking routine, the Steelers linebacker wanted to clarify that. Michele Tafoya of NBC Sports tweets Shazier is not walking on his own and needs the assistance of others or a walker at this juncture of his rehab process.
  • The Vikings want to have their next offensive coordinator by midweek, Jason La Canfora of CBS Sports tweets. La Canfora posits it would be a surprise if the team doesn’t conduct an interview with Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo. The second-year Philadelphia QBs coach is thought to be a sought-after candidate for this post but may not be ready to leave his current job just yet.
  • The Ravensdecision to announce Eric DeCosta will succeed Ozzie Newsome did not violate the Rooney Rule. Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk notes a team is allowed to make a promotion of this sort without conducting an interview, provided the executive has been labeled as the GM-in-waiting.
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