NFC Notes: Kevin O’Connell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Bears, Lions, Vikings

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Bears The Bears finished 2025 with the seventh-fewest sacks in the league but decided to run it back with the same core projected at the top of the rotation. Chicago DC Dennis Allen took the blame for the lack of pass rush last year and thinks they will be able to refine the fundamentals after spending last year installing a brand new scheme. “We had a lot of discussions this offseason about a lot of different things, and one of the things we identified was me,” Allen said, via Alyssa Barbieri of the Bears Wire . “We focused so much on installing all the scheme last year because it was brand new, and we do have a high volume of things we carry in the defense. We focused so much on that that we lost sight of some of the fundamentals and techniques that it takes to function, to do those things. I don’t think we were as fundamentally sound defensively as we need to be. So how do we have to coach it better? Well, let’s minimize how much we’re focused on the scheme, OK, and let’s focus on not what we’re gonna do but how we’re gonna do it. I think that’s how we’re gonna improve.” Lions Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is anxious to get back on the field and help restore the team to where it was prior to their disappointing ending to the 2025 season. “I’ve been excited to get back to work,” St. Brown told ESPN’s Eric Woodyard . “I feel like last year, we had a disappointing season as a team. That’s how we feel internally. So, I’ve just been excited to get back to work. I’ve been motivated as ever. I feel like I’m motivated every year, but this year, I feel like it was a little different.” “I feel like our whole nucleus is still with us,” St. Brown continued. “A lot of our best players are still with us and have been with us, so I feel like when you’ve got the players that we have, I can go down the list of the guys — offensively, defensively and special teams… Jack Fox , Jake Bates . We’ve got a bunch of guys on our team, so when you’ve got the nucleus that we have, I think you always have a shot at the big one. So, we’ve just got to put it together. We’ve got some free agents, signed some good guys, drafted some good guys so we’ve got the coaches. We’ve got to put the work in. OTAs, training camp, end of season, it’s going to be tough things that happen throughout the season, but if you can overcome those, I think we’ll be fine.” Vikings Vikings GM Kevin O’Connell said that he is committed to helping the search for a new general manager so the team gets exactly who they want to fill the role. “First and foremost, just out of respect for the process, it’s currently ongoing, you know, I would defer . . . everything to ownership, and [Vikings COO] Andrew Miller as that process is ongoing,” O’Connell said, via Pro Football Talk . “I’m excited for potentially forming that relationship, going through the process, and as much of a part as ownership and Andrew want me to be a part of it, I will. . . . [V]ery much looking forward to a great outcome, which I know we’re gonna get. In whatever capacity that ownership and Andrew have for me as their plan, that’s what I’m gonna do. You know, obviously, it’s an important time. It’s important. It’s clearly an important hire, but I have so much respect for the process-driven, process-oriented aspect of not only our ownership, but Andrew Miller, that I know we’re gonna get to that good outcome.” The post NFC Notes: Kevin O’Connell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Bears, Lions, Vikings appeared first on NFLTradeRumors.co .