NFC Notes: Luther Burden, Penei Sewell, Bears, Lions, Vikings

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Bears Bears HC Ben Johnson is impressed by WR Luther Burden and the way he has made big plays during the offseason workouts so far. It sounds like Johnson will be involving Burden heavily in his offense when the time comes. “I’m buying Luther Burden stock right now, just how he’s approached his offseason,” Johnson said, via NFL.com . “It’s been electric. He showed up yesterday and had numerous explosive plays. I loved how in Phase 2 he was finishing every single rep that he took, and that really translated over to yesterday as well. So, he’s in a really good spot. He’s still developing and growing his route tree. … He’s been extremely coachable, so I’m really happy with him.” “He looks like he’s playing at a different speed right now,” Johnson added. “You knew he had it in him — he’s a 4.4 guy — and yet those time speeds don’t always translate to real speed, football speed, the game tape. I think we’re starting to see that now. He’s not thinking as much. He knows what we’re trying to do. So you kind of see that with a number of these guys as I alluded to before that have been here for a little bit of time now — the game’s slowing for them and it allows their abilities to come out.” Lions Lions HC Dan Campbell commented on Penei Sewell moving from right tackle to left tackle in order to replace Taylor Decker , noting that there won’t be much of an issue with the transition. “Good. He’s over there, he’s been really since — he’s been working it even being back home before we started offseason, once I gave him the word,” Campbell said Friday, via NFL.com . “So, it’ll be like riding a bike for him. Will it be things he’ll have to learn? Yeah, of course there will be. But I mean, he has played left. That’s muscle memory. He played a lot of left in college and for us in ’21, those first few games. And he still took reps at left even over the last five years, so that’ll be seamless. That’ll be seamless. Sewell can do it all.” “His talent speaks for itself, and then he’s got all the intangibles, I mean that’s why he’s rare,” Campbell added. “He has all the skills, he has all the intangibles, and he works hard, man, he works hard. So he’s versatile, I mean, there’s a number of positions he could play. I think he could play guard if we want him to play guard. I’ve already told you he can play tight end if you need him to play tight end on some stuff. Just the big thing will be don’t overload him. … He’ll do whatever we ask him to do, he’s a team guy.” Vikings Vikings quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray were asked about any potential awkwardness between the two. Murray, a former first overall pick and Heisman winner, was brought in to compete with the former first-round pick out of Michigan, both seeing their fair share of struggles since entering the league. “Awkwardness? It’s just like the same feeling when you’re in high school and there’s another person on the other side of the room. That’s just kind of how it is. I wouldn’t say there’s any awkwardness.” McCarthy told ESPN . “Then I would be disappointed if the rain fell,” McCarthy replied when asked if he was disappointed in the situation. “That’s out of my control, and at the end of the day, I just got to focus on what I can do to be the best quarterback for the football team. The organization made a decision that they feel like is going to improve the depth and the quality of the room, and they feel like they made that decision. All I’m thinking about is continuing the upward trajec…