Bears

The Bears picked up S Dillon Thieneman in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. When asked about his advice to the rookie, S Coby Bryant said it’s important to stay healthy and be coachable, which Thieneman is proving to be.

“The biggest thing is just taking care of his body and being coachable, which he is,” Bryant said, via BearsWire. “Very, very smart, intelligent. Obviously, the tape speaks for itself, too, but it’s going to be a long year for him just coming from the Combine. Taking it one week at a time and any questions, I’m always there for him. Me being a Year 5 guy and he’s a rookie so he wants to go full speed and everything, so in the individual drills we have to tell him to slow down because I’m not running that fast. I’m 27, he’s 21. The speed, he’s very coachable, he’s exciting to watch, he makes plays every day. He’s special.”

Lions

• Lions HC Dan Campbell said TE Sam LaPorta (herniated disc) is “trending the right way” to be ready for the start of training camp, per Colton Pouncey of The Athletic
• Pouncey notes that DT Tyler Lacy has gotten a lot of reps in the “big end” role with the first-team defense.
• Pouncey also mentioned that CB Ennis Rakestraw Jr. rotated with the first-team defense in minicamp.

Vikings

Kyler Murray enters his first season with the Vikings after his time with the Cardinals, a tenure that led to some struggles during the opening days of Minnesota’s offseason program. Vikings WR Justin Jefferson acknowledged that it’s not easy to quickly learn HC Kevin O’Connell‘s system and face their difficult defense.

“I definitely understand his difficulty of understanding some things,” Jefferson said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “Just because this offense is difficult — and especially going against our defense. Seeing the different coverages, seeing the rolls, the disguises that our defense does is really going to help him out when the season comes if he’s the starting quarterback. … So I’m pretty sure that he’s going to get to that point where he knows [the offense] like the back of his hand, and he’s calling the plays freely.”

O’Connell said it’s an “open competition” between Murray and J.J. McCarthy.

“It’s an open competition, and I want to see these guys in a very, very unique — and, in many ways, difficult — circumstance [to] elevate themselves and their game to help the Minnesota Vikings,” O’Connell said.

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