NFC North Daily Breakfast Links: August 22, 2012

Lots of stuff to go over today and I'm already behind!

So we won't get into the side commentary in our prologue here—just right to the grind!

Green Bay Packers

Zach (Kruse) is back with a look at what he thinks the Packers need to see from backup Graham Harrell in this all-important third preseason game. Head over to CheeseheadTV.com and check it out.

Like Kruse, I don't see him cut. The question is will they roll into the season with him as the main backup? Another good question at this point is do they have a choice? If he's not good, who is out there who could be better?

Over at ESPN Milwaukee, Jason Wilde takes a look at another very important aspect of the team that raises questions: the secondary. According to the piece, cornerback and safety have not been set yet, and this Thursday will be the most critical test for many of the players trying to win a starting job as well as those just trying to make the team.

Minnesota Vikings

You want to see what the flaws of your enemies are? Arif Hasan has you covered—and HOW. Head over to the Daily Norseman for a complete top-to-bottom look at each of the three division rivals the Vikes will be facing this season. 

It's exhaustive and excellent.

With the news that Adrian Peterson will, not shockingly, skip the last two preseason games, Dan Wiederer of the Star Tribune reports that the Vikings running back is perfecting something off the field which he already shows when running the ball: the art of patience.

Peterson has agitated to play the whole time he was hurt, which doesn't mean he's bitter that they won't let him or foolish enough to not understand why he's being held back. The elite competitor he is, of course he will fight to play. 

It's a good thing to have to learn to wait; at least, that's what I tell my kids when they want to get somewhere faster than my car will go.

Chicago Bears

The Brian Urlacher Knee-gate continues: The Chicago Tribune's Mike Mulligan reports that the Bears linebacker may have turned to alternative therapy before finally going under the knife. In particular, Mulligan posits that Urlacher may have undergone Regenokine therapy, which is something many other high-profile athletes (he mentions Kobe Bryant and Alex Rodriguez) have tried.

Whatever he may have done (if anything), it clearly failed and he ended up in surgery anyway, but much later than he might have otherwise.

Jeff Dickerson reports at ESPNChicago.com that safety Chris Conte has a shoulder separation and felt his shoulder pop when he tried to tackle Redskins running back Evan Royster. Conte should be ready to go by Week 1.

Shoulders can be tricky things—you have to be careful with your therapy because once you've weakened the joint, it is easier to re-injure it. So you have to be ready or risk a dislocation and, worse, potential ligament damage.

It's also not a season-ending issue for Conte at this point, so not a terribly big deal if he rehabs right.

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett says backup quarterback Shaun Hill can step in if the Lions need him to (he has before), but it's better for everyone if he doesn't.

As much as we don't expect Stafford to top or even equal the numbers he had in 2011, Hill won't even come close. That's not a knock on him, just a simple fact. He isn't Matt Stafford.

That said, he may be the best backup QB in the division this year, and the Lions are wise to keep him around because you never know.

MLive.com's Justin Rogers names five players who need to step it up post-training camp, starting with our favorite punching bag, Kellen Moore.

I agree with every one of his choices and am happy to see he's not buying on Joique Bell either. He's been good in the preseason before, and then not executed in the regular season. As Rogers points out, he may have until Week 3 to impress us, but he needs consistency in his performance once the regular season hits.

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