We're Black and Blue All Over:

Here's a good news/bad news development for the Detroit Lions. The good news is their coaching staff will manage one of the two Senior Bowl teams for the second time in four seasons. The bad news? Well, it's the same thing. Playoff teams don't coach in the Senior Bowl, and typically priority starts with the NFL's worst team and works its way down until someone accepts. It's not an honor you want more than once.

At the same time, there is unquestionable value in spending extra time with the draft prospects. Last season, for example, the Minnesota Vikings liked Notre Dame safety Harrison Smith so much they decided to draft him after the Senior Bowl and never visited with him again so as to limit evidence of their interest.

The game, which follows a week's worth of practices, is scheduled for Jan. 26 in Mobile, Ala.

Let's take our morning spin around the NFC North:

• Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press does the Lions a favor and cuts the unproductive players of their defense from the roster.
• Lions general manager Martin Mayhew on drafting receivers, via Anwar S. Richardson of Mlive.com. "I'll keep loving them. I got to pick them better."
• Mayhew wants to find more leaders in the locker room, writes Chris McCosky of the Detroit News.
• It's not entirely clear how the Green Bay Packers will use defensive back Charles Woodson on Saturday night, writes Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
• The Packers' secondary must shift gears and become run defenders Saturday night, writes Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
• Packers front-office executive John Dorsey appears to be a candidate for general manager in Kansas City and for the New York Jets, notes Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com.
• Stopping the Packers' pass offense will be a challenge for the Vikings, notes Judd Zulgad of 1500ESPN.com.
• Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune wonders if Adrian Peterson has had the best season of an athlete in Minnesota state history.
• Ben Goessling of the St. Paul Pioneer Press speaks with Eric Dickerson about Peterson's season.
• The folks at ESPNChicago.com debate whether the Chicago Bears should hire a head coach with an offensive background.
• David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune asks whether Bears quarterback Jay Cutler will be the next Jeff George.
• The Bears probably want to keep quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates on their staff, notes Adam L. Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times.