NFC North Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings

Bears

Bears coach Matt Nagy praised QB Mitch Trubisky for his play against the Lions on Thursday. 

“Today was Mitch’s day,” Nagy said, via NBC Chicago.

“I told him that’s what special players do right there,” Nagy said of the game-winner. “That was further in the progression. We were looking for a specific route and play, but he extended it and he made the decision — because right there, you basically have three points. Touchdown you win the game, but you have three so you don’t want to get in the situation where you lose that three points because you force a throw.”

Lions

Rookie QB David Blough made his NFL debut on Thursday, finishing the game 22-of-38 for 280 yards and two touchdowns. 

After the game, Blough told reporters that he’s “thankful for it all, the ups and downs.” 

“I’m thankful for it all, the ups and downs,” Blough said, via the Detroit News. “I knew there were gonna be some. I wasn’t gonna be perfect. I wanted to give everything I had.”

Lions HC Matt Patricia was asked about his job status after Thursday’s loss to the Bears. 

“Obviously, I think everyone was disappointed,” Patricia said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “But I’ll say this: I think that team, our team, it’s one of the toughest teams I’ve probably ever been around. This team fights like probably no other team I’ve ever seen.

“We got to find a way to win. We got to find a way to kind of break through that thing that’s stopping us right now and smash that so we can get this thing going. But you want to talk about a tough team, you want to talk about a team that fights, you want to talk about a team that’s going to try to do everything they can to win, that’s what we got right now.”

Packers

• Packers HC Matt LaFleur said the key for RT Bryan Bulaga‘s availability on Sunday against the Giants will be how his right knee feels between now and game day: “A lot of times the soreness doesn’t show up for another day.” (Rob Demovsky)
• QUESTIONABLE for Week 13: CB Tony Brown (heel), T Bryan Bulaga (knee), S Will Redmond (foot)

Vikings

• Vikings WR Adam Thielen said his hamstring injury is “getting there” and everything has gone according to plan this week: “Now I have to show I can do it and I can do it over and over and over and it can hold up.” (Tom Pelissero)
• Thielen mentioned that he doesn’t think he’ll be a game-day decision this week and they will just stick to the plan and see where he’s at tomorrow before making a decision about his status. (Tom Pelissero)