NFC North Notes: Lions, Packers, Vikings

Lions

The Lions dropped to 3-9-1 on the season after a loss to the Vikings on Sunday. Matt Patricia later told reporters that he still believes they’re a better team than their record suggests. 

“The hard thing for us, what I appreciate about this team is we don’t look at our record and say, ‘This is what we are,‘” Patricia said, via Chris Burke of TheAthletic.com. “I think we look at our record and say, ‘That’s not what we are,’ and we gotta do better and try to figure out how to get the record to match up with what we are. I think that’s where we’re struggling right now.”

• Patricia dodged a question about if he had been told anything about his job security by team ownership: “I don’t get into any conversations I have with ownership.” (Kyle Meinke)
• The Lions tried out G Joshua Garnett on Friday. (Howard Balzer)

Packers

• According to Howard Balzer, the Packers worked out P Sean Smith on Friday. 

Vikings

Vikings RB Dalvin Cook has been dealing with a chest injury, but he says he came out of Sunday’s game “good to go” for Week 15.

“I’m good. I’m good to go,” Cook said, via the Star Tribune. “It’s a physical game. They got some big guys over there in Detroit. I came out healthy — clean, so that’s a positive sign.”

• Vikings HC Mike Zimmer doesn’t believe CB Xavier Rhodes ankle injury will sideline him for this week’s game. (Chris Tomasson)
• The Vikings tried out FB Ricky Ortiz on Friday. (Howard Balzer)