NFC Notes: Bears, Buccaneers, Vikings

Bears

Bears HC Matt Nagy tells Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that the offense was struggling under Mitch Trubisky, which is why he made the decision to go to Nick Foles in the second half. 

“Sometime, you have to go with your gut,” Nagy said. “It’s a feel you get as things go on.”

Nagy stressed that the move to Foles was more tactical: “None of it is personal. It’s all calculated.”

The plan for deciding on their Week 4 starting quarterback will come after the coaching staff gets an opportunity to huddle tomorrow: “We’ve just got to make a good decision, you have to take emotion out of [it].”

“If it’s Mitch, you roll,” Nagy said. “If it’s Nick, you roll. I don’t want it to be back and forth.”

• After the game, Mitch Trubisky said of the decision to bench him: “What I did the first week and then second week doesn’t really matter. … The only thing I can control is me playing better when I had those reps in the first half.” (Kevin Fishbain)

Buccaneers

• Buccaneers HC Bruce Arians said it’s a “wait and see” on WR Chris Godwin and DB Sean Murphy-Bunting. Arians added that he doesn’t like to have a long flight after injuries, but they’ll see how they recover. (Greg Auman)

Vikings

• According to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, opposing scouts and executives see serious questions about the personnel on offense for the Vikings and their general lack of an identity through two games: “They aren’t a very difficult team to defend right now. There aren’t a lot of places to go with the ball and I’m not sure the QB trusts the offensive line and they’re getting nothing out of their tight ends.”
• Observers say QB Kirk Cousins has played poorly and Vikings OC Gary Kubiak is his fifth offensive coordinator in the past five years even though he was on staff last year and had a major hand in the offense. 
• Kubiak has also not called play-action passing at as high a rate, which hasn’t helped Cousins who thrives off play action. Scouts say the Vikings also are missing WR Stefon Diggs, who took extra attention away from WR Adam Thielen. 
• According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, Vikings DE Danielle Hunter has a herniated disc in his neck which is why he’s on injured reserve and hasn’t practiced since training camp. 
• Pelissero adds Hunter is unlikely to be ready to return next week when he’s first eligible to return from injured reserve but the Vikings continue to maintain optimism Hunter will return to play this season.