NFC Notes: Bears, Falcons, Lions

Bears

Bears HC Matt Nagy said he’s “cautiously optimistic” about G Kyle Long being available for their Week 17 matchup.

“I like to use this word and I do believe in it — ‘cautiously optimistic,‘” Nagy said, via the Chicago Sun-Times. “I think that he’s doing a good job right now. He feels good. It would be nice to get him out there.”

Falcons

• Falcons HC Dan Quinn said RB Tevin Coleman is dealing with a strained groin, but will be able to participate in the walkthrough this week and will get treatment. Quinn added that there’s a “good chance” he’ll play to play. (Vaughn McClure)

Lions

Lions veteran DT Ricky Jean Francois said Sunday that the team needs to find players who will buy in to their new system if they want to change the culture.

“I think I heard Gandhi say this in a book I read: ‘The only way you can change a culture is you’ve got to change the people within it,’” Jean Francois said, via the Detroit Free Press. “You want to change the culture, change the people. I’m not finger-pointing on who needs to change or who needs to go somewhere. But if you want a different regime, you want a different buy-in or something like that, the only way you get a different culture is you change the people that sit in it.”