NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings

Bears

One of the major selling points for the Bears, as they zeroed in on a trade for QB Nick Foles this offseason, was his familiarity with HC Matt Nagy from their shared time together with the Chiefs. But after Foles struggled in his first start this past week against the Colts, Nagy acknowledged there was still a feeling-out period for the two because of the lack of OTAs and preseason. Foles added he’s also building chemistry with his teammates after not having that opportunity until camp. 

“Every day we have been working together is an opportunity to grow and get to know each other,” Foles said via Nathan Smith of the team’s website. “Obviously, we’ve known each other for a long time, but that was just [Nagy’s] first time calling a game for me, ever. It takes time to build that relationship on the field and obviously being with new players [and in a] new place.”

• The Bears ruled out S Deon Bush from Thursday night’s game, while DB Sherrick McManis is listed as doubtful and WR Darnell Mooney is questionable. (Kevin Fishbain)
• The Bears are bringing in P Ryan Anderson, LS Andrew DePaola and K Kai Forbath for workouts. (Albert Breer)

Lions

• MLive.com’s Kyle Meinke expects Lions HC Matt Patricia to survive the bye week without losing his job. After that, it’s unclear, though. 
• Lions signed RB Tavien Feaster to their practice squad. (NFLTR)

Packers

• Per the Athletic’s Matt Schneidman, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers said he didn’t hurt himself seriously near the end of Monday night’s win when he appeared to hyperextend his knee: “I’m fine. All in all, I was more embarrassed than injured. If we had to play Thursday this week, I’d play. Sunday, I’d play. Tuesday, I’d play.”
• Packers CB Chandon Sullivan (concussion) and LB Krys Barnes (stinger) both look like they should be ready to return after the bye this week. (Jim Owczarski)
• Packers third-round TE Josiah Deguara tore his ACL Monday night and is out for the rest of the season. (Schneidman)
• Packers HC Matt LaFleur said the team still has high hopes for Deguara long-term: “We expect him to bounce back from it and we still think he has a really bright future in this league.” (Wes Hodkiewicz)

Vikings

• The Athletic’s Chad Graff writes Vikings G Pat Elflein should pretty easily reclaim his starting spot ahead of Dru Samia given the latter’s struggles. If Elflein weren’t close to returning, Graff thinks second-round OL Ezra Cleveland would have gotten a shot to see what he could do. 
• Per ESPN’s Courtney Cronin, Vikings HC Mike Zimmer said that while they have a rep division plan for RBs Dalvin Cook and Alexander Mattison, they want to make sure Cook is in the game at the end: “We try to spot him throughout the course of the ball game. I think Mattison had seven carries last week or something like that. But when it gets to the end of the ball game, we’ve got to get Dalvin in there. When the game’s on the line, we’ve got to get him in there because he’s so [multi]-dimensional. But Alexander’s done a great job, too, when he’s been in there.”