Bears
- Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune writes that the final two games will determine a lot about the future of Bears GM Ryan Pace, HC Matt Nagy and QB Mitchell Trubisky.
- Biggs expects the Bears to keep LT Charles Leno in 2021 while potentially exploring upgrades for RT Bobby Massie. He says OL Alex Bars has earned a shot to be the starting right guard in 2021 but probably is a better fit there than at tackle.
- Bears signed DB Teez Tabor to their practice squad. (NFLTR)
- Bears placed WR Reggie Davis on the practice squad injured list.
Lions
Lions’ interim HC Darrell Bevell explained that ST coordinator Brayden Coombs was fired for allowing his unit to fake punt when Bevell wanted the team to actually punt the ball on Sunday.
“The decision yesterday that was made in the game was not a correct decision,” Bevell said, via DetroitLions.com. “There’s 12 minutes and 43 seconds to go in the game. We’re down two scores. Matthew (Stafford) had just been hit on second down on the little fumbled snap. He’d just been hit on third down on the next play. So, just assessing the whole situation … I have to assess everything. I’m assessing the quarterback is not in a good way, and also with the score and where we were. We had three timeouts left plus the two-minute warning and Jack (Fox) is punting really well. I thought it would be best to flip the field and keep us in the game there down two scores. You saw how the offense was going with a really good chance. If I’m going to go for it there, I’m going to leave the offense out and I’m going to trust Matthew with the ball and that didn’t happen in this situation. It was an agonizing decision. It’s something that was really hard for me. I thought it would be really important to think on it a lot. I really thought about it all night long. I ended up getting ahold of (team president) Rod (Wood) and talking it through with Rod. There are some things you can do and I feel like you can come back from and then I think there’s some decisions that you don’t make those decisions and there’s got to be repercussions because there are a lot of people that are making similar decisions in different ways. Again, I’m just trying to do what’s best for this team and put this team in the best situation to win.”
- ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano think 49ers DC Robert Saleh is the best fit to be the Lions’ next head coach. They add a major selling point for Saleh would be if he can bring 49ers assistant Mike LaFleur with him as offensive coordinator.
- Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says despite the NFL allowing virtual interviews for coaches whose teams are still active, the Lions will hold off on conducting interviews due to other restrictions.
- NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport says nearly all of Detroit’s defensive coaching staff are considered high-risk close contacts, as is Bevell, putting them in danger of missing Saturday’s game.
- Lions QB coach Sean Ryan will call plays on offense if Bevell is out for the game. Other roles are not clear. (Rapoport)
- Bevell confirmed he, DC Cory Undlin and a few other assistants could not attend practice Wednesday. (Dave Birkett)
- A headcount from practice showed DL coach Bo Davis, DB coach Steve Gregory and LB coach Tyrone McKenzie were also absent from practice. (Birkett)
- Lions’ veteran RB Adrian Peterson, who is an impending free agent, said he would like to re-sign with Detroit: “I’d still like to stay in Detroit. I believe we still have a good team. We just need a few more pieces to improve.” (Josina Anderson)
Packers
- Per Ryan Wood of the Green Bay Press Gazette, Packers HC Matt LaFleur said they will decide later in the week if C Corey Linsley will be able to play Sunday: “We’re going to work him through practice and just see how he feels. We’ll make a determination later in the week.”
- LaFleur noted CB Josh Jackson has been left off the gameday roster recently because he doesn’t play special teams: “You’re going to put the guys out there that can help you on teams the most.” (Wood)
- Packers RB Jamaal Williams (quad) missed practice Wednesday while TE Jace Sternberger and S Will Redmond remain in the concussion protocol. (Rob Demovsky)
Vikings
- The Athletic’s Chad Graff notes the Vikings can free up roughly $24 million in cap space by cutting TE Kyle Rudolph and LB Anthony Barr this offseason.
- Graff doesn’t expect LB Eric Wilson to get a massive deal on the open market and he could be someone Minnesota brings back.
- Graff thinks the Vikings could draft a quarterback in the middle rounds to serve as a cheap backup. However, he says they’re unlikely to take a first-round quarterback with Kirk Cousins still on board.
- Given the Vikings don’t have a second-round pick, Graff adds there’s a good chance they try to trade down and add more picks.
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