NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Packers, Vikings

Bears

• NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reports Bears QB Andy Dalton is week-to-week with a bone bruise in his knee and first-round QB Justin Fields is in line to start this week.

Lions

Lions QB Jared Goff said despite the 0-2 start, HC Dan Campbell has the team on the right path.

“Yeah, it’s a new crew now,” Goff said, via NFL.com. “Obviously, there has been history with that. I believe in the guys we have here. I believe in Dan. I believe in the staff… we believe this is a new regime and a new energy in the building. It’s still early. Obviously, 0-2 is not where we want to be, but a lot of room to improve and a lot of wins to be had down the line.”

Campbell said after Monday night’s loss to the Packers that Goff has to protect the ball better.

“The turnovers. That was the big thing,” Campbell said. “It wasn’t like we couldn’t run it. Every time offensively we struggle it’s because we’ve shot ourselves in the foot. The one possession we didn’t score on in the first half was our own doing. We had a holding call, we had a false start, we had an intentional grounding. And then you go into the second half and we had the fumbled snap, so that’s a wasted snap. They fall on it. We had the interception, trying to make a play. Which I understand why he’s trying to make a play, you’re down that much. It’s self-inflicted wounds. And then you reach a certain point where you’re trying to continue to run your offense and be able to run it a little bit. Run the ball. But, yet, you’re also pressed, pressed for time. We only have two timeouts. You’re down three scores. And you kind of get put in a bind. That’s not the world we want to live in.”

• Goff said he is exactly where he wants to be in Detroit: “I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be. … Once I was able to get in this building and be around my teammates, it really sunk in this is where I’m supposed to be and where I’m supposed to be for, hopefully, a long time.” (Chris Burke)
• Campbell was impressed by LB Alex Anzalone vs. Green Bay: “I thought he was all over the field last night. Was it perfect? No. But from point A to point B, he was in on damn near every play.” (Burke)
• Campbell also criticized LB Jamie Collins: “Jamie had mistakes. It wasn’t, certainly, his best performance.” (Burke)
• Campbell said third-round CB Ifeatu Melifonwu‘s calf injury is serious: “Yeah, it’s a bad one…Looks like he will be out for a little bit.” (Kyle Meinke)
• Campbell mentioned Melifonwu will miss at least a couple of weeks. (Justin Rogers)

Packers

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers said the team was a little more motivated this week to prove last week was a fluke.

“There’s so many overreactions that happen from a week-to-week basis,” Rodgers said, via Bill Huber of SI.com. “So, it’s nice to come out, have a good performance and get the trolls off our back for at least a week.”

• Packers HC Matt LaFleur said Jon Runyan Jr. started at guard over OL Lucas Patrick because Patrick was in the concussion protocol most of the week: “It’s going to be a competitive situation throughout the course of the year.” (Ryan Wood)
• LaFleur said he was pleased with CB Kevin King‘s performance in the slot. (Bill Huber)
• The Packers tried to sign TE Jace Sternberger to the practice squad after the team released him on Tuesday. (Tom Silverstein)
• However, judging from LaFleur’s comments it appears Sternberger has elected to try for a fresh start elsewhere: “We appreciate everything Jace has done. It was a tough decision.” (Huber)

Vikings

Vikings HC Mike Zimmer is giving K Greg Joseph some slack for missing a game-winning field goal on Monday.

“This kid has kicked well,” Zimmer said, via Courtney Cronin of ESPN. “He missed a couple this week. That wasn’t the reason why we lost the game.

“Lots of kickers miss field goals. Let’s give the kid a break, OK?”

Joseph mentioned he is moving on from the missed kick.

This one kick does not define me as a human or as an athlete,” Joseph said. “It can be a make-or-break in the career type deal, but I promise this is not going to break me. This is only going to propel me.”