NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Saints

Bears

Bears’ HC Matt Nagy discussed the decision to go with Mitch Trubisky at quarterback ahead of Nick Foles

“Both these guys were really battling their tail off every single day and that’s not easy,” Nagy said, via NFL.com. “It’s a lot easier when you know you have the job and you just play a little different ’cause it’s always in the back of your mind. But to Mitch’s credit and Nick’s credit, the way they handled it, I was really proud of ’em for it. In the end, Mitch won the job and I think that that’s very important for him, for us, for everybody to understand that he worked really hard to get to this point.”

Nagy did say he was impressed with Trubisky’s growth this summer.

“You could feel the command,” Nagy said. “I think the difference in the command that I felt and that our coaches felt was it’s one where it’s just very natural. It wasn’t made up, it wasn’t being told from somebody how to act, it was just very organic. And you can tell that with guys when they are natural with that and I thought he improved there. So, for him, when he gets this opportunity like he has right now, you can just feel that he’s ready to get out there and just really play hard for his teammates.

Trubisky believes all that transpired this offseason was necessary for him to get better. 

“Them not picking up my [fifth-year] option, bringing in competition, I truly believe that it was a part of my journey and something that I had to deal with in order to get better,” Trubisky said. “I believe the way you deal with things is gonna determine how it builds you up and makes you better in the long run so I just accepted it as a challenge and it really pushed me every day mentally to just want to get better and want to prove everyone wrong and make sure that this was still my team at the end of the day.

“I think the way I just handled it and was respectful to everyone else and also just being so welcoming to Nick, just developing that relationship to help our team, I think everyone saw that and our teammates have just fed off that. It’s been a rewarding journey but it’s just one of the first steps and I believe that everything happens for a reason. We’re just gonna try to keep getting better, myself included.”

Lions

  • SiriusXM NFL Radio’s Adam Caplan says the Lions added RB Adrian Peterson with the goal of improving their depth at the position and not due to any specific injury concerns. 

Saints

  • ESPN’s Dan Graziano says the Saints spent the end of last week talking to veterans about restructures to scrounge up enough money for DE Jadeveon Clowney. They also tried to pitch Clowney on taking less for a better chance at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. 
  • The Titans landed Clowney on a deal that can be worth up to $15 million. ESPN’s Dianna Russini reports the Saints’ offer was about $2 million less. 
  • Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says Clowney’s market crystallized at about $10-$12 million per year in the past week. He had offers of around $15 million in base value earlier, but from teams he wasn’t excited about playing for. 

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