NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

• Bears HC Matt Nagy was asked about his job security after the team’s disappointing loss to the Lions on Sunday: “Again, I don’t get into any speculation on any of that. What my job is to do is to make sure that each and every week I’m giving it everything I can as a coach and as a leader with these guys. I have to make sure that I do that.” (Jeff Dickerson)

Lions

A group of Michigan legislators wrote a letter to Lions’ owner Sheila Ford Hamp that urged her to hire 49ers DC Robert Saleh as the organization’s new head coach. 

“We understand the difficulty of these upcoming decisions. As passionate and loyal Lions fans, we are asking you to hire Robert Saleh as the head coach of our team. He is the best candidate for the job and measures as such across every metric. A head coach like Robert can bring tremendous energy and heart to the franchise and would help us reach peaks that have seemed unobtainable for so long. We have an exceptional opportunity here and we trust you to make the best decision,” the letter reads, via Michael Rothstein of ESPN. “To turn the corner and become a winning franchise, these next hiring decisions are critical. We hope that you will consider Robert Saleh as the head coach, not only for us, but for everyone across the loyal fanbase of our beloved Detroit Lions.”

The letter was authored by Michigan House of Representative member Abdullah Hammoud and his staff, who wanted to “guide” the Lions to Saleh, a native of Dearborn, Michigan. 

“A lot of us in the Legislature love the Lions and we decided why not throw out a helping hand,” Hammoud. “And kind of guide them kind of toward the coach that we’d like to see come home, who is a Michigan man.”

• Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer reports Saleh is the “leader in the clubhouse” for the opening in Detroit but other teams will be interested, including “better options in the quarterback position than what the Lions have to do with Matthew Stafford.” (Chris Burke)

Vikings

• According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, Vikings RB Alexander Mattison had successful surgery to treat appendicitis, but it knocked him out for Week 13. 
• As for LB Eric Kendricks’ calf injury, Zimmer said: “He tweaked it in warmups, and they were trying to get him going, and he couldn’t answer the bell.” (Ben Goessling)