NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer notes that if the Bears were to move on from their current regime — which is still an if at this point — and if they were to lure Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald as their head coach, a strong option as general manager would be Vikings assistant GM George Paton, who shares an agent with Fitzgerald. 
• Breer mentions that if Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh were to get another NFL shot this year, it would be with either the Jets or Bears. Harbaugh has strong connections to the Bears given he was drafted by Chicago and played there for seven years. 
• However, Breer says it’s not even close to a sure thing that Harbaugh gets an NFL offer this year. 
• Bears HC Matt Nagy says they’re still evaluating second-round CB Jaylon Johnson‘s shoulder injury. (Jeff Dickerson)
• Bears OL coach Juan Castillo praised the work of OL Sam Mustipher, who’s been filling in at center: “I do think Sam is a starting center in this league.” (Adam Jahns)

Lions

• Per ESPN’s Michael Rothstein, Lions WR/returner Jamal Agnew said he would love to be in Detroit next year but he can only control what he can control. 
• X-rays came back negative for Lions QB Matthew Stafford, showing no broken bones. (Kyle Meinke)
• Lions interim HC Darrell Bevell said they’ll wait to make a final determination for Stafford’s chances of playing in Week 15: “This will be a deal where we’ll take it to the end of the week. He’s a little bit better this afternoon than he was this morning.” (Dave Birkett)

Vikings

• Vikings K Dan Bailey struggled mightily on Sunday, missing three field goals and an extra point in a loss to Tampa Bay. Vikings HC Mike Zimmer said, however, he would need to take Bailey’s performance the rest of the season before that into account, per the Athletic’s Chad Graff: “I have to take all that into consideration as well. Honestly, I love the kid. … We are in a performance business and these last two weeks haven’t been good.” 
• The Vikings have Tristan Vizcaino who would seem to be the logical replacement given the difficulty of a fast turnaround with the COVID-19 protocols, but Zimmer didn’t rule anything out: “It takes six days, so just whatever it is. I’d prefer to address the team about these things as opposed to throwing it out there in the media.” (Courtney Cronin)