NFC Notes: Bears, Packers, Vikings

Bears

When the Bears open their season on Sunday night against the Rams, it will be Andy Dalton at starting quarterback and not first-round QB Justin Fields. But Fields did win one competition this summer. Should anything happen to Dalton, Fields is the next man up as the backup quarterback, ahead of Super Bowl-winning veteran Nick Foles. 

“And I think that’s a very valid point,” Nagy said via Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer. “If you go back and look at quarterbacks that have been drafted in the first round, there’s a lot of history that suggests that players that have started as backups, and some for different reasons than others, got in early that first year. But yeah, sometimes people take that for granted—like he should be the starter or the backup. You gotta earn that.

“And we did put him in that spot early on to see if he could keep it. And he did. He did everything to hold on to that. And we tell all the quarterbacks, ‘Do everything you can to be the starter; make it hard on us.’ If you do that, you’ll make the Bears a better football team.”

Packers

• Packers HC Matt LaFleur is hoping OLB Za’Darius Smith will practice this week: “We’re hopeful. We’ll see if he can get out there and do some individual today.” (Wes Hodkiewicz)
• LaFleur added this is the first time he is starting two rookies on the offensive line, with second-round C Josh Myers and fourth-round G Royce Newman penciled in to start: “But they’ve got a lot of good guys around them.” (Rob Demovsky)
• Packers OL Elgton Jenkins said he is comfortable at left tackle: “I’ve been doing it five weeks in pads, so I feel like I’m pretty well adjusted to it now.” (Ryan Wood)
• Packers P Corey Bojorquez said he wants his hang time to surpass his distance whereas most of the time punters try to sync them up: “I like to hold myself to a little bit higher standard.” (Wood)

Vikings

• Dan Graziano of ESPN says he would not be surprised to see third-round QB Kellen Mond make at least one start this season, despite QB Kirk Cousins having missed just one game in the past six seasons.
• Vikings HC Mike Zimmer said even though first-round OT Christian Darrisaw will return to practice on Wednesday, the team doesn’t know when he will play in a game: “We’ll just have to see how he progresses … He’s not in terrific football shape because he hasn’t practiced.” (Chad Graff)
• Zimmer added he isn’t worried about the offensive line: “I don’t necessarily think it’s a work in progress. I think there’s some unknowns there: Udoh playing guard, Cleveland played there all last year, Bradbury. Rashod’s played a lot at left tackle in the past, so I think it’s a little bit (of) unknowns but I don’t think it’s a major concern.” (Courtney Cronin)