NFC Notes: Bears, Seahawks, Vikings

Bears

• According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, while the Bears have been mentioned as a possible landing spot for QB Cam Newton if he leaves the Panthers, one anonymous NFC executive said it would be unlikely that GM Ryan Pace would want to give up on QB Mitchell Trubisky. 
• Bears CB Prince Amukamara has not been able to practice this week with a hamstring injury and could miss Thursday’s game against the Cowboys. (Dan Wiederer)

Seahawks

Seahawks DE Jadeveon Clowney entered the season on the franchise tag after he and the Texans were unable to come to an agreement on a long-term deal, but Clowney had no intention of holding out to try and force a trade. While he was waiting to sign the tender until after the preseason to minimize his injury risk in a contract year, he never planned on playing anywhere else in 2019 until he realized Texans HC Bill O’Brien was determined to trade him to the highest bidder. 

“What people don’t know about that situation was, O’Brien called me five or six times over the offseason, and I always told him I would come in and sign the tender, but not till right before the season,” Clowney said via NFL Media’s Mike Silver. “I love Houston, and I love my dudes, but I wasn’t under contract, so I wasn’t going to take the risk.

“It was getting close to the time I said I’d come in, and all of a sudden [O’Brien] called me and said, ‘You need to come in and talk to us.’ When I got there they’re talking about me signing the tender and going to the Dolphins (via trade). They said, ‘It’ll be good for you and good for us.’ I’m like, ‘Good for me? They’re gonna tank the season for a damn quarterback! Find me a team that can win, and I’ll sign the damn tender.'”

After Clowney vetoed the trade to Miami, the Seahawks were the next team to inquire with the Texans and ultimately get the deal done for a third-round pick and a pair of backup players. While the Texans currently lead the AFC South, Clowney is happy with how things have turned out in Seattle, which looks like one of the top teams in the NFC. 

“People say, ‘He was trying to leave.’ That’s a lie. I didn’t ask them to trade me. I didn’t even ask them to pay me any more. I just wanted to play one last year with my teammates,” Clowney said. “But hey, it’s part of the business. It was a business move, and I got the short end of the stick at the time. Now? It looks like I got the big end of the stick.”

Vikings

Minnesota’s 37-30 loss to the Seahawks put the Vikings behind the eightball in terms of securing a home game for the playoffs next month. However, the game also provided the team with optimism that it has what it takes to go on the road and steal a victory come January, as the Vikings rebounded from a 34-17 fourth-quarter deficit and had a shot at a game-winning drive before being stopped on fourth down. 

“Well, I think we have a football team that can go on the road in a tough environment and get a win,” Vikings QB Kirk Cousins said via Pro Football Talk. “I think that this was an opportunity that we missed and that’s disappointing. I think tonight we were able to at least show resilience and we’re going to need that to win in December. If you do take care of business in December, I think we have four games left if you do take care of business, then you get a chance in January, and that is really what we want to do.”

• According to NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, Vikings RB Dalvin Cook has a clavicle injury, though the bone is not broken, which is why he left Monday night’s game against the Seahawks. 
• Cook first suffered the injury two weeks ago against the Broncos and re-aggravated it Monday when he was hit in the same spot. 
• Cook doesn’t anticipate the injury keeping him out next week against the Lions: “At the end of the year, there’s some bumps and bruises, but I’ll be alright.” (Adam Schefter)