Bears
Bears WR D.J. Moore said there wasn’t any extra motivation facing his former team for the first time on Thursday.
“There really wasn’t none,” Moore said, via PFT. “I talked to some people, some people I didn’t talk to, but it’s alright. My emotions wasn’t too high. I was pretty chill, I think. You gotta ask them, but I think so.”
- Bears HC Matt Eberflus has high praise of DE Montez Sweat‘s performance in Thursday’s win over the Panthers: “You could feel him forcing those incomplete passes, the effect on the quarterback,” per Courtney Cronin.
- Eberflus said they came out of Thursday’s game “clean” of any injuries. (Cronin)
Packers
Packers G Jon Runyan was asked about his two offsides penalties in Week 9 and feels the NFL was making it a “point of emphasis” to make sure Green Bay was lining up correctly.
“I guess it was a point of emphasis with the officials,” Runyan said, via FanNation. “I wish I would’ve been told that for the first one. It’s something that’s got to be communicated better. That’s the NFL trying to phase that play out slowly.”
Runyan was told the league sends out a weekly video to officials for different points of emphasis they want them to focus on.
“I think they have a point of emphasis every week,” Runyan said. “Apparently, they send out a weekly video talking about that. Apparently, that was in the weekly video but I had no idea. I didn’t even know they sent out a weekly video on points of emphasis. That was on it (last) week and you can tell they were definitely looking for it because they called it twice on us.”
As for the Packers being more successful with quarterback sneaks this season, Runyan said their play calls depend on their personnel matchups.
“I think it varies week to week with what body types we’re going against,” Runyan said. “I remember going into this (last) week talking to Josh and Jordan, we thought that we could use it to our advantage and save our more creative short-yardage plays for further down in the season when we need it and looking to change something up. We liked the matchup inside on the quarterback sneak and were able to get them three times. Two of them got called back but that’s just how it is.”
- Packers HC Matt LaFleur said there is some concern over CB Jaire Alexander’s shoulder injury but wouldn’t clarify whether it’s a long-term issue: “I’d say so. Two in a row not practicing,” per Rob Demovsky.
Vikings
Vikings’ recently acquired QB Joshua Dobbs said he was assured by Cardinals HC Jonathan Gannon that he wasn’t going to be traded, but was suddenly dealt to Minnesota ahead of the deadline.
“I go to the facility on Monday and JG, the head coach in Arizona, called me into his office and said, ‘We’re going to start Clayton Tune,’” Dobbs said, via ProFootballTalk. “I was upset with it but I understood the situation the franchise was in… Woke up Tuesday morning with a text from my agent saying, ‘You could be traded today because it’s the trade deadline,’” Dobbs said. “And listen to this — when I had my meeting with JG in Arizona, he looked at me in the face and he said, ‘You’re not getting traded, you’re not being released, you’re going to be here in Arizona’. I was like, OK, cool. So then I woke up to that text saying all right the trade deadline’s in four hours, you could be traded, you could go to Minnesota or go back to Cleveland.”
- Vikings WR Justin Jefferson (hamstring) said it’s a “no-brainer” that he would play again this season but was clear he won’t participate until he’s fully recovered, via Kevin Seifert.
- Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson (rib/oblique) said he’s still feeling the effects of his injury but plans on playing in Week 10: “That’s the plan.” (Seifert)
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