NFC Notes: Justin Fields, Bears, Lions, Packers, Aaron Rodgers

Bears

• Bears GM Ryan Poles said he and HC Matt Eberflus are on “the same page in terms of competing to win games” and added the team has come up short due to youth and inexperience. Poles said the team needs to learn how to finish. (Courtney Cronin)
• Poles said QB Justin Fields has shown the flashes you want to see out of a young player: “With young players you’re looking for the flashes. And I think he has shown the flashes of getting the ball out on time, being accurate, some of the deep shots – like even the one to Pettis was incredible.” (Cronin)
• Poles said the team wants to make sure they are putting Fields in a position to succeed over the next 11 games as the team continues to evaluate him. Poles also wants Fields to improve in going through his progressions quicker: “Just how he’s being used? So, are we putting him in the position where he can be successful? And then the execution and the details of what he’s being asked to do and really speeding up to the game and making decisions quicker. But again, the beautiful thing about football, it’s reliant on everybody else. As a whole we have to improve, and I think we’ll see that everyone stats to get better and then we’ll start to ascend.” (Cronin)
• Poles added the team is pleased with the progress regarding Fields’ development: “It’s not on the statistics and on the paper all the time, but he is getting better in a lot of different areas.” (Cronin)
• Poles said the team will continue to be active around the trade deadline as they seek the balance of being competitive both in the short and long term: “I think regardless we’re always going to be active in the terms of if it’s making phone calls or picking up the phone and just seeing if that is something that can improve our team and it makes sense for us, not only for now, because I’ve always talked about this – it’s sustaining success for a long period of time. It’s not the short fix all the time. Just blending that together is tough because it takes a lot of discipline to do. So that’s what we’re balancing.” (Cronin)

Lions

• Lions HC Dan Campbell says WR Amon-Ra St. Brown is “trending the right way” after entering the concussion protocol yesterday, adding: “I would anticipate us having him this weekend.” (Eric Woodyard)

Packers

Packers QB Aaron Rodgers insisted the team’s season can still be saved. Rodgers added suffering a humiliating loss may be the best possible scenario for the group.

“You’re God damn right it does,” Rodgers said, via ESPN. “I’m not worried about this squad. In fact, this might be the best thing for us. This week, nobody’s going to give us a chance, going to Buffalo on ‘Sunday Night Football,’ with a chance to get exposed. Shoot, this might be the best thing for us.”

Packers HC Matt LaFleur said it will be telling to see how his team responds this week in practice and will go a long way in determining if they can right the ship.

“I don’t think anybody thought we’d be in this spot that we’re in right now,” LaFleur said. “We’re going to find out what we’re made of in terms of just how we attack Monday, how we attack Tuesday, Wednesday and every day in practice. I do believe that we’ve got the right kind of guys that will continue to battle.”

• LaFleur said WR Allen Lazard hurt his shoulder: “I’m going to kind of leave it at that and see how it heals through the course of the week.” (Ryan Wood)
• Lafleur added Rodgers’ thumb injury “has played a little part into” why the team has operated as much as they have out of the shotgun. (Wood)
• LaFleur hinted towards the team making a change from WR Amari Rodgers in the return game: “We are evaluating. We’re talking about it…You can’t put the ball on the ground.” (Matt Schneidman)