NFC Notes: Shane Waldron, Brian Flores, Bears, Lions, Vikings

Bears

• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer revisits the Bears’ search for an offensive coordinator this offseason. Breer mentions things are a little murky but there was a sense when the team interviewed Kliff Kingsbury that part of their motivation was learning more about first-round QB Caleb Williams who Kingsbury had coached at USC. 
• Breer adds Kingsbury’s system was viewed as a big change for Chicago’s offense as well, while the change from former OC Luke Getsy to OC Shane Waldron was simpler since both ran similar West Coast schemes. 
• Regarding Bears HC Matt Eberflus‘ job security, Breer believes it’s tied to interim OC Thomas Brown taking the job and running with it, as Brown is the third offensive coordinator Eberflus has hired in three years as head coach. 
• Regarding the decision to part ways with Waldron, Eberflus said they are excited about Brown taking the reins at coordinator: “I thought it was best for the Bears at this point to move on from Shane as the play caller and work in with Thomas (Brown). … Very excited about him being the play caller and leader of our offense. Brings passion, energy, tenacity, toughness, collaboration.” (Kevin Fishbain)
• Eberflus is taking full responsibility for the team being on its third different offensive play-caller during his time as head coach: “I take full accountability for that. I take full responsibility for that. And it’s gotta get better. The details and creativity have to improve.” (Fishbain)
• As for Bears first-round QB Caleb Williams‘ reaction to Waldron’s dismissal, the rookie responded he’s only focused on doing his job: “I don’t get to choose those decisions. My job is to listen and go do my job.” (Christian Gonzalez)
• Bears WR D.J. Moore added there’s been a lot of frustration on the offensive side: “Just everything in general. We didn’t score in three games.” (Courtney Cronin)
• As for the biggest issues under Waldron, Moore revealed they waited until halftime to make any adjustments: “When we wanted to make an adjustment we waited til halftime to make it.” (Kevin Wells)
• Bears WR Keenan Allen added Waldron was “too nice” and never held players accountable: “Too nice of a guy. OTAs, camp, we fell into a trap of letting things go & not holding people accountable and that’s a slippery slope. Just professionalism and doing things the right way from the beginning.” (Kalyn Kahler)
• Bears RB Travis Homer played under Waldron while with the Seahawks. He thinks players in Seattle responded well to him: “I know a lot of guys in Seattle, they responded well to how it was. I guess some guys here, they don’t really like that too much.” (Kahler)
• Bears S Jaquan Brisker (concussion) has been ruled out from Week 11. He has been in the concussion protocol since Week 5. (Brad Biggs) 

Lions

Lions CB Carlton Davis III recorded two interceptions in Week 10’s 26-23 win over the Texans. He recalled having a terrible performance against Houston while with the Buccaneers in 2023 and was eager to “get payback.” 

“For me personally, last year I played in this stadium when I was with the Bucs and had a terrible game, probably one of the worst games I’ve ever had in my life,” Davis said, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s site. “So just coming back here one year later, I think it was the same time last year, I gave up a winning touchdown and that was just heavy on my heart. I wanted to get payback.”

Davis feels extremely comfortable covering out-routs and quickly adjusted to the Texans’ tendencies in Sunday’s game. 

“If you watch the film, I jump outs all the time. I’m in good position on every out,” Davis said. “And I know this team likes to run out, run out and then go double move, so I wasn’t playing it too hard. They were throwing it, completing it and I knew coming out of halftime that they would want to go back to that because they’re a team that loves to repeat successful plays. So, when they back to it they gave me the set that I was looking for and we were in the right call, I knew I would jump it.”

Davis was determined to make a play against Houston while the team trailed late in the game. 

“When we were losing, I just told myself, ‘Bro, we gotta make a play,'” Davis said. “Like, I’m not going out sad to these guys twice. They’re a great team, well-coached guys, but we are too. The emotional state just kind of took over and I was like, I’m making a play regardless, man. Can’t leave this stadium twice, two years in a row, not being able to say I’m a winner and not being able to overcome this team.”

• Lions HC Dan Campbell said TE Sam LaPorta (shoulder) is still considered “day-to-day” and didn’t practice on Wednesday, via Eric Woodyard. 
• Campbell said they are feeling “pretty good” about LT Taylor Decker‘s (shoulder) availability for Week 11, via Tim Twentyman. 

Vikings

Vikings DC Brian Flores has Minnesota’s defense among the top-performing in the league. With the season winding down, Flores made clear he wants to be a head coach once again. 

“Look, there’s only 32 of these jobs, so I would certainly want to be a head coach in this league again,” Flores said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. 

Flores was the Dolphins’ head coach from 2019-2021. He thinks there is a negative misconception about his time in Miami and was able to learn a lot there. 

“I think a lot of people view the Miami experience as [if] I see it as all negative,” Flores said. “I really don’t. I think it was a great experience for me and my family. There’s so much that I learned during my time there that’s made me a much, much better coach today … better in a lot of areas. And just in reflecting on that time, there’s things that obviously I would like to do better, but there’s also a lot of things that I would continue to implement. But it wasn’t all negative. Obviously, there was some things that I would have done better, but I thought it was a great experience and I’ve really, really come out of it in positive way and excited about where I am now. I really learned a lot from it.”