Bears
The Bears knocked off the Eagles on the road in Week 13 and find themselves as the top seed in the NFC through 12 games. Chicago HC Ben Johnson doesn’t care where they are in the standings now and shifted his focus to the remaining games to finish the job.
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Johnson said, via Kevin Patra of NFL.com. “There are five games left, so we’ve got a long ways to go, and we have not been guaranteed a spot in the tournament yet. We have to earn that. And the only way you can earn that right is by finding a way to win the next game. So that’s where our sole focus is.”
Regarding second-year QB Caleb Williams, Johnson was impressed with how he handled the operation of the offense in Week 13 and kept everyone on track despite some complex play calls.
“I thought that [Friday] was one of the better jobs he’s had in terms of getting the play call, calling it in the huddle, getting the motions, the shifts. We had a lot of moving parts there in that game to create some eye candy for those defensive players, and I thought he executed it really well for the most part. I screwed up a play call, and he made it right for me. And so, that was good to see. He’s getting better each and every week in that regard of playing the quarterback position. Like I said, it’s all hands on deck for us to clean up this passing game to make it more of a weapon.”
Lions
The Lions expected C Frank Ragnow to return before a failed physical showed a Grade 3 hamstring injury. Lions HC Dan Campbell said the team was aware Ragnow had an issue, but that it “did not sound as severe as the imaging looked.”
“It was gonna take a while to get that thing rehabbed and fixed, so obviously it just didn’t make sense,” Campbell said.
- Campbell said that he has “no indication” about whether Ragnow is interested in playing in 2026.
- Campbell said CB Terrion Arnold‘s shoulder injury has been bothering him all season and said it “just felt like [putting him on injured reserve] was something that needed to be done.” (Eric Woodyard)
Vikings
Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell took the blame for the team’s shutout and said that the offensive performance is not acceptable for him or the team.
“We just did not have the type of an offensive performance that is ever going to be acceptable with the Minnesota Vikings organization,” O’Connell said, via PFT. “That obviously starts with me. It’s not about any one particular player or position. It’s a collective group thing right now where we are just not good enough to overcome some of the things that we’re doing, overcoming some injuries up front and overcoming some of the things that are happening.”
O’Connell admitted that the team was “pressing” offensively.
“Guys want to make those plays, guys want to make the throws,” O’Connell said. “I know how hard our guys have prepared, are trying. We just can’t quite seem to catch the rhythm of positive plays with all 11 guys executing right now. That’s guys maybe trying to do too much. Maybe we’ve got to try to limit what we’re asking of the group as a whole, especially with some different guys stepping into the lineup, just to try to get some more consistency at the very least to try to give ourselves a better chance.”
- Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Vikings don’t believe that RB Aaron Jones‘ shoulder injury is serious, and he’s likely to be day-to-day.
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