Bears
- Bears TE Durham Smythe was fined $12,172 for a low block, OT Darnell Wright was fined $23,186 for use of the helmet, and WR Luther Burden was fined $11,075 for unnecessary roughness.
Lions
The Lions’ season went from on the ropes to being dealt the knockout blow on Christmas against the Vikings, with Minnesota landing a 23-10 haymaker thanks to six turnovers. Two were the result of bad snaps from backup C Kingsley Eguakun, and the offensive line as a whole was undermanned again with LT Taylor Decker being ruled out the day of the game, unexpectedly pushing OT Dan Skipper into the starting lineup.
“It’s not the worst situation, but it definitely is a pretty big curveball and that’s part of being in my role is you got to be ready for that type of stuff,” Skipper said via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “It is what it is and I try to go out there and give it everything I got and fight my (expletive) off.”
The Lions gave up five sacks and mustered just 68 yards rushing, but HC Dan Campbell didn’t want to lean on injuries as an excuse.
“We’ve lost a lot of players and always been able to next-man-up, bounce back, find ways to win and we felt good about Skip going in there and battling,” Campbell said. “Here’s what I know about Skip: He’s going to give us everything he’s got and he’s going to battle and he’s going to finish. So, I trust Skip.”
- Lions LB Jack Campbell was fined $11,593 for a facemask, WR Jameson Williams was fined $17,389 for taunting, and LB Alex Anzalone was fined $17,968 for striking/kicking/tripping/kneeing.
Packers
Packers HC Matt LaFleur was seriously disappointed over the team’s blowout loss to the Ravens on Saturday night and said watching the game film back was tough to do.
“We’re in such a result-oriented business,” LaFleur said, via Matt Schneidman of The Athletic. “It felt like we had a pretty good week of practice, but when you come out here and you put on a performance like that, it doesn’t necessarily feel that way. I don’t think anybody was relieved that we made the playoffs … we still had a ton to play for. It was the same routine in regards to how we went about our process in regards to how we prepare for a game. Unfortunately, it wasn’t good enough. That’s the bottom line. I gotta go back and take a look at the film. That was tough to watch.”
“We got our ass whooped,” DB Javon Bullard told reporters. “Call it like it is. I mean, s—. We knew what they were doing. They ran the ball. We couldn’t stop the f—— run. Point-blank-period. And we got to fix that s— tomorrow if we want to go past the wild-card game in the playoffs. If we don’t, we’ll be sitting our ass right back in Green Bay.”
“It’s embarrassing having the opponent coming into our house and the way they were celebrating and talking to us and just feeling the complacency and the energy on the sideline,” DE Lukas Van Ness said after the game. “Frankly, it’s unacceptable. Starting with myself, the defense and honestly, all three phases. At this point of the season, we gotta find a way to play collective and be better. Definitely embarrassing.”
“We got punched in the mouth tonight,” Van Ness concluded. “We got embarrassed tonight and it’s one of those that you walk away (from) with a feeling that you don’t want to feel again. We walked away with that feeling last year when we lost in that first round and that’s a feeling that’s got to stick with you and you’ve got to come with on game day. So again, I think we’re going to look in the mirror. I think we’re going to come together. This will be a good wake-up call for us and we’ll be alright.”
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