NFC North

The Chicago Bears are reportedly unlikely to fire head coach Matt Nagy during the 2021 regular season.

According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport (h/t NFL.com's Grant Gordon), Nagy is likely to be given "considerable rope" by the organization between now and the end of the season, and a midseason firing isn't expected unless there are "unforeseen" circumstances.

Rapoport's report comes on the heels of Mark Konkol and Jeff Arnold of Patch reporting Tuesday that a "top source with knowledge of the decision" said Nagy would be fired after Thursday's Thanksgiving game against the Detroit Lions.

Nagy later told reporters the report was "not accurate" before adding: "I have great communication with ownership, George [McCaskey] and Ted [Phillips] and Ryan [Pace], and I have not had any discussions [on that]."

Additionally, Dan Pompei of The Athletic reported that Bears Chairman George McCaskey denied reports of Nagy getting fired during a meeting with Bears players and coaches.

If the Bears do fire Nagy before the end of the 2021 season, it will mark the first time the organization has ever fired a head coach during a season.

Chicago has struggled mightily this season to the tune of a 3-7 record, which leaves it third in the NFC North ahead of only the 0-9-1 Lions.

Entering play Thursday, the Bears trailed the first-place Green Bay Packers by 4.5 games and were two games behind the Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints for a wild-card spot.

The 43-year-old Nagy is in the midst of his fourth season as head coach of the Bears, and he owns an overall record of 31-27.

While Nagy led the Bears to an NFC North title in 2018 and brought Chicago to the playoffs in both 2018 and 2020, Chicago has not won a postseason game under his leadership.

Despite Nagy's offensive background, offense has been a huge issue for the Bears over the past few seasons. So far this season, they rank 31st in the NFL in total offense and 29th in scoring.

Poor quarterback play has contributed to those shortcomings, as veteran Andy Dalton struggled before getting injured and rookie first-round pick Justin Fields has performed below expectations as well.

With Fields out Thursday because of a rib injury, Dalton will start for Chicago against the winless Lions and attempt to get the Bears back in the playoff race with a win.

A five-game losing streak and questions about head coach Matt Nagy's future aren't the only things the Chicago Bears have to worry about heading into Thursday's contest against the Detroit Lions.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported rookie quarterback Justin Fields, who will not play against Detroit, "suffered a few cracked ribs." Fortunately for the Bears, an MRI revealed "tiny fractures, not deemed major, and Fields should return shortly."

Fields suffered the injury during Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and veteran Andy Dalton entered the game and threw two touchdowns. Dalton will play Thursday's game as well, with the Bears looking to avoid becoming the first team to lose to the Lions this season.

Chicago is 3-7 thanks to its five straight losses and is not a true contender in 2021.

Keeping Fields healthy is far more important than winning any individual game this season, so it would be a surprise if the team rushes him back until he is completely ready, even if the fractures were deemed "tiny."

The Bears have been searching for a franchise quarterback for years, and the hope is Fields will eventually become one after they traded up to select the Ohio State product with a first-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

He has flashed his potential at times with both his arm and legs, although the offense as a whole has dealt with plenty of inconsistency and is just 29th in the league in points per game.

Chicago could also do far worse for a backup quarterback than Dalton, who is a three-time Pro Bowler and has playoff experience from his time on the Cincinnati Bengals. He is someone who can keep the team afloat in the immediate future and get the ball in the hands of playmakers such as Darnell Mooney and David Montgomery.

The Bears face the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 after Thursday's contest against the Lions. That is the earliest Fields could return from his fractured ribs.         

Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff, who missed last Sunday's 13-10 road loss to the Cleveland Browns with an oblique injury, is set to return Thursday at home against the Chicago Bears barring any overnight setbacks.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the news, which aligns with Lions head coach Dan Campbell telling reporters (h/t Benjamin Raven of mlive.com) this week that the team was leaning toward starting Goff after a one-game absence.

Goff has completed 66.1 percent of his passes for eight touchdowns (six interceptions) and 6.3 yards per attempt in nine games this year.

The Lions started Tim Boyle at quarterback in Goff's absence last Sunday. The ex-Green Bay Packers backup completed 15-of-23 passes for 77 yards and two interceptions.

Now Goff returns to the mix in hopes of leading the Lions to their first win this season. Goff's last time out resulted in the 2021 team's first non-defeat as the Lions tied the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-all.

Detroit has struggled on both sides of the ball and enters this week ranked third-last in both points per game and points allowed per game.

However, a home matchup against a 3-7 Bears team is a winnable game. Goff hasn't performed particularly well, but he's the best option on the roster and could be the difference here, especially against a Chicago team missing superstar edge-rusher Khalil Mack (season-ending foot surgery). 

Game time is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. ET from Detroit's Ford Field.

Matt Nagy's tenure as the head coach of the Chicago Bears will apparently continue past Thursday's road game against the Detroit Lions.

According to Dan Pompei of The Athletic, team chairman George McCaskey met with Chicago's players and coaches Wednesday and said any reports that Nagy will be fired after Thursday's contest are not true.

Mark Konkol and Jeff Arnold of Patch previously cited "a top source with knowledge of the decision" and reported Nagy would be fired after the game against the Lions.

The latest update comes after Nagy addressed reporters Tuesday and said, "That is not accurate," when asked about the report he would be fired.

"I have great communication with ownership, George [McCaskey] and Ted [Phillips] and [general manager] Ryan [Pace], and I have not had any discussions [on that]," he added.

Chicago has never fired a head coach during the middle of a season, although the team is just 3-7 and has lost five consecutive games after a promising start to the campaign.

There's also plenty of momentum toward what feels like an inevitable firing, even if it doesn't happen during the season.

Insider Jordan Schultz reported "an overwhelming number of Bears players want" the coach to be fired. What's more, one source told Schultz that Nagy "lost some of the locker room last season, but now it's gone."

Things have certainly trended in the wrong direction for Nagy and the Bears since he was the Coach of the Year for a 12-4 team in 2018.

Chicago went 8-8 in each of the next two seasons and largely wasted what was a formidable defense that spearheaded the 2018 efforts. The fact that offensive struggles ultimately held the Bears back felt particularly poignant when it came to Nagy's job security since he was the offensive coordinator of the Kansas City Chiefs prior to becoming Chicago's head coach.

The offense is once again a major concern in 2021. The unit is 31st in the league in yards per game and 29th in points per game.

Perhaps rookie Justin Fields will ultimately be the franchise quarterback the organization has long been searching for, but Nagy's tenure as the head coach seems to be coming toward an end.

Even if it won't end Thursday.                  

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers clarified Wednesday he suffered a fractured toe and is not, in fact, dealing with COVID Toe.

The Wall Street Journal reported Rodgers was "dealing with a painful toe injury that stems from the body's immune response to his recent case of Covid-19."

However, Rodgers told reporters he does not have any lesions and is instead trying to overcome a fracture. He also wants the Wall Street Journal to apologize and even demonstrated by showing his toe to reporters:

The quarterback said he suffered the fracture while doing individual workouts when he was quarantined and will "look at all options during the bye week to decide what would be best to get to the finish line." He also said he doesn't expect to miss any games with the injury.

Green Bay faces the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday before its bye in Week 13. 

Rodgers told reporters he will not undergo any treatment that would require him to miss games but believes there are surgical options to avoid such an outcome.

The nine-time Pro Bowler, who had previously told reporters he was "immunized," missed his team's Week 9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs following a positive COVID-19 test and made national headlines for his appearance on The Pat McAfee Show when he was defensive of the criticism he received for being unvaccinated and made a number of other inaccurate statements about masks, the vaccine and the virus.

Rogers was also fined $14,650, while Green Bay as an organization was fined $300,000 after the NFL investigated the team's failure to follow health and safety protocols in place.

The Packers are 1-1 since his return, although he struggled in the victory over the Seattle Seahawks and didn't throw a touchdown pass. He was much better from an individual perspective in the loss to the Minnesota Vikings when he threw for 385 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

Green Bay is 8-3 on the season and in the middle of the race for the NFC's No. 1 seed and only first-round bye alongside the Arizona Cardinals, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Rams.

This fractured toe could be an issue if it lingers and prevents Rodgers from playing at his typically elevated level, although he was still effective against the Vikings.            

Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen has left his home and is receiving care following a series of posts on social media that raised concerns about his well-being and required intervention from the team and law enforcement.

Griffen posted a video of himself holding a gun and saying someone was trying to kill him at his house. He also made an Instagram story saying he was in danger and showed text messages he sent to his agent, Brian Murphy, raising the same concerns.

Minnetrista police also issued a statement saying Griffen has refused to come out of his home and that they were working to resolve the situation.

Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer responded to a question Wednesday about the defender's availability for Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers by saying, "That's not our concern [right now]."

"He's been with us for a long time. Works hard," Zimmer told reporters.

Griffen, 33, spent the first 10 years of his NFL career with Minnesota after being selected in the fourth round of the 2010 draft. He split the 2020 season between the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions before rejoining the Vikings in August as a free agent.

The Arizona native has played in nine of the Vikes' 10 games this season. He played 73 percent of the defensive snaps in Sunday's win over the Green Bay Packers.

He's a four-time Pro Bowl selection who was voted second-team All-Pro in 2017.

Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers made his weekly appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday and said he doesn't expect the injury to his pinky toe will be resolved in the near future. 

That followed Rodgers telling reporters following Sunday's 34-31 loss to the Minnesota Vikings that his current injury was "a little worse than turf toe" and that his practice schedule would likely be reduced because the injury is "very, very painful."

"Went in at halftime early to get it checked out," he added Sunday. ".... Got stepped on the first half, and that kind of activated all the symptoms I was having. It's going to be another painful week and next week, and then hopefully start to feel a little better on the bye."

The Packers (8-3) face the Los Angeles Rams (7-3) in Week 12 before heading into the bye. It's a crucial matchup for the top overall seed in the NFC playoffs. 

The 37-year-old Rodgers missed a game after testing positive for COVID-19 this season, but he's largely stayed healthy throughout his career. Between the 2008 and '20 seasons, he missed just 18 games, an average of 1.4 per year. Sixteen of those missed games came in the 2013 and 2017 seasons. 

Rodgers, the defending MVP, has been solid yet again in 2021, throwing for 2,571 yards, 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions, completing 66.8 percent of his passes. The Packers are 8-2 in his starts. 

He certainly wasn't the issue on Sunday, even with his painful toe injury, throwing for 385 yards and four scores. 

"We've had a couple games like this over the years, thinking about 2012 especially, where we gotta outscore them at their place," Rodgers told reporters after the game. "We didn't do that today. But I think for us personally on offense, we gotta start faster. We gotta score touchdowns on those opening plays, so I know [head coach Matt LaFleur] will be looking at that this week and dial up some good stuff for L.A."

Green Bay Packers offensive tackle David Bakhtiari reportedly has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, a cleanup procedure following surgery for a torn ACL in January.

Tom Pelissero and Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reported the news Tuesday and noted it's possible Bakhtiari returns in December following the team's Week 13 bye:

The three-time Pro Bowler hasn't played yet in 2021 after suffering the ACL injury during a practice last December.

Packers head coach Matt LaFleur confirmed Monday that Bakhtiari wouldn't play in Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams.

"He won't be out there this week. We'll see where he's at after the bye," LeFleur told reporters. "We're hopeful that he will be able to come back this year at some point."

Bakhtiari emerged as a stalwart at left tackle for the Packers immediately after the franchise selected him in the fourth round of the 2013 draft. He started all 16 games as a rookie and played 118 of a possible 128 contests across his first eight seasons.

The 30-year-old University of Colorado product drew praise from quarterback Aaron Rodgers when he returned to practice in mid-October.

"It's good having him back. He's a stud. He's a future Hall of Famer," Rodgers said.

Elgton Jenkins had shifted from guard to left tackle to fill the void and played well, earning a strong 82.3 overall grade from Pro Football Focus before suffering his own torn ACL in Sunday's loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Yosh Nijman and Dennis Kelly are Green Bay's reserve tackles. It's unclear whether one of them will protect Rodgers' blind side against the Rams or if right tackle Billy Turner will shift to the left side while Nijman or Kelly takes his place on the right side.

The Packers will hope it's a one-week solution before Bakhtiari can reclaim his longtime role coming out of the bye when they face the Chicago Bears on Dec. 12.

That said, Green Bay (8-3) has some margin for error thanks to its 2.5-game lead over the Vikings (5-5) in the NFC North, so it doesn't have to rush the two-time first-team All-Pro selection back into action.

It will reportedly be Andy Dalton under center for the Chicago Bears on Thursday.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported the veteran is expected to start at quarterback against the Detroit Lions because Justin Fields is still recovering from the rib injury he suffered during Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

"The turnaround is too quick," Rapoport noted.

Frankly, this is not a surprise from Chicago's perspective.

The Bears are not much of a factor in the playoff race at 3-7, especially after blowing second-half leads in three consecutive losses to the San Francisco 49ers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens. Rushing Fields back on short rest given his overall long-term importance to the franchise would have been ill-advised.

The Bears have been searching for a franchise quarterback for years, and the hope in the Windy City is Fields can eventually become one after they selected him with a first-round pick out of Ohio State.

He has flashed his overall potential at times this year despite inconsistent offensive line play and questionable play-calling, and his ability to turn that potential into on-field results is the organization's best hope of developing into a winner down the line.

Whether the Bears win Thursday's game against the Lions in a matchup between the NFC North's worst two teams will have no impact on the long-term goal of building a winner around Fields, which makes playing the rookie not worth the risk given the injury.

Dalton is also a solid option by backup standards and threw two touchdowns in the loss to the Ravens.

He finished 11-of-23 passing for 201 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions against Baltimore and will look to improve on his overall accuracy against a winless Lions team.