Bears

Bears HC Ben Johnson gave an evaluation of QB Caleb Williams at the halfway point in the season.

“There are a number of things that I was pretty pleased with,” Johnson said, via BearsWire.com. “It’s looking more like I want it to look, that he wants it to look like. I can think of one particular instance off the top of my head, before halftime, where [we] called a play, and they end up clouding it to the side of the primary, so that’s not there, he gets through his progression and quickly dumps the ball to the back as he’s stepping up in the pocket. Now we didn’t throw our best ball, it was a little bit high, and we didn’t haul it in, but that to me was what we want this quarterback to look like, as he’s playing within the timing and rhythm of the offense, trusting his feet to take him through the progressions.”

• According to Brad Biggs, the Bears discussed acquiring pass rusher Jaelan Phillips before the Eagles acquired him from the Dolphins.
• Bears GM Ryan Poles was asked if the Bears looked at pass rushers like Trey Hendrickson and Maxx Crosby: “All I can say is we made calls across the league. I checked up on all of the guys that you would imagine, just to see the availability. I’m going to get different answers. Sometimes they change if you start three weeks prior, as you get closer, things come up and down based on how teams are doing and how they feel about the player. Sometimes they go to the player and ask them how they see the future and go from there. We turned pretty much every stone to find those answers.” (Moreano)

Bears

The Bears are coming off an action-packed 47-42 win over the Bengals, where they came just 18 shy of a 100-plus-year-old franchise record. Chicago TE Coleston Loveland thinks the team’s understanding of the nuances of HC Ben Johnson‘s system is a big part of their success. 

“At first during camp, we’re putting in the whole playbook, so it was a little overwhelming, like, They could call anything,” Loveland, via Albert Breer of SI. “Now, when it comes to [the] game plan, obviously, depending on what the defense does, nickel vs. base, coverages and all that, we will obviously have a tight game plan. And we’ll study through the week what we have going in. Coach Johnson has done a great job of knowing what we do best and sticking to it.”

Loveland scored the game-winning touchdown against Cincinnati on a 52-yard reception, where he bounced off tackle attempts by the Bengals’ Geno Stone and Jordan Battle. 

“Split safety, middle of the field was naked, Caleb put it on my body there,” Loveland said. “I happened to break a couple tackles and was just like, Man, I might as well take it all the way.”

Loveland feels they are “just hitting our stride” as they enter the second half of the season. 

“That’s always the goal. November, that’s when teams have to play good ball,” Loveland said. “Hopefully, we’re just hitting our stride now, but like I’ve been saying we got to continue to keep working and practicing hard, and keep doing what we can.” 

Vikings

Vikings HC Kevin O’Connell highly praised practice squad QB John Wolford, saying the veteran has made an impact on J.J. McCarthy and Max Brosmer.

“I think with bringing John in,” O’Connell said, via Kevin Seifert of ESPN. “It was something where we wanted to make sure we had a third guy in the room, a guy I know very well. He immediately picked up where I remember being with John — super smart, has a pretty high level of quickness and athleticism, quick twitch for a release and kind of a tight window thrower kind of guy that can activate a lot of different throw types. And he’s got experience understanding how our pass offense works and how we want to operate. So as he said, he’s the old man in the room now, and I think that’s important for two young guys.”

Aaron Jones returned from injured reserve ahead of Week 9, recording 78 rushing yards and 20 receiving yards. O’Connell said they are keeping an eye on Jones in practice and hope to ramp up his workload.

“We’ll see how he does throughout the week,” O’Connell said, “but expecting him to be able to kind of hopefully ramp up his workload [in practice].”