Bears

The Bears suffered a one-sided 31-7 loss to the Packers in Week 5. Veteran DT Grady Jarrett said losing by 24 points didn’t affect his confidence, and he’s always determined to make a play. 

“Shoot, however the game go, as a defender we got to be ready to respond,” Jarrett said, via Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic. “And for me, that’s just, I’m excited for the next opportunity. Let’s go, no matter what happened or how they got the ball, we got to go out there and get a stop. I’ve always been consistent like that. And the mindset to go out and stop them regardless. At the end of the day, you got to be ready to fight however you go.”

Jarrett will face his former team, the Atlanta Falcons, in Week 6. Jarrett admits it’s going to be strange being back in Atlanta, but mostly wants their defense to get back on track. 

“Interesting week going back to Atlanta for sure,” Jarrett said. “Obviously, everybody kind of knows what that means to me. But … I think the thing I’m most excited about is going out there and competing, getting back on the right track and doing what we need to do.”

Bears HC Ben Johnson said Jarrett has shown flashes of his early days with the Falcons since recovering from a knee injury. 

“He’s really flashed some of those old tendencies that he had in Atlanta,” Johnson said. “We saw a little bit of it in training camp a year ago, and then when things kind of spiraled with the knee, it never quite got back to where it was early on. So we feel more of that now this year. He’s huge for that group in general. I think it’s a very close-knit room. (Defensive line coach Jeremy) Garrett does a great job with them. And yet I think Grady has a huge voice. They listen to him. He’s the first one jogging around drill to drill. He loves this game, and he’s going to continue to sink everything he’s got into these guys. … I think he’s playing at a higher level than what he showed last year.”

Packers

Jonathan Jones reports that Packers LB Micah Parsons might not return until Week 9 against the Patriots, as Parsons commented on people’s worries about when he will return.

“The biggest thing that people worried about with me, they’re like, ‘Man, why ain’t he back yet?’” Parsons said. “If the Super Bowl was this week, I’m playing in the Super Bowl. But it’s just about me making sure I have all the small things fixed first…What a lot of people don’t figure out is it’s not just the ACL. It’s like, why did the ACL happen? What was weak? Because it all works together. It’s a chain. And throughout the history of ACL (injuries), they notice if you come back early, there tends to be an overcompensation injury on the other side. … We just gon’ make sure everything is right before. Because everyone knows, what’s the point of getting me back for four weeks and then next thing you know, my groin’s bothering me.”

Vikings

• Vikings WR Jauan Jennings has been linked to trade rumors, but he wants to stay with the team and will likely do so despite the approaching trade deadline. (Pelissero)