Bears

Bears DL Jeffery Simmons spoke about having the chance to play in a prime-time night game for Chicago, something he didn’t get to do often during his time with the Titans.

“It’s exciting. I haven’t played in a prime-time game since 2023. It’s been that long since I’ve played in prime time. I think it was Thursday night against the Steelers, was the last time I actually played in one. It’s exciting. When you’ve got a prime time game it means you’re doing something right. With this team, with last year’s success and this year, what more can you ask for? To come into this situation, to help this team win big games, meaningful football this time of the year, and also my first game being here in Chicago I get to play on Monday night. I think that’s the dream of every NFL player, to come into a situation like this. I’m so excited. I’m excited to be able to go out there Monday night,” Simmons said, via NBC Sports.

Lions

Lions S Kerby Joseph joked that he hoped his teammates haven’t forgotten him as he returned to the practice field this week.

“Just being back out there felt nostalgic. I haven’t practiced in a long time, so this week felt pretty good. I’m still him. I hope you all ain’t forget. I’m still him,” Joseph said, via NBC Sports.

Packers

Packers OLB Micah Parsons said back in January, after suffering his severe knee injury, that he believed it was “very realistic” for him to return by their Week 6 game against the Cowboys. Rob Demovsky of ESPN cites a source familiar with Parsons’ recovery who pointed out that Parsons also dealing with a torn meniscus meant he had to go through a longer rehab process. 

“It was the only thing that made sense knowing he wanted to be 100%,” the source said. “Micah has to play a different game than most guys and relies on his speed and athleticism — on top of the fact that he had the meniscus [tear, which] made it a longer recovery period. When he wasn’t going to practice at all in training camp, it solidified where he was at in his recovery process.”

Sports orthopedic surgeon Dr. Michael J. Alaia mentioned that the recovery timeline from knee injuries is not cut and dry for every player.

“The fans always want to know, ‘Why is it taking so long?'” Alaia said. “When you do enough ACLs, you just know the variability of the recovery can be so vast, and every patient brings their own set of physical and psychological needs.”

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes and Parsons both suffered their knee injuries in Week 15 of last season, while Mahomes has notably been able to start every game this year. Alaia clarifies that Mahomes was not dealing with a torn meniscus and his LCL tear is easier to fix. 

“That’s usually right,” Alaia said. “The reason Mahomes had his done early was because he had a tear in his LCL. So they wanted to go in early and fix the LCL because sometimes, if the ligaments are ruptured in a certain way, the earlier you fix it, the easier it is to fix it and perhaps the better they do. So there’s a reason why he went in early, at least from the reports that you read. I have no personal connections to the actual surgical procedure, but that’s usually why.”