Chicago Bears – New Head Coach John Fox will have his work cut out for him and his staff this season in what promises to be bumpy rebuilding year. 

The O-line with less than two weeks to go until their opener may undergo a shifting of personnel – with the dreadful right tackles Charles Leno and Jordan Mills being benched and replaced by Pro Bowl guard Kyle Long. Charles Leno Jr. appeared to play his way out of the starting job the past two Saturdays.  Jordan Mills, who lost the job to Leno during training camp now has another chance to start.  With Long not expected to play this week it will be up to either Mills or Jordan to prove they belong.  If not, a last minute change with Long moving to tackle may occur.  Hardly an ideal situation.

Speaking of offense, the Bears are having real trouble scoring.  Despite a winning 2-1 pre-season record, the starting offense has yet to score a touchdown.  The offense has managed only five field goals and zero touchdowns for the pre-season.

The offense is missing several key players heading into the regular season.    After jettisoning WR Brandon Marshall during the off season, the Bears planned on relying heavily on Alshon Jeffery and number seven overall draft pick Kevin White. Both players are injured along with backups Eddie Royal and Marquess Wilson. The result is that the Bears passing game looks very weak heading into the opening game of the season vs. the Packers.  In addition, the injuries have robbed QB Jay Cutler of the opportunity to get into any kind of rhythm with his stable of receivers.

The Bears had a mild surprise in the first wave of roster reductions by releasing starting CB Tim Jennings.

Detroit Lions – The Lions are 2-1 this pre-season but there are worries aplenty in the Motor City.  Second year TE Eric Ebron was drafted to become the next Jimmy Graham, but his rookie season was a washout.  It appears that year-two may not be any better and with Joseph Fauria struggling with injuries, the Lions traded for Tampa Bay Buccaneers TE Tim Wright to shore up the position.

At the start of training camp rookie Ameer Abdullah was being compared by some to former Lions great Barry Sanders.  Not so anymore.  Both Abdullah and fellow RB Joique Bell have had quiet preseasons. According to head coach Jim Caldwell the two backs are going to split carries, for the time being, to help determine who will ultimately become the starter.

Minnesota Vikings – QB Teddy Bridgewater is having quite a pre-season while star running back Adrian Peterson sits out as a precaution against injury.  This past Saturday night vs. the Dallas Cowboys Bridgewater was 7 of 7 for 78 yards and two touchdowns.  One TD was caught by his new receiver Mike Wallace who himself had three catches for 50 yards.  The Vikings are 4-0 in the pre-season.

Ex-Packers TE Brandon Bostick who the Vikings picked up after Green Bay cut him this off-season did not make it past the first wave of cuts and was released on Monday.

Gossip site TMZ has reported that Adrian Peterson is making news and not in a good way.  Peterson is being accused of fathering yet another child out of wedlock. TMZ reports that a massage therapist claims Peterson impregnated her. The woman hired an attorney to contact Peterson in hopes of securing financial support for the child. The woman’s attorney requested $1.9 million to care for the child for the next 18 years.  For Peterson and Vikings the distractions continue.

Rookie high draft choice LB Eric Kendricks is looking like he will be the opening day starter at middle linebacker.  He has overtaken current starter Audie Cole for the position.

Green Bay Packers - Were the Philadelphia Eagles that good or the Packers that bad?  Luckily Packers fans won’t have to worry about answering that question in a meaningful game this upcoming season unless it is the playoffs.  Eagles HC Chip Kelly was obviously focused on the humiliation his squad endured on the same field last November absorbing a 53-20 drubbing at the hands of Aaron Rodgers and his Packers team mates.  This year, tables turned. The Eagles ran an amazing 44 plays in the first half alone against what for the most part was Green Bay's starting defense.  The half time stats:   21 first downs and 325 total-yards and leading the woeful looking Packers 39-14.  Ouch!

The Packers helped the Eagles pad their league-leading 115 points scored in only three contests to date.

The Packers announced their first wave of roster reductions to get to 75 and there were few surprises with Jordy Nelson going to season ending IR and QB Matt Blanchard, who was having a decent camp, and LB Adrian Hubbard waived to reduce the roster to the league mandated 75 players.