NFC Notes: Bears, Lions, Gettleman, Baalke

Bears kicker Connor Barth missed a pair of field goals during his team’s six-point loss earlier today. Through five games, the 30-year-old has connected on five of his eight attempts, and Barth has been around the league long enough to recognize that the Bears will probably explore the kicker market.

“Nothing surprises me these days,” he told Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times. “It’s the NFL. So just gotta go back to work. Like I said, those are kicks I usually make. I gotta make them.”

Coach John Fox was non-committal when discussing Barth’s roster status, but he wasn’t ready to lay all of the blame on his kicker.

“We look at everything every week,” coach John Fox said. “But I don’t think that’s on one guy, by any stretch.”

The veteran was signed by the Bears right before the season, with the 30-year-old replacing long-time kicker Robbie Gould.

We took a swing around the AFC earlier today, now let’s round up a few more notes from around the NFC…

  • Ezekiel Ansah has been dealing with a high ankle sprain since Week 2, but according to ESPN’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter), tests have revealed that the injury is no more serious than that. Caplan reports that Ansah will not require surgery and the Lions are optimistic we will begin practicing soon.
  • Kyle Meinke of MLive.com does not expect Lions head coach Jim Caldwell to be fired mid-season, especially since he is still well-respected and even revered by his players. However, he will surely not survive into 2017 if the team does not show dramatic improvement over the remainder of the 2016 campaign.
  • The Panthers’ secondary is a mess right now, and as David Newton of ESPN.com writes, there is really no one else to blame but GM Dave Gettleman. Newton observes that the one area Gettleman hasn’t spent money on is the secondary. He has put together that unit in piecemeal fashion with midrange draft picks and older veterans who came cheap, letting starters like Captain Munnerlyn and Josh Norman walk because they didn’t fit into his financial plan. Now, Gettleman’s approach is starting to catch up with him.
  • Matt Maiocco of CSNBayArea.com believes that 49ers GM Trent Baalke is on the hot seat, largely as a result of his repeated failure to address the team’s weaknesses at impact positions. The problem is that there is nothing Baalke can do to strengthen the team for the final 11 games, so if San Francisco does not improve on its own, Baalke’s tenure with the club could be over.

Ben Levine contributed to this post.

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