The availability of Bears coordinators Bill Lazor (offense), Sean Desai (defense) and Chris Tabor (special teams) for Monday night's game against the Vikings remained up in the air Saturday.
The three coaches are still in COVID protocol, away from Halas Hall.
The Bears on Saturday announced who would replace them versus Minnesota in the event they're not cleared to coach.
Offense coordinator
Pass game coordinator/quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo would fill in for Bill Lazor. DeFilippo is in his second season with the Bears, adding pass game coordinator to his quarterbacks coach title in 2021.
DeFilippo boasts 22 years of coaching experience, including 15 in the NFL. In 2018, he was interviewed for the Bears' head-coaching job that ultimately went to Matt Nagy.
DeFilippo spent the 2019 season as Jaguars offensive coordinator. He helped rookie quarterback Gardner Minshew throw for 3,271 yards with 21 touchdowns, six interceptions and a 91.2 passer rating while also rushing for 344 yards.
Prior to that, DeFilippo served as Vikings offensive coordinator in 2018 and Eagles quarterbacks coach in 2016-17. Philadelphia won the Super Bowl in 2017, thanks in large part to quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Nick Foles.
Wentz was named second-team All-Pro despite missing the final three games with a torn ACL. He completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 3,296 yards with 33 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a 101.9 passer rating that ranked fourth in the NFL.
Foles replaced the injured Wentz and threw for 971 yards and six touchdowns with a 115.7 rating in three postseason contests. Foles earned MVP honors in Super Bowl LII after passing for 373 yards and three TDs with a 106.1 rating in a 41-33 win over the Patriots.
Defensive coordinator
Senior defensive assistant Mike Pettine would fill in for Sean Desai.
Pettine joined the Bears this year after spending the previous three seasons as Packers defensive coordinator. He boasts 19 seasons of NFL experience. Pettine worked with the Ravens as a coaching assistant (2002-03), assistant defensive line coach (2004) and outside linebackers coach (2005-08) before serving as defensive coordinator with the Jets (2009-12) and Bills (2013).
Pettine then spent two seasons as head coach of the Browns (2014-15), followed by one year as a consultant with the Seahawks (2016) before being hired by the Packers in 2017.
Bears safety Tashaun Gipson Sr. played for Pettine in Cleveland in 2014-15. Gipson was selected to his lone Pro Bowl in 2014 when he recorded a career-high six interceptions and led the NFL with 152 interception return yards while appearing in only 11 games.
"I felt like I had some of my most phenomenal years under coach Pett's defenses," Gipson said. "That's just who coach Pett is. I have no doubt in my mind that coach Pett will be able to come in here and call the game the way that he's seeing fit, obviously within the system that coach Desai has built … I have nothing but love and admiration for coach Pett, dating back to my time in Cleveland. I believe we're in good hands if coach Sean won't be there. Coach Pett is definitely comfortable doing this."
Special teams coordinator
Assistant special teams coach Brian Ginn would replace Tabor. Ginn is in his fourth season with the Bears, having served as offensive quality control coach in 2018-19 before being elevated to his current position last year.
Prior to joining the Bears, Ginn spent the previous 18 seasons at the University of Delaware, working as a graduate assistant in 2000 before coaching several different positions on offense: receivers (2001, 2006-07, 2013), running backs (2002-05), offensive coordinator/quarterbacks (2008), pass game coordinator/receivers (2009-12), quarterbacks (2014-15) and tight ends (2016-17).
