The Bears have lost four straight games with Brown as the interim head coach and close the 2024 season Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.

Brown, who started the season as the passing game coordinator, was promoted to offensive coordinator after Shane Waldron was fired ahead of Week 11. Three weeks later, Brown was promoted to interim head coach.

“I’ve been so impressed with Thomas and his leadership,” Poles said. “I know the results haven’t come. That was a very difficult situation he’s been put in. I grew up in this business where you earn more, and that’s exactly how we got here with Thomas. I feel like he’s done a really good job.

“You could see the leadership traits, and then he got moved to the offense coordinator position and did well. We saw improvements on offense and then at the head coaching level, got the opportunity to do that and lead the entire team. And just sitting in team meetings, meeting with him after games — he’s a truth teller. He’s someone that does challenge our players to get better, creates accountability. So there’s a lot of really positive traits that Thomas has, and I’ve been proud of how he’s stepped up and led this team down the stretch here. And again, it’s not the results that we wanted in terms of wins and losses, but the traits of a leader. He absolutely has those.”

The Bears were one of three teams, along with the New York Jets and New Orleans Saints, to make a midseason switch at head coach.

Chicago’s interview process is expected to begin this week.

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Rizzi said Monday that Carr would need to go through at least one successful simulated game scenario to be able to play in the season finale. The Saints had attempted to do that last week to bring Carr back against the Las Vegas Raiders, his former team.

The Saints injected Carr’s hand with pain medication, but he did not have full functionality, the coach said.

“We already tried once before. We did try to eject the hand and see if he could function. We’re just not there yet,” Rizzi said Friday.

“I know that’s all been behind the scenes and that’s not seen by everybody every day, but it’s seen by me and our staff and our players and so I do want to commend him on the effort to try to get back out here on the field. He really did everything humanly possible to do that.”

The coach had said Monday that the team would try a simulation again early in the week before the Saints resumed practice Wednesday.

“If you see him out there with that red jersey running around then that means he did well Tuesday or Wednesday [prior to practice],” Rizzi said.

The simulation had not been run by Wednesday. On Friday, Rizzi declined to discuss the timing of the second simulation, saying he didn’t want to disclose details on the matter.

“It’s because of where he is with his rehab,” Rizzi said. “I’m following the lead of the medical side. It’s just where he is in the rehab. It’s better off waiting. In layman’s terms, it’s better if you get the hand as strong as possible before you do that to see if he’s going to be able to function.”

“Just didn’t make enough progress this week,” coach Shane Steichen said.

Asked whether the injury will require surgery, Steichen said, “I don’t think it’s that severe.”

Richardson missed 13 games last season after a season-ending shoulder surgery. Sunday’s game will be his fourth missed game due to injury this season (he also missed two games during a brief benching).

It’s a suboptimal way to end Richardson’s second season.

“I think you’re going to go through some tough times in this league and it’s a tough league, but you got to battle through those things,” Steichen said of Richardson. “You’ve got to handle adversity in this league, and I think when you go through those types of situations that we went through this year, it’s going to make [him] stronger.”

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McVay said the decision comes from “weighing the pros and cons” in what is “an important game for us.”

“I’m always trying to make decisions that I think are best for our football team,” he said. “It might not be best for everybody else, but if you said risk-reward, I think it’s some great opportunity for Jimmy to be able to play. I think it’s also an awesome opportunity for Matthew to be able to get rested, rejuvenated and ready to go for the playoffs. He’s accumulated so much experience, and I think that’s the important thing.”

Right tackle Rob Havenstein, who injured his shoulder during a Week 17 practice, will not play Sunday. McVay said “everything is tilting towards” Havenstein being ready for a playoff game.

Garoppolo signed with the Rams this offseason after he was released by the Las Vegas Raiders at the start of the new league year.

When asked whether he sees this game as an audition for a chance to start next season, Garoppolo said, “I think anytime you get on the grass in live action, that’s your résumé.”

“What you do out there, everyone sees around the league,” Garoppolo said. “They’re going to break that tape down, good, bad or indifferent. They don’t really care who’s playing, what week it is, whatever it is. That’s your résumé. So that’s how I’ve always approached it. It’ll be no different this week.”