Chicago Bears coordinators spoke with reporters Thursday at Halas Hall as the team prepares for Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions at Soldier Field.

Here are three things we learned.

1. Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower congratulated kicker Robbie Gould on ‘a hell of a career.’

Gould, 41, announced his retirement Thursday after 18 NFL seasons in a letter in The Players’ Tribune. He’s the Bears’ all-time leading scorer with 1,207 points in 166 games over his first 11 seasons.

He also played one season with the New York Giants and spent the last six years of his career with the San Francisco 49ers, playing for current Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower.

“Great competitor. Clutch in big moments when we needed him to be. Consistent,” Hightower said. “(He) means a lot to the city of Chicago. … Wishing him the best in the next phase of his life. And I know if he attacks that the way he attacked his career, he’s going to be super successful at that as well.”

Gould made 86.5% of his career field-goal attempts and 97.5% of his extra-point attempts in the regular season. He ranks eighth in NFL history with 447 field goals and 10th with 1,961 points.

He never missed a kick in the postseason (29 field goals, 39 extra points) and played in two Super Bowls with the Bears and 49ers but didn’t get a win.

In his letter, Gould said his favorite kick came in January 2022 in a playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. He made a 45-yarder as time expired to send the 49ers to the NFC championship game, which Hightower called “a special moment.”

“To hit a huge kick like that, on the big stage, to continue my streak of never missing a kick in the playoffs and to also make all of Chicago happy in the process by taking down its rival?” Gould wrote. “It was the best of both worlds.”

An undrafted free agent out of Penn State, Gould received the call to join the Bears while working a construction job in Pennsylvania in 2005. He went on to become a key figure on some of the better Bears teams of this century and ranked 74th on the Tribune’s 2019 list of the 100 best Bears players.

Gould’s time with the Bears came to an end in 2016 when former general manager Ryan Pace cut him before the season. While Gould went on to have two of the best seasons of his career in San Francisco, the Bears struggled to find a reliable kicker for years after that until Cairo Santos arrived in 2020.

But despite the rough ending to their marriage, Gould spoke in his letter of his love for the team and the city.

“From start to finish, I loved everything about my time in Chicago,” Gould said. “Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo created a team-first culture by assembling a locker room full of future Hall of Famers. To be able to go to work every day surrounded by guys like Brian Urlacher, Julius Peppers, Olin Kreutz, Roberto Garza, Charles Tillman, Lance Briggs and dozens of other first-rate guys — it was the best football home imaginable. We had some deep playoff runs, and we made a ton of memories.

“The McCaskey family gave me the opportunity to live out my childhood dream, and it was an honor to play for them. Ultimately, I hope that we made Bears fans proud. They deserve it.”

2. DJ Moore said of Justin Fields: ‘We want him here.’

Moore was asked about how Fields has handled the speculation about his future in Chicago.

Fields addressed the topic of the Bears potentially moving on at quarterback Wednesday, saying he is “just focused on what I can control, and the rest is in God’s hands.”

Moore, who has 70 catches for 1,003 yards and six touchdowns through 12 games, offered a similar sentiment.

“You really can’t do too much but go out there and be yourself, and he’s a dynamic player, dynamic quarterback,” Moore said. “We want him here. I’ve been having a great year with him, so that should speak volumes. Just leave what they do upstairs, upstairs at the end of the day.”

Despite the offense’s inconsistency this season, Fields and Moore haven’t had trouble connecting. Moore is on pace to have the best season of his career. His high was 1,193 receiving yards in 2020.

“It’s just being on the same page with him week in and week out as best I can,” Moore said. “And when he scrambles, get open and just doing what I do after I catch the ball.”

Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy said Fields has brought the same passion and leadership every day, in spite of the speculation about his job.

“He’s an extremely humble young man that has purpose and passion,” Getsy said. “The consistency that we bring into the room every single day, he takes that and leads that as much as anybody.

“That’s extremely important that he stays that way — the kind of man he is first, but the kind of teammate he is no matter what the circumstances are.”

3. After suffering post-traumatic amnesia after the Bears game, Carolina Panthers tight end Hayden Hurst returned to practice this week.

Hurst posted on social media Thursday that he suffered a “nasty concussion” against the Bears on Nov. 9, apparently when his head hit the ground after a fourth-quarter Jaquan Brisker tackle.

Hurst said he doesn’t remember up to four hours after the game and called it “a scary situation.” Hurst’s father posted Wednesday that Hurst was diagnosed with post-traumatic amnesia.

“While it was scary, it is NOT career ending,” Hurst wrote. “I’m starting my return to play this week, so fingers crossed I make it back for the last few weeks! God Bless & Keep Pounding!!!!”

Hurst missed the last three games and has been limited in practice this week.

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VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Marc-Andre Fleury is just four victories from becoming the second-winningest goaltender in NHL history, a milestone that is getting most of the attention in what might be his final season.

With five more games, the Wild veteran will become just the fourth goaltender to play in 1,000 NHL games.

“Obviously, I’ve been fortunate,” Fleury said Thursday before knocking on the wooden bench in the visitor’s locker room at Rogers Arena. “Nothing too bad along the way. And fortunate, too, to play long enough, on good teams.

“I just feel lucky — lucky that I could play this long, do what I love, play hockey, and for this many games.”

Fleury will start for the Wild tomorrow in Edmonton, the second of back-to-backs for the Wild on a four-game trip that started with a 5-2 win Tuesday in Calgary. He has 548 wins, three shy of one of his two heroes, Patrick Roy. He has played in 995 games, behind only wins leader Martin Brodeur (1,266), Roy (1,029) and Roberto Luongo (1,044).

“A lot of people, like summer trainers, or team trainers during the season, our medical staff. They always help me stay loose and healthy,” he said. “So, it’s not just me. To get there, you need some help.”

Fleury, 39, was sharp in his last start, stopping 28 of 29 shots in a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Xcel Energy Center, part of a four-game winning streak the Wild took into Thursday’s 9 p.m. puck drop.

He’s playing on the last season of a two-year, $7.5 million contract, splitting time with Filip Gustavsson. Overall, he’s 4-4-2 with a 3.21 goals-against average and .884 save percentage. During training camp, he said he would play the season out before deciding whether to retire.

That hasn’t changed, he said.

“That’s still the way I want it, so I don’t overthink stuff during the season, right?” he said. “I’m just going to keep it going about and try to win some games. It’s a little more fun now, right? Everybody’s in a good mood, smiling again. I still think I’ll wait till the end, yeah.”

‘Honored’

Fleury had a mask painted by Dakota artist Cole Redhorse Taylor for the Wild’s Native American Night on Nov. 24. In the subsequent auction to benefit the American Indian Family Center and the Minnesota Wild Foundation, the mask was purchased for $35,100.

A mask designed and pained by Dakota artist Cole Redhorse Taylor was worn by Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury during warmups for the team’s game on Native American Night at Xcel Energy Center on Nov. 24. The mask fetched $35,100 in a subsequent auction to benefit the American Indian Family Center and the Minnesota Wild Foundation. (Photo courtesy the Minnesota Wild).

It meant a lot to Fleury, who defied the NHL and wore the mask during warmups before a game against the Colorado Avalanche at Xcel Energy Center. New directives from the NHL this season prohibit players from wearing specialty jerseys, masks, stickers, decals or tape for theme nights — a response to backlash against players who declined to wear Pride jerseys last season — so jerseys created for the occasion, and also auctioned off, were not worn on the ice.

“Very generous of the auction winner,” Fleury said Thursday. “But to me, it was, I don’t know. I just, you know I had four paint jobs on my mask this season, and that was the fourth one, and I wore this mask for 15 minutes, right? It was to honor Native Americans in all of Minnesota, Prairie Island, there, trying to help them.

“To wear the mask for 15 minutes, and they raise a good chunk of money to help the family center on the reservation, to me I just thought was the right thing to do, and it was an honor for me to represent them.”

Kaprizov: ‘I’m good’

Kirill Kaprizov missed most of the last month of last season with a lower-body injury after getting crushed by Jets defenseman Logan Stanley on March 8 in Winnipeg.

When he struggled, by his standards, early this season, the Wild had the injury checked by doctors again. They declared him healthy, and after taking the ice on Thursday against the Canucks, Kaprizov will have played in all 24 of the team’s games.

With two goals and four assists, he has six points in his past five games and is second to linemate Mats Zuccarello (23). He said Thursday he hasn’t felt limited physically this season. “No, I’m OK,” he said. “I’m good.”

“He looks like the guy that you’re coaching against,” said coach John Hynes, who succeeded Dean Evason on Nov. 28. “Honestly, he looks better coaching him because I get a chance to see him every day, whether in practice or games and seeing him around the rink. I couldn’t be more impressed with his love of the game and his talent level.

“But for me what stands out is his drive — his fitness, his skating, his competitiveness. That’s what allows all those things to come out, and it’s been fun to coach.”

Briefly

Zach Bogosian missed his third game of the season with an upper-body injury but Hynes said he could be available on Friday in Edmonton. “He’s not far off,” the coach said.

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A federal grand jury in California has indicted Hunter Biden on nine charges, including three felonies, for failing to pay his taxes, understating his income and exaggerating his expenses on tax returns between 2016 and 2019.

With separate criminal charges against him pending in Delaware for illegally possessing a gun, the president’s son could face two criminal trials next year as his father runs for reelection against Donald Trump, who himself is facing four criminal cases.

The Hunter Biden cases were brought by special counsel David Weiss, the Delaware prosecutor who has long supervised the federal probe into the president’s son.

The new charges include tax evasion, filing false returns, failure to file returns on time, and failing to pay federal taxes. They carry a maximum possible prison term of 17 years, although defendants typically get shorter sentences under federal guidelines.

Each of the tax charges accuses Biden of acting “willfully,” something his defense is sure to contest since he has acknowledged struggling for years with drug addiction.

Prosecutors acknowledge those issues at points in the indictment, but say Biden spent lavishly on an “extravagant lifestyle” while shirking on his taxes, including paying for “drugs, escorts and girlfriends, luxury hotels and rental properties, exotic cars, clothing and other items of a personal nature.”

The charges come amid an effort by House Republicans to link President Joe Biden to his son’s business dealings as part of an impeachment inquiry, though the inquiry has produced no evidence that the elder Biden took any actions as president or vice president to corruptly enrich his family.

The tax case has been years in the making. Hunter Biden’s financial dealings drew the attention of federal law enforcement in 2018. After years of investigation, Weiss, the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney for Delaware, considered bringing tax charges in California, where Biden lived when he allegedly failed to pay taxes. To do so, Weiss needed to partner with a federal prosecutor in California or receive special authority from the Justice Department.

In the fall of 2022, Weiss discussed partnering with Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. But Estrada declined to “co-counsel” on the case, as he later told congressional investigators. Instead, Estrada said he offered Weiss office space and administrative support.

Several months later, Weiss’ team negotiated a plea deal with the president’s son that would have required him to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts. In return, Biden would have been unlikely to face prison time on either the tax or gun charges and would have received protection from future criminal charges.

But after a federal judge pressed prosecutors and lawyers for Hunter Biden at a July hearing on details about the deal, it collapsed. Then, in August, Attorney General Merrick Garland made Weiss a special counsel, which formally empowered him to bring criminal charges anywhere in the country. In September, Weiss charged Hunter Biden in Delaware with owning a gun while being a drug user and lying on a form when he allegedly purchased that gun in 2018.

The charges Hunter Biden now faces are far more numerous and serious than the pair of misdemeanors he’d agreed to plead guilty to under the earlier deal.