NFL roundup

CHICAGO BEARS

Bears hire Fox as their new head coach

LAKE FOREST, ILL.

John Fox was hired as the Chicago Bears’ coach on Friday, four days after he and the Denver Broncos parted ways.

Fox was widely seen as a strong candidate to replace the fired Marc Trestman once he left the Broncos on Monday, given his record and his ties to consultant Ernie Accorsi and new general manager Ryan Pace.

Fox was the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants from 1997 to 2001 when Accorsi was the GM. Saints coach Sean Payton was the offensive coordinator for part of that time, and he is tight with Pace, who was hired out of New Orleans’ front office.

Fox won the AFC West all four of his years in Denver, but each of those seasons ended in ugly losses, including a 24-13 upset by Indianapolis this year. He was 49-22 with the Broncos, including the playoffs, following a 78-74 record in nine years with Carolina, counting the postseason.

He led the Panthers to a Super Bowl with Jake Delhomme at quarterback and got back there last year with Peyton Manning. The Broncos got blown out 43-8 by Seattle, convincing general manager John Elway to spend $60 million in guarantees on new defensive players so his quarterback shouldn’t have to carry the load by himself.

washington redskins

Former 49ers assistant Fangio to interview

SAN FRANCISCO

Former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio will interview today with the Redskins for their vacancy in the same position on coach Jay Gruden’s staff, a person with knowledge of the meeting said Friday.

Fangio had one interview for the head coaching job with the 49ers, which instead went to defensive line coach Jim Tomsula on Wednesday. San Francisco’s front office initially denied the Redskins permission to interview the 56-year-old Fangio while the Niners were going through the 21/2-week interview process.

Fangio just finished his fourth season as 49ers defensive coordinator after coming from Stanford with former coach Jim Harbaugh before the 2011 season. San Francisco, which missed the playoffs at 8-8 last year following three straight NFC championship games, had one of the NFL’s top defenses during his tenure.

MINNESOTA VIKINGS

NFL asks federal court to reject petition

MINNEAPOLIS

The NFL has asked a federal court to reject the petition by the NFL Players Association on behalf of Adrian Peterson to have the star running back’s suspension overturned.

Attorneys for the league, in filings Friday, wrote that U.S. labor law should prevent the court from handling a dispute already ruled on by the arbitrator for Peterson’s appeal.

The NFL argued that the NFLPA’s petition, filed on Dec. 15, amounted to “nothing more than a transparent effort to re-litigate all of the issues” decided on by arbitrator Harold Henderson.

The hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6 in front of U.S. District Judge David Doty.

The league suspended Peterson through at least April 15 for the child-abuse case he was involved in.

BALTIMORE RAVENS

Ravens, Rice resolve ex-RB’s grievance

BALTIMORE

The Ravens say they have settled their grievance with Ray Rice.

Team President Dick Cass says in a statement Friday that “it’s time to turn the page” with the three-time Pro Bowl running back, who was released after video of him knocking out wife Janay — then his fiancee — in an elevator was released publicly in September.

Associated Press