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Roquan Smith, Darnell Mooney Downgraded to Out

The Bears will be without their leading tackler and their second-leading wide receiver for Sunday's playoff game after linebacker Roquan Smith and wide receiver Darnell Mooney were downgraded to out from questionable.

The Bears will be without wide receiver Darnell Mooney and linebacker Roquan Smith for Sunday's playoff game against the New Orleans Saints.

Both were downgraded Saturday afternoon from questionable to out for the wild-card game, which kicks off at 3:40 p.m.

To take their places on the roster, the Bears promoted practice squad linebacker Manti Te'o, a former Saints player, and defensive back Marqui Christian.

It means Smith will likely be replaced by undrafted free agent linebacker Josh Woods while the absence of Mooney means more playing time for Javon Wims and possibly Riley Ridley.

Smith led the Bears in tackles and was tops among league linebackers in tackles for loss. He finished second in solo tackles. So it's a huge loss to the defense.

Mooney is second in receptions with 61 and has 631 yards and four touchdown catches.

Slot receiver Anthony Miller can play Mooney's "Z" receiver position and Wims and/or Ridley can come in when they go to multiple-receiver sets. 

Mooney suffered an ankle injury in the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers while Smith went out of the game in the first half due to an elbow injury. Neither player was able to practice this week.

On Friday, the Bears had ruled out injured slot cornerback Buster Skrine due to a concussion. They could have cornerback Jaylon Johnson back for the first time in four games. He has been out with a shoulder injury suffered trying to tackle Deshaun Watson at the goal line.

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