Another Potential Bears Injury Gives Malik Muhammad Golden Opportunity at Training Camp

Chicago Bears cornerback Malik Muhammad received a push during the team's latest practice of training camp after a potential injury to Jaylon Jones.

Chicago Bears defensive back Malik Muhammad. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Chicago Bears' secondary has been ravaged by injuries this offseason and the team now needs guys to step up while those players are healing, including rookie Malik Muhammad.

We are in the second week of training camp and the Bears have a slew of injured players in the secondary, including Kyler Gordon, Coby Bryant, Elijah Hicks, Gervarrius Owens and Dallis Flowers.

And, we might be able to add Jaylon Jones to the list after the veteran cornerback apparently left practice early on Thursday.

"DB Jaylon Jones wasn't on the field during the final two periods," Adam Jahns of CHGO Bears reported.

While we don't know the exact reason behind Jones' early exit, it did leave an opening for Muhammad to pick up first-team reps in the battle for the top spot at slot cornerback behind Gordon.

"Rookie corner Malik Muhammad played nickel during the two-minute drill. He had several reps with the first-team defense," Courtney Cronin of ESPN wrote.

Muhammad had been competing with Jones, Cam Lewis and Josh Blackwell for the job, but he wasn't getting many, if any, first-team reps and was on the outside looking.

However, with Jones out, and with the Bears shifting Lewis over to safety for the foreseeable future while Bryant heals up, Muhammad is now getting a push.

The more first-team reps Muhammad can get, the better it will be for his development overall. And, who knows, maybe the rookie can pull off the upset over Jones, who has been a regular with Chicago's first team at slot cornerback during the offseason.

At the very least, Muhammad has a chance to cement himself as the next man off the bench behind Gordon and Jones in the slot.

Muhammad was slated to compete for the CB2 job on the outside with Tyrique Stevenson, but there hasn't been much information on that competition coming out of camp and the details about Muhammad have pertained to his slot reps instead.

By all accounts, Stevenson has been running with the ones, so it appears he's in line to win the job, but the veteran is anything but safe if that's how things play out after he was benched for lackluster play last season.

So, if Muhammad can earn the trust of the coaching staff in the slot, he could have multiple avenues to playing time in 2026.