Ben Johnson updates strange injury situation for Bears DB

The soft tissue problems suffered by the Bears this season reached a new low with Kyler Gordon's latest groin injury during Sunday's pregame warmups.

It disrupted Chicago's game plan and couldn't have helped in trying to prevent three long touchdown passes thrown by Packers quarterback Jordan Love.

Ben Johnson had tried to shrug it off after the game by saying defensive coordinator Dennis Allen has found ways to cope throughout a season with numerous player injuries. On Monday, Johnson was left trying to explain what happened with Gordon, who had just come back from a stint on IR due to a groin injury to play in the Black Friday win over the Eagles.

The severity of this injury wasn't mentioned, but at this point it sounds like a positive just to hear nothing about another IR stint.

Gordon might as well be an imaginary person... or a guy on another team. It's just as effective to say Myles Garrett would've made a difference too. It's nice to fantasize about, but we know neither are likely suiting up for the Bears on any given week.
— organix (@0rganix) December 8, 2025

“He was warming up in pregame and felt it, felt his groin, and so we didn’t feel like we were in a good spot to have him play and compete and put him in that spot," Johnson said. "We’ll see how it goes from here on out.”

Whatever happens, they'll need to be careful about it because this has gone on since the beginning of the season.

"I do know that the biggest predictor of a soft tissue injury is having a previous one," Johnson said. "He's in this rut right now that we're not able to get out of.

Put Kyler Gordon on IR, send him home, and tell him to show up next year in shape and physically ready to play.
— Ryan Poles Tracker (@DarrylConrad) December 8, 2025

"We're going to exhaust all of our resources in and outside of the building to make sure that we're addressing it and doing what we can to get him back and healthy again.”

C.J. Gardner-Johnson took the slot duties with Gordon gone and had an up-and-down game. The up was his first Bears interception, the down being the rest of the game. He had the lowest Pro Football Focus pass coverage grade of anyone on Chicago's defense.

Gordon has played in three games this season after receiving a contract extension at $13 million per year.

How the hell do you hurt yourself in pre-game warmups? Doesn't matter how good Kyler Gordon is if he's never in the lineup.
— BenJohnsonIsH1M? (@TheJeffSchlegel) December 7, 2025

“It's disappointing," Johnson said. "I wish I had a better feel for the individual, but with him being out as much as he has, I haven't really got to see him on the field and competing to get to know him like I'd like to at this point yet."

Without Gordon, the Bears could turn back to Nick McCloud playing the slot or use Gardner-Johnson again.

Considering Gardner-Johnson played well in other games when he had time to prepare to play the slot, he might be their best option. On Sunday, he wound up finding would be playing there during warmups.

The Bears' defense now has 44 missed games by starters, a total which doesn't included the games missed by injured backups who came in to replace some of those injured starters.

I don’t care how good he is when he’s healthy, but if you can find a team willing to take on Kyler Gordon’s contract via trade this offseason, you need to consider it.

This is way too much money to be handing to a player who has multiple warmup/practice injuries. #Bears pic.twitter.com/GxSN6Hikr7
— Stephen (@Stephen_Roto) December 7, 2025

Going into last week's game, the website SportsInfoSolutions had tracked the Bears with 240 total missed games by their entire roster, a figure including all of those missed for the rest of the season by players on season-ending injured reserve.

They have more games missed to injuries than any team in the league. Detroit was a close second at 224.

Reasons why Yesterday’s Loss doesn’t phase me:

— No Kyler Gordon
— No Rome Odunze
— Rematch in 2 Weeks
— Playing the 3-10 Cleveland Browns next
— We’re still 9-4
— Played arguably the worst Offensive game this Season and still lost only by a Touchdown

We’ll be fine. pic.twitter.com/mqnn5tETOv
— BearsMuse (@ChiBearsMuse) December 8, 2025