Injuries Continue to Dog Bears

The loss to the Green Bay Packers proved particularly damaging for the Bears on both sides of the ball as they lost several starters or key backups.

Slot cornerback Xavier Crawford left the game with concussion in the second half but the bigger injury to a defensive back was to reserve defensive back DeAndre Houston-Carson, who will go on injured reserve and requires surgery on a broken forearm.

Houston-Carson has been a part of both the nickel and dime coverage packages in an extra safety role and has even played some in the slot in the past. Also, he is the team's special teams leader.

The loss of Crawford could mean Kindle Vildor moving back into the starting lineup at left cornerback with Artie Burns moving inside to slot. Vildor did play a dozen snaps on defense on Sunday after starting most of the season before being benched against Detroit.

In addition, starting inside linebacker Roquan Smith aggravated his hamstring injury and left the game. Coach Matt Nagy on Monday said they would monitor Smith's ability to return in time to face Minnesota on Monday Night Football Dec. 20.

Smith came back to play Arizona only 11 days after initially suffering the hamstring injury. Smith tied for the team high with nine tackles against the Packers.

"We'll keep an eye on it but he just felt something there so we want to be smart there," Nagy said.

Losing tackle Jason Peters to an ankle injury proved the most severe offensive injury and it helped change the face of the game.

Untested rookie Teven Jenkins came in and committed four penalties, including three that were walked off against the Bears. He also allowed the strip-sack of Justin Fields by Preston Smith which led to the Packers taking control of the game, and Pro Football Focus credited him with allowing one other sack. He was given a 25.0 grade for 49 offensive snaps, which is not close to satisfactory.

The Bears tried to help him with an extra blocker on that side, but he gave up a sack on one play when they had a chip block by tight end Jimmy Graham.

"Yeah, you definitely want to help out as much as you can," Bears coach Matt Nagy said. "And even with the sack-fumble, the strip-sack, there was a chip on that play.

"And throughout the game, we had 32 drop backs, 16 of them had chips and slams. So 50 percent of the time, we're chipping and slamming. Now, when you do that, you eliminate receivers or tight ends because you're saying, OK, we're gonna protect. We need to understand that. Everybody needs to understand that. So there's a little risk-reward when you do that. But you've gotta be able to help out that way. You've gotta be able to help out in the run game, too. It can't be drop-back all the time."

As a result, it wouldn't be shocking if the Bears altered their offensive line for the next game if they must play without Peters against Minnesota on Monday night.

One way might be to move Jenkins to right tackle as he played most of his college career there, although the Bears have had him focus mostly on the left side since he came to Chicago.

Rookie right tackle Larry Borom has been on the field all season but not entirely at right tackle. He played left tackle in his first game after Peters was injured and held his own on that side.

Nagy didn't want to come down too hard on Jenkins, particularly since it was his first game ever on offense after back surgery and missing preseason and training camp on offense.

"You know you've got left side, you've got right side, you've got all different things that come into it so with Jason we've got to be able to see where he's at," Nagy said. "And then if he is not able to go we'll get together as a staff and talk through what's best for us."

Another possibility would be not playing Jenkins at all because it's possible backup tackle Elijah Wilkinson would return from his third stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list this season.

Their former starter at right tackle, Germain Ifedi, has been on injured reserve due to a knee injury since the season's sixth week. There has been no word of Ifedi trying to return to finish the season.

The other injury news was somewhat positive as Fields' left hand injury was reported by Nagy as a contusion and not a major concern.

Also, there is a chance defensive end Akiem Hicks could return this week as Nagy said he was "close" last week when he was suddenly downgraded on Saturday to out from questionable due to his ankle injury. Hicks hasn't played since Nov. 8.

There is one other defensive line concern. On Monday afternoon the Bears reported backup defensive lineman Mario Edwards Jr. had been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list.

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