Bears Riding Out the COVID Storm

The Bears and the NFL have learned to live with COVID-19 the last two seasons.

It's just that sometimes it's harder to live with than it is at other times.

The league is studying the recent surge in cases, one which had more than 70 NFL players go on the reserve/COVID-19 list Monday through Wednesday including Cleveland quarterback Baker Mayfield. It threatens to force postponement of the Saturday Browns-Rams game and now has hit the Bears hard.

The Bears had five players go on the list Monday through Wednesday and have six overall on it after right tackle Larry Borom was added to it.

Losing Borom is difficult since the health status of left tackle Jason Peters is uncertain due to an ankle injury, and backup tackle Teven Jenkins is coming off a rough experience against Green Bay when called on in relief for his first NFL action.

"Yeah, it's tough," Bears center Sam Mustipher said of COVID Wednesday at Halas Hall. "You know, obviously, it's floating around. I don't think it's something that's going to go away anytime soon, just based on my understanding of current events, which is pretty limited. But it just looks like it's going to be something that's floating around here for a while.

"So understanding that, just taking the proper precautions outside of the facilities is something that my family and I like to do. So, you know, it's just whatever it takes to play on game day."

Bears on the COVID-19 list now are Borom, nose tackle Eddie Goldman, tackle Elijah Wilkinson, defensive tackle Mario Edwards Jr., cornerback Artie Burns and practice squad linebacker Sam Kamara. Borom, Goldman and Burns have been starters and Edwards a key situational pass rusher.

Wilkinson has been on the list since Nov. 26, and if he's ready to come off of it he would be a welcome addition for Monday's game against Cleveland because of Borom's situation.

The NFL may need to revert to even stricter protocol than the upgraded ones they had invoked last week in order to battle the problem.

"Not just the players but you've got staff, a bunch of people that work here, come here everyday to earn their check," linebacker Alec Ogletree said. "So you know, as far as the protocols go, we all have to abide by rules and do what we need to do to try and keep this as safe a possible and not have a big outbreak and spread, just try to protect one another."

Players have enjoyed seeing fans back at games this year, and there has been no mention of possibly limiting crowds or locking the doors again all together. However, it wouldn't surprise any of the players if even more precautions are handed down.

"This year, to have the fans back into the stadiums was definitely exciting as a player," Ogletree said. "Obviously you feed off those type of energies and stuff like that. But it's also great for the fans too, I'm sure. Everybody's into it. Being able to get out of the house and come enjoy football is kind of like old times.

"But COVID is a real thing and you have to be willing to protect others as well; trying to have your enjoyment and all the stuff like that but at the same time you want to be safe and try to protect those around you, your loved ones, and people that you don’t even know."

The Bears also announced they had signed defensive back Thakarius Keyes to their practice squad. They lost safety DeAndre Houston-Carson to a broken forearm Sunday and cornerback Xavier Crawford has gone into the NFL concussion protocol.

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