Bear Digest

Why Bears long injury report is far less severe than it appears

Luther Burden and Cole Kmet were practicing after concussions while D'Andre Swift and Roschon Johnson have also rejoined those now at work.
Gene Chamberlain|
Bears receiver Luther Burden is back at practice after missing last week's game.
Bears receiver Luther Burden is back at practice after missing last week's game. | David Banks-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Reading the Bears Wednesday injury report now sometimes requires interpretation.

While there were 11 players missing practice on Wednesday, seven of them sitting out the full session, it has usually become a matter of degree regarding their injury. Only a few appear real concerns.

Coach Ben Johnson has been trying to get some players through the practice week with injuries that could otherwise be aggravated, so they stay off the practice field until either Thursday or Friday.

What didn't require interpretation was the presence of both wide receiver Luther Burden III and tight end Cole Kmet at practice on a limited basis after concussions. They are in the protocol but Wednesday practice for someone who had a concussion most often leads to being available by Sunday.  

The Bears can use as many offensive players at practice as they can get because the list of players who missed Wednesday's practice entirely included wide receivers DJ Moore (groin/hip) and Rome Odunze (heel, ankle). Again, these are two players they have been trying to through the week to game day for several weeks successfully, and there is no reason to suspect they can't do it again this week.

Along these same lines, the top three running backs were all limited at practice. Kyle Monangai has an ankle injury, while both D'Andre Swift (groin) and Roschon Johnson (back) were upgrades from being out entirely last week.

For Swift, a return could be necessary just to keep his starting job. After all, Monangai ran for 176 yards in his debut. More importantly, his return, if entirely healthy, could give them the one-two punch of power and speed they've been looking for in the backfield, one like Ben Johnson had in Detroit.

More alarming were the defensive injuries. Linebacker T.J. Edwards missed with hand and hamstring issues, safety Kevin Byard sat out with a back/ankle injury and backup DB Josh Blackwell missed with a concussion. Defensive end Dominique Robinson remains out with the dreaded high ankle sprain.

Bears GM Ryan Poles acknowledged linebacker Amen Ogbongbemiga would be returning from a season-long knee injury this week, which should help special teams greatly and force someone on the roster to go back onto the practice squad.

The real time to take the injury report seriously now is Friday because the players they are bringing along slowly through injuries should all be back at work by then either full time or part-time.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.