Bear Digest

Pregame stunner as Bears opt to keep Austin Booker sidelined

Questionable decision could impact Bears pass rush as they try to shut down Washington's Jayden Daniels.
Gene Chamberlain|
After a strong preseason and knee injury, the Bears have chosen to keep Austin Booker sidelined Monday even when he's eligible to return.
After a strong preseason and knee injury, the Bears have chosen to keep Austin Booker sidelined Monday even when he's eligible to return. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

The much-anticipated return for the Bears of Austin Booker from injured reserve will wait for a week at least.

Booker is not being activated from IR after a knee injury suffered in preseason game No. 2 while playing on special teams. He had four preseason sacks and was viewed as a possible way for their pass rush to finally improve. His window for being activated opened this week and he had a week of full practices, then was listed as questionable.

Also, they decided to leave Travis Homer on injured reserve for this week, as well. The backup running back probably didn't fit into Bears offensive plans, anyway, as he hasn't really had a role on offense for three years. His role would have been on special teams. Homer had a calf injury.

The other moves made were elevating kicker Jake Moody and defensive tackle Jonathan Ford from the practice squad.

The Moody move was touched on by coach Ben Johnson in his press conference to end a week of practice and it doesn't necessarily mean injured kicker Cairo Santos is not kicking against the Commanders. It could, but it wouldn't be a stretch for them to have Moody active just to kick off or to be ready in case Santos aggravates a thigh injury.

Ford's presence is probably needed more than another edge rusher as he is a 345-pound defensive tackle and the Bears are going against a team heavily dependent upon running the ball this year.

Austin Booker shocker

Booker being inactive is easily the real mystery here. Even facing a run-heavy team, the Bears' pass rush has been weak all year and obviously needed help.

Booker's speed as an edge can be an asset, not only for rushing Jayden Daniels but also in pursuing laterally and downfield if he escapes the pocket.

It's always possible Booker aggravated his knee injury or simply wasn't healthy enough yet to play but if that was the case there was no need to leave it open to whether he'd play. They could have simply said he was out.

This is a questionable decision, one sure to be second-guessed if their anemic pass rush fails to generate pressure again. They have only five sacks, four from defensive ends and no more than one by any player.

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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.