On the whole, the Bears got a mixed bag of good news and bad news on Thursday’s injury report ahead of Week 7’s Raiders game. But the bad news is especially concerning given the state of the team’s health overall.
The biggest development was starting right tackle Darnell Wright being downgraded from “limited” on Wednesday to “did not participate” on Thursday due to his shoulder injury. If Wright does not improve enough to play on Sunday, the Bears could have a situation where they have zero starting offensive linemen playing the positions they practiced at throughout the summer.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Throughout the line, starting left tackle Braxton Jones is on injured reserve, starting left guard Teven Jekins is healthy but could be on the move soon, starting center Cody Whitehair was benched for Lucas Patrick, starting right guard Nate Davis is considered week-to-week with an ankle injury, and now Wright is trending in the wrong direction. There are so many potential offensive line combinations that there is a world in which Jenkins stays at left guard. However, there’s a chance the team moves him back to right guard or even right tackle and re-inserts Whitehair at left guard.
Dan Feeney was also downgraded to DNP from limited with a knee injury. If he and Wright can’t play, the Bears would be down to Larry Borom, Jenkins, Whitehair, Patrick, Ja’Tyre Carter and Aviante Collins as their only healthy linemen. Even if the team promotes a player from the practice squad, it’s not a great situation for a team that’s set to have an undrafted free agent from a D-II school make his first start.
Speaking of quarterbacks, Justin Fields did not participate in practice on Thursday, as expected. On Wednesday, Bears head coach Matt Eberflus said Fields is doubtful to play this week due to his dislocated thumb. Eberflus also said the swelling has gone down on Fields’ thumb which leaves the door open just a crack for Fields to tape the thumb up and start against the Raiders. But Eberflus still hasn’t shut the door on Fields needing surgery– and extended time off– to recover, too.
The final bit of bad news was that Eddie Jackson downgraded from limited to DNP with his foot injury. Jackson initially hurt himself in Week 2 and missed three games. He returned to action against the Vikings, but the injury flared up and Jackson had to leave the game early. After the game, the Bears said the injury wouldn’t have prevented Jackson from re-entering the game if needed.
NFL
Amidst all those negative developments, the Bears had a couple of positives. First, defensive end Yannick Ngakoue was upgraded to a full participant at Thursday’s practice after being limited on Wednesday with a back injury. Ngakoue is tied with T.J. Edwards for the team lead with two sacks. Further, Travis Homer was a full participant after being limited with a hamstring injury on Thursday. Homer missed a game and a half due to that injury and has been a key contributor on special teams when healthy.