Getty Head coach Matt Nagy of the Chicago Bears stands on the field during training camp at Halas Hall.
The injury bug isn’t just biting the Chicago Bears at the moment — it’s chowing down on them — particularly their offensive line.
First, Chicago placed starting right tackle Germain Ifedi on the physically-unable-to-perform list, while rookie Teven Jenkins, the team’s expected starter at left tackle, has been sitting out dealing with back tightness. The continued absence of Jenkins in particular, who needs to get acclimated to the pro game, has a growing number of analysts concerned.
I’m hopeful the #Bears offensive line will be better than camp reports indicate once they get Teven Jenkins and Germain Ifedi back.
I’m still a bit concerned for the unit, though. There’s plenty of potential for error – Cody Whitehair’s the only “sure thing” on the OL, IMO.
I’m officially concerned about Teven Jenkins.
Teven Jenkins needs to get in there at some point very soon. These training camp snaps are crucial for an expected starter rookie LT who played most of his college snaps at RT
Then, on August 3, during the Bears’ first padded practice, more starters left with injuries and Chicago also put four players on the reserve/COVID-19 list.
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Bears Missing Another 2 Offensive Linemen
In another blow to the offensive line, guard James Daniels left practice with a thigh injury, the severity of which is unknown, although it didn’t appear to be serious initially. Reserve linebacker Josh Woods also left practice with an injury.
James Daniels left today’s #Bears practice with a thigh injury.
There was another hole on the o-line, too. Tackle Elijah Wilkinson, who has been playing alternately on the right and left side filling in for both Ifedi and Jenkins, was not present at practice today, leaving rookie fifth-rounder Larry Borom taking reps at tackle, per Brad Biggs of the Chicago Trubine. Since Nagy spoke with the media before practice, no reason was given for Wilkinson’s absence, but the team later announced it has placed Wilkinson, along with starting nose tackle Eddie Goldman, linebacker Christian Jones and long snapper Patrick Scales on the reserve/COVID-19 list:
#Bears roster moves:
We have placed the following players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list:
LB, Christian Jones
LS, Pat Scales
OL, Elijah Wilkinson
#Bears roster move:
We have placed NT Eddie Goldman on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.
“We’ve just got to make sure that with Ifedi being out right now it’s showing us where we’re at depth-wise for sure and then that competition at left tackle too is it’s something that Elijah and these guys are all preparing for,” Nagy said before practice August 3. At present, Chicago’s o-line is riddled with injuries and question marks.
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Nagy Also Gave Update on Tarik Cohen
The Bears head coach was also questioned about gadget back/punt returner Tarik Cohen, who has been recovering from a torn ACL this offseason. When asked if it was a matter of days or weeks before Cohen might return, Nagy said this:
“I would not say days, you know. But I would lean more toward weeks for him. I don’t want to put a timeline. Like you say that, and that is very general for me. It’s all going to be day-by-day on how much growth he has or improvement. … I do know this, the credit, every single day Tarik is in that training day. Every day. Days off. I just feel like he is doing everything he can to get that thing right. So, I hate to put a benchmark on it or a time frame, you know. It’s just neat seeing him rehab and in the meantime that is all we can ask him to do.”
Nagy wouldn’t commit to Cohen returning punts when he reenters the lineup, either.
“We just gotta see,” Nagy said. “He’s pretty good back there. We gotta see when he is back. Coming off a knee like that, a lot of guys, it takes a little bit of time to be able to know kind of planting and cutting — how strong is it, you know? For us, we just probably gotta get to that point first and in the meantime it’s going to again open it up for somebody else and just see how that rolls. We’re always going to give him an opportunity.”
Fortunately for the Bears, none of the injuries they’ve experienced appear to have been season ending, so that’s certainly a positive. Go knock on some wood, Bears Nation, and hope it doesn’t get worse.
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Injury Concerns Mount as Bears Lose More Starters at Training Camp