Breece Hall will not play Sunday when the New York Jets visit the Chicago Bears, stripping a sputtering ground game of its lead back, according to NBC Sports.
Caleb Williams is sidelined on the other side, too, leaving Soldier Field with two banged-up offenses and the question of whose patchwork unit settles in first.
Hall injured his right quadriceps on his 13th carry of the Jets’ 31-24 loss at Detroit on Sept. 27, going down after Lions linebacker Trevor Nowaske tackled him out of bounds. He had 32 rushing yards by then.
The MRI brought “good news,” NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported. Hall was listed week-to-week on Sept. 28. But on Friday, Oct. 2, Hall was ruled out for the Jets-Bears game.
The Jets are 1-2. They opened Sept. 13 with a 23-10 win at Tennessee, dropped a 20-17 overtime decision to Green Bay, then lost 31-24 at Detroit.
Jets Rushing Game Without Breece Hall
Hall, a native of Wichita, Kansas, rushed for 1,572 yards and 21 touchdowns at Iowa State in 2020, leading the nation and earning unanimous All-American honors.
He declared for the NFL draft after the 2021 season, and the New York Jets selected him 36th overall in 2022. Through three games of 2026, Hall has 3,561 career rushing yards on 806 carries (4.4 per carry), 19 rushing touchdowns and 198 receptions for 1,744 yards, according to NFL.com‘s career statistics.
Earlier this year, after the Jets franchise-tagged him, Hall signed a contract extension with the Jets for three years and $45.75 million.
Hall has played in all three games. But when he was missing for the final 17 offensive plays in Detroit, Braelon Allen stayed on the field and touched the ball six times.
Team totals followed Hall’s yardage. He ran 22 times for 102 yards against Tennessee as the Jets gained 152. Against Green Bay, he managed 29 yards on 16 carries and the team finished with 67. In Detroit, he had 32 on 13 and New York ended with 58 yards. The Jets rank 27th in rushing yards per game (92.3) and 30th in yards per carry (3.3), StatMuse data shows.
Hall’s season line reads 51 carries, 163 yards, one touchdown, plus 10 catches for 102 yards, according to StatMuse.
The run game is something the Jets “have to fix,” coach Aaron Glenn said after the Detroit loss, as quoted by ESPN.
Bears Defense Faces Jets Without Hall
Chicago allows 117.0 rushing yards per game, 22nd in the NFL, and has given up three rushing touchdowns, according to Fox Sports‘ defensive rankings.
The Bears surrendered 125 yards on 22 carries in a 59-37 win at Carolina, 119 on 28 in a 9-3 loss to Minnesota (Aaron Jones ran 23 times for 105), and 107 on 19 in a 27-7 win over Philadelphia. That adds up to 5.1 yards per carry, though the Bears’ defense allows just 17.7 points per game, seventh in the league.
Hall owns the Jets’ only 100-yard game and a 43-yard catch against Green Bay. Yet he averaged 2.1 yards on 29 carries over the last two games.
Removing Hall from the Jets’ active list effectively allows the Bears to scratch stopping the run off their list and focus on containing quarterback Geno Smith.
Quarterback is the Bears’ own issue. Williams (hamstring) will not play. Case Keenum beat Philadelphia, throwing for 247 yards and two touchdowns. But backup Tyson Bagent has reportedly taken first-team reps this week.
The Bears (2-1) are favored by about 3.5 points at home with a total of 42.5, according to Sports Illustrated. Kickoff is 1 p.m. ET on Fox.
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