The Chicago Bears are reeling from a crushing defeat at the hands of division and local rivals, the Green Bay Packers in Week 5.
On the back of that thumping loss, the Bears will now have to travel to the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday before hosting the rejuvenated New England Patriots just four days later on Thursday Night Football.
As a result, the Bears took the unusual decision to not practice on Wednesday and instead just do a walk-through, in addition to providing the media “estimated” practice participations on the injury report set to be released this afternoon.
The Bears will not open their locker room to reporters on Wednesday. The team has chosen not to practice and will hold a closed walk-through instead.
This is a big response week in what could become a defining stretch of the season.
Bears Not Practicing Wednesday Ahead of Tough Schedule
“A small Halas Hall twist for Week 6”, The Athletic’s Dan Wiederer reported on Oct. 14. “The Bears will not open their locker room to reporters on Wednesday. The team has chosen not to practice and will hold a closed walk-through instead.”
“This is a big response week in what could become a defining stretch of the season.”
The reason behind the Bears not practicing would appear to be linked to their short schedule upcoming, where they play twice in five days.
Generally teams still maintain full practices on Wednesdays during that same timeline, however. And after big losses teams are not exactly afforded extra time off.
Injuries May Have Factored into Practice Decision
Another explanation stems from the injury report. Chicago had 12 players on the injury report for Week 5’s game, with half of them eventually being ruled out or questionable.
The team also have 10 players on injured reserve, along with cornerback Kyler Gordon who has been designated for return.
With the team down multiple players and with other key players like D’Andre Swift and Joe Thuney working through minor injuries, Johnson evidently decided that it made more sense for the team to re-group and rest ahead of what will definitely be a very physical battle in Week 6.
Even with large injury reports with key players on them, skipping practice is untraditional. But just like LA Rams head coach Sean McVay stopped all his starters playing in the preseason, confident coaching minds can act as trailblazers in the NFL.
Why are the Bears Not Practicing on Wednesday Ahead of Falcons Matchup?