For those who have been monitoring the Chicago Bears’ injury report heading into the Week 1 matchup against the Carolina Panthers, many know the three players who appeared on the list were quarterback Tyson Bagent due to a back injury, wide receiver Rome Odunze due to a calf injury, and offensive tackle Ozzy Trapilo, who’s recovering from his ruptured patellar tendon injury from last season.
However, a new face appeared on the injury list Thursday — newly signed safety Xavier Woods.
Woods, who signed with the Bears in August, suffered a groin injury and was limited in practice. He’s supposed to be the starter alongside rookie Dillon Thieneman since Coby Bryant is out for the foreseeable future, and now his status is in doubt for Week 1.
Bears May Be Without Starting Safety Xavier Woods
If Xavier Woods were to miss the game, the likely course of action for the Bears would be moving Cam Lewis, who’s the starting nickel corner on paper, to Woods’ spot at safety, followed by fourth-round rookie Malik Muhammad jumping up to the starting nickel CB spot.
Lewis was practicing at safety before Woods signed with the team, and Muhammad has practiced a lot this offseason at the nickel spot since Kyler Gordon still hasn’t returned to practice.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted on September 8th that Gordon is away from the teama and working with his own trainer to “accelerate the recovery,” and added “This has been a challenging recovery and sometimes players work best honing in with their own people. That seems to be the case here. Barring a setback, Gordon should be back sooner, rather than later.”
Not sure how to feel about this; maybe it’s Gordon’s camp having Rapoport frame his recovery in a different light than how the Bears media has portrayed it, but the reality is Gordon is on extremely thin ice with the organization and fans.
Bears Defensive Coordinator Dennis Allen Comments on Defense Ahead of Week 1
Bears defensive coordinator Dennis Allen shared his thoughts on the defense during a press conference on September 10th, saying, “I think it’s still TBD, you know. We’ve had three preseason games, couple of joint practices. We’ve had a training camp. I think the guys are buying into how we have to play defense. I think there’s still things that we’re learning on in terms of exactly what to do and everything. But how we play and the speed that we have to play at, I think our guys are buying into that and guys are playing hard. I like where we’re at and yet, we’ll find out more after Sunday.”
The defense is a big unknown for the team, and it’s a major concern for many fans.
After losing a lot of players in both free agency and due to injury, can the unit improve?
“There’s a lot for us to prove on defense,” Jaylon Johnson said earlier this offseason. “Of course, the offense is rolling. But that’s not something we can rely on: Ok, the offense go put up 40, and we’ll hold them to 35. To me, that’s unacceptable. We’ve still got a lot to work on. We’ve still got a lot to do and to prove … If guys aren’t hungry, I don’t know what to say or what to do about that. We’ve got a lot of people that are motivated and we’ve got to go out there and play.”
That’s what you want to hear from the team’s All-Pro corner, and the hope is the Bears defense can keep up with the Bears offense, which is funny to say because it’s always been the defense ahead of the offense in Chicago.
Bears Hit With Unexpected Injury News Regarding Defensive Starter