The final injury report for the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers is out, and there’s some good news and some bad news for the Bears.
First, the bad…
All three starting linebackers have been ruled out for Sunday’s game. T.J. Edwards (hand/hamstring), Tremaine Edmunds (groin), and Noah Sewell (elbow) missed the entire week of practice, and the Bears won’t risk putting any of them out there.
I would expect to see some combination of D’Marco Jackson and Ruben Hyppolite II on the field most of the time,
with Amen Ogbongbemiga called on when they need three linebackers on the field. Also, Carl Jones Jr. or Jalen Reeves-Maybin (or both) will likely be elevated from the practice squad.
The Steelers love to play with multiple tight ends, so I doubt Chicago would be content sitting in nickel or dime all afternoon. My guess is we’ll see the Bears go three safeties to get Jonathan Owens on the field, or they’ll go five defenisve linemen with one defensive end having some outside linebacker responsibilities. Bears’ defensive coordinator Dennis Allen will have something cooked up.
The Bears will also be without backup running backs Roschon Johnson (thumb) and Travis Homer (knee/hamstring), so we may get Brittain Brown up from the practice squad.
Starting left tackle Theo Benedet is questionable with a quad issue that popped up earlier this week, and he was limited at practice the last two days.
Starting safety Jaquan Brisker is also questionable (shoulder), but he practiced in full today and yesterday.
Now for the good news…
Both corners, in their 21-day practice window, Kyler Gordon (calf) and Jaylon Johnson (groin), practiced in full today. They are listed as questionable and still technically on injured reserve, but being full today bodes well for their activation soon.
Could that be tomorrow?
The Steelers have not issued their injury report yet, but head coach Mike Tomlin said that starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers (left wrist) would be questionable after getting in a second limited practice today.
Once Pittsburgh officially announces it, we’ll update this article.
