I’ve been trying to argue on behalf of the Chicago Bears’ secondary for three seasons now. There is just too much talent to ignore. This year, Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, Coby Bryant, Dillon Thieneman, Tyrique Stevenson, Malik Muhammad, Terrell Smith, and Cam Lewis are a formidable group.
Throw in the likes of past Bears Kevin Byard, Jaquan Brisker, Nashon Wright, and more and the Bears have been swarming in talent over the last few years.
Despite leading the league in takeaways last season, it still
felt like the secondary over the last few seasons has been underperforming. A lot of that is due to persisting injuries to important talents.
The 2026 offseason has not been kind to this unit so far, either.
As it stands, the Bears have already had injuries to the following players at safety, cornerback, and nickelback:
- CB Kyler Gordon remains on the PUP list with a calf injury.
- S Coby Bryant is out 4-6 months.
- CB Terrell Smith is hurt again.
- DB Cam Lewis has been dealing with an ankle injury.
- CB Jaylon Jones has missed some time with an undisclosed injury.
- DB Dallis Flowers is on the IR and may have an injury settlement.
Meanwhile, the Bears’ top two outside cornerbacks, Tyrique Stevens and Jaylon Johnson, have dealt with injuries of their own in the past couple of seasons. All of this is to say, the 2026 Bears secondary looks great on paper, but paper doesn’t play.
So on a defense that already has question marks up front, it’s fair to wonder if these injuries could derail an otherwise promising season.
Will injuries in the Bears’ secondary derail the season?
I don’t think it is going to help the Bears to have nagging injuries in the secondary (obviously) but I also don’t think it will derail their season. Here’s why.
Last season, the Bears found themselves with a variety of injuries in the secondary, with a few being significant.
- Kyler Gordon missed 14 games
- Jaylon Johnson missed 10 games (and didn’t look like himself when he did play)
- Nick McCloud missed 3 games
- Jaquan Brisker had nagging injuries all season.
- Tyrique Stevenson missed 3 games.
- Josh Blackwell missed 2 games.
- Terrell Smith missed the entire season.
The Bears had issues with injuries in the secondary last season, and they figured out how to scheme around it. They found players to plug in with CJ Gardner-Johnson and Nashon Wright. They cobbled together starts from Nick Mcleod and Jaylon Jones in the slot.
Even with all of the turbulence, they managed a league-leading 23 INTs, an indication of good coaching and good positioning.
Still, you can’t have schmucks out there playing a ton of downs – you require talented players to make game changing plays. Enter several new starting and depth level pieces:
- Drafting Dillon Thieneman and Malik Muhammad
- Signed Coby Bryant (who has not had major injury issues previously)
- Signed a major depth piece in Xavier Woods.
- Signed several other depth pieces in Marlen Sewell, William Wright, Beanie Bishop Jr., and Brandon Hill (who was just waived).
In the last year, Ryan Poles’ roster management has switched from trying to find feature talent to building up the depth, and that is the sign of a team preparing for a deep playoff run. If Kyler has to miss a few games, you’ve got Malik Muhammad, Josh Blackwell, Jaylon Jones, and Cam Lewis that can rotate in. An injury to JJ or Tyrique? Malik, Dontae Manning, Terrell Smith, and Beanie Bishop are available. Coby’s knee gets reaggravated? Xavier Woods, Elijah Hicks, and Cam Lewis are capable of stepping up.
The Bears have legitimate depth that can sustain injuries.
Now, there is a limit — and the Bears are testing it right now with the number of players getting hampered throughout camp. However, Dennis Allen, Ben Johnson, and Ryan Poles are building a track record proving their ability to plug the holes and keep things moving.
Now it’s your turn! Will injuries to the Bears’ secondary derail their season? Sound off in the comments!
