The curious and head-scratching (and downright frustrating) case of Chicago Bears cornerback Kyler Gordon continues on into the 2026 regular season, with general manager Ryan Poles commenting on the situation on Tuesday.
Gordon has been dealing with a calf injury that kept him out throughout the entirety of training camp and preseason, and the Bears placed the veteran on the physically unable to perform list as they made their 53-man roster decisions on Sunday.
When speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Poles was asked about the status of Gordon, and the more concerning comments from the Bears general manager was when he was asked if he expected Gordon to play at all this season.
"We’ll see when he comes back. I don’t have a timetable," Poles said
when first asked about a timeline for recovery on Gordon, but then followed up with a bigger telling sign of Gordon playing with the Bears in the 2026 season.
"I don’t know. I would hope so. I still have hope there," Poles said. "He’s going to have to continue to work hard and get back to playing football again. … Any time you have an injury and you’re coming back from something, there’s discomfort that you have to push through. And that’s what it comes down to. We haven’t been able to get over that hump and we’re not progressing as fast as we’d like. That’s really all I have to say about it."
The comments from Poles are quite concerning on the long-term future of one of the team's best defensive players, but it's clear that there is frustration from Gordon's injury, although they don't sound completely ready to move on just yet.
Chicago does have plenty of real reason to be concerned about Gordon after he missed 14 games due to a variety of injuries between his calf, hamstring, and groin, and now the calf injury has popped back up and held back the start to this season.
With Gordon to miss at least the first four games of the 2026 season, it sounds like it'll be fourth-round rookie Malik Muhammad getting the nod at nickel cornerback with Cam Lewis also an option.
Follow Bears Wire on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram
This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ryan Poles had telling comments on Bears CB Kyler Gordon's future
