The Bears will once again be without two of their top players in the secondary when they take on the Commanders on Thursday Night Football, and they might be without another.
The team ruled out cornerback Jaylon Johnson (hamstring) and free safety Eddie Jackson (foot) as they continue to recover from their injuries. Johnson hurt himself in Week 3 against the Chiefs and missed last week’s game against the Broncos. Jackson hurt himself in Week 2 against the Buccaneers and missed the last two games. Further, strong safety Jaquan Brisker popped up on the injury report after Wednesday’s practice with a hamstring injury. He’s officially questionable for Thursday’s game.
With Johnson down, the Bears leaned on rookies Tyrique Stevenson and Terell Smith at cornerback against the Broncos. Each player performed well for the majority of the game and will look to build on their solid games. Second-year safety Elijah Hicks has filled in for Jackson. If Brisker can’t play, the Bears have several options they can turn to, including new free agent signee Duron Harmon or elevating a practice squad player like A.J. Thomas.
Chase Claypool is officially out with a unique “OTHER” designation. That’s because the team asked him to stay away from Halas Hall after he was made inactive for Week 4. Claypool has likely played his last snap for the Bears, which opens up more opportunities for rookie Tyler Scott and veteran Equanimeous St. Brown.
Finally, Teven Jenkins is officially questionable to play as he returns from a calf injury. The Bears designated Jenkins to return from IR on Monday and he got in a full practice on Wednesday– albeit a non-padded practice.
“We’ll work him out (before the game), see where he is and go from there,” head coach Matt Eberflus said. “He’s a heck of an athlete and he healed really well, which is really good and fast.”
Chicago Bears
Typically the Bears like to ramp their players up to football shape if they’ve missed an extended amount of time, so the short week before Thursday Night Football could preclude Jenkins from playing. If the team opts to wait until next week, expect Cody Whitehair and Lucas Patrick to stay at left guard and center, respectively. If Jenkins does play, the Bears figure to move Cody Whitehair back to center where he practiced throughout training camp.
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