Windy City Gridiron
There’s still one more practice this week, but the news at linebacker for the Chicago Bears is bleak, with all three starters sitting out on Wednesday and Thursday.
T.J. Edwards hasn’t played since the Cincinnati Bengals game on November 2, as he’s still dealing with a hamstring issue and recovering from hand surgery. Tremaine Edmunds injured his groin in Sunday’s win against the Vikings, and to make matters at the position even worse, number three linebacker Noah Sewell is nursing an elbow injury.
The only healthy linebackers on the active roster are D’Marco Jackson, Ruben Hyppolite II (rookie), and Amen Ogbongbemiga. Jackson has played 32 snaps on defense this season, Hyppolite has only played 18, and Ogbongbemigam hasn’t played a snap on D this year, but he is the only healthy linebacker with a start in the NFL (2 as a rookie in 2021).
The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs speculated that the Bears may be forced to start Jackson and Hyppolite.
The Bears do have Carl Jones Jr. and the newly added Jalen Reeves-Maybin on the practice squad, so expect a transaction on Saturday to bolster the group.
The Bears did have some good news today with Pro Bowl cornerback Jaylon Johnson (groin) practicing in full in just his second day back in his 21-day practice window.
Here’s the full Thursday report.
The Bears play the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, and their starting quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, was limited today after sitting out yesterday with a left wrist injury.
Here’s the full Steelers report from today.
