Bears face a roster crunch this week and recent injuries could offer an unexpected and timely solution
The Chicago Bears have some important roster decisions to make later this week and recent injuries the team suffered in Week 5 could present an unexpected solution.
The Chicago Bears didn’t just suffer a loss in the record on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, the team also sustained a few injuries on the defensive side of the ball that will be important to monitor going into Week 6.
T.J. Edwards (hamstring), Dayo Odeyingbo (quad), and Tyrique Stevenson (hamstring) all left Sunday’s game with injuries and the extent of those injuries is still yet to be determined, and we should know more information today or later in the week.
After the performance the defense showed against the Packers, this isn’t a unit that needs even more losses on the injury front. Edwards is a core leader for this unit, Odeyingbo has been the team’s most consistent pass rusher, and Stevenson has been in and out of the lineup all season with hamstring issues.
Ideally, the injuries those three players suffered won’t lead to extended absences and they can be back out there next Sunday. However, if any of the three turn out to be serious (or at least need multiple weeks to heal), it does help the Bears out a bit with roster math.
Bears need to free two roster spots to bring back Shemar Turner and Kyler Gordon
On Saturday, the Bears made the decision to elevate Noah Sewell from the PUP list, using the last vacant spot on the 53-man roster. After losing Edwards, it proved to be the right call to add more linebacker depth after already entering the game without rookie Keyshaun Elliott.
This week, the Bears have two more players to potentially activate off the PUP list in Shemar Turner and Kyler Gordon. Turner started his 21-day practice window on Sept. 23 and Gordon started his on Sept. 30. Both players were full participants in the last day of practice last week.
However, to bring them back onto the 53-man roster, the Bears have to clear two roster spots first. If the injuries to Edwards, Odeyingbo, or Stevenson prove to be week-to-week, the Bears could consider using an IR designation to free a roster spot. If not, two names to potentially watch that could get released and hopefully signed back to the practice squad are Jamree Kromah and Jayden Loving, who have been healthy inactives all season.
Regardless of what decision the Bears take, it’ll be nice to have Sewell, Turner, and Gordon all back potentially this week after losing a player at each position on Sunday.
At linebacker, Devin Bush and D’Marco Jackson can be capable starters together while Sewell serves as the LB3 if Edwards has to miss time. Turner can easily fill in for Odeyingbo as a player that can play inside and outside on the defensive line. And having Gordon back would be a huge boost for the secondary and allow Malik Muhammad II to go outside in place of Stevenson.
It’ll be much needed and very timely to have that level of depth available. But again, the ideal scenario is that the Bears avoid any major injuries with those three starters. We’ll see what happens but the Bears have a few different options to get Turner and hopefully Gordon back on the roster later this week.
