Bears place Khalil Herbert, Equanimeous St. Brown on injured reserve
After hinting at it during the post-practice press conference on Friday, the Chicago Bears will officially be placing running back Khalil Herbert and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown on injured reserve, according to ESPN's Field Yates. The two players were already ruled out for Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings, and now they will be […]
After hinting at it during the post-practice press conference on Friday, the Chicago Bears will officially be placing running back Khalil Herbert and wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown on injured reserve, according to ESPN's Field Yates.
The two players were already ruled out for Sunday's game against the Minnesota Vikings, and now they will be knocked out for at least three additional games. In a corresponding roster move, the Bears have added quarterback Nathan Peterman to the 53-man roster.
Herbert was injured during last Thursday's win over the Washington Commanders after having his ankle stuck to the turf, resulting in a freak non-contact injury. St. Brown popped up on the team's injury report with a hamstring injury on Wednesday and did not practice during the entire week.
The team expects to be cautious with both players considering the extent of their respective injuries. Herbert and St. Brown will also be missing games against the Raiders, Chargers, and Saints along with this weekend's game.
The two players will be eligible to return from the injured reserve in Week 10. However, that will be a short week as the team will be preparing to play against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football.
The Bears will already be without two other running backs this weekend, with Roschon Johnson and Travis Homer also officially ruled out. D'Onta Foreman and Darrynton Evans will be the team's top two backs. After losing three running backs during their last game, head coach Matt Eberflus isn't worried about going into Week 6 with only two running backs listed on the active roster.
"When you're down in a couple of running backs you've got to have a plan for the old pair and a spare if somebody goes down and we have that so we will be ready," Eberflus said.
In the win over the Commanders, fullback Khari Blasingame became the team's last resort after Herbert, Johnson, and Homer each left the game with injuries. If the time were to come on Sunday, he might have to be ready to step in again.
As for dealing with the loss of St. Brown for the next few weeks, rookie wide receiver Tyler Scott is expected to see a larger role on offense for the Bears. The team will more than likely implement more 12 personnel looks; utilizing one running back, two wide receivers, and two tight ends to deal with the injuries on offense.
This means that tight ends Robert Tonyan and Marcedes Lewis could see a higher snap count on offense alongside Cole Kmet over the next few games.
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