Bears already have a few developing injury situations to watch going into Thursday’s game against the Patriots
The Chicago Bears will have a few injury situations to monitor during the short week before facing the New England Patriots on Thursday, including the one involving right guard Jonah Jackson.
The Chicago Bears and New England Patriots both picked up big wins on Sunday leading up to the clash between these two on “Thursday Night Football” at Soldier Field, but the short week does bring concerns for both teams.
The Bears and Patriots both have some significant injuries to monitor leading up to Thursday’s game and how they overcome those potential losses could easily decide this game.
“Neither team is going to feel good,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said on ESPN1000. “It’s impossible when you play on Sunday and then you get thrown back into the fire on Thursday. We got to put our big boy britches on and suck it up and get back after it.”
Jonah Jackson’s injury situation looms large for the Chicago Bears
On the Bears’ front, right guard Jonah Jackson left Sunday’s game early with a hip injury and Johnson still wasn’t able to provide an update on his status during his radio appearance Monday afternoon. The Bears will likely have an estimated injury report on Monday and it’s likely Jackson will be a DNP on that first report.
Jackson is a massive piece to this offense. This unit is powered by the right side of the offensive line with Jackson at right guard and Darnell Wright at right tackle. Both are playing like All-Pro players through the first six weeks of the season.
“We’ll see where Jonah’s at and if he’s got a chance to play on Thursday night. But we’re excited about the depth we have there,” offensive coordinator Press Taylor said on Monday.
If Jackson is unable to play, the Bears will likely turn back to 2025 sixth-round pick Luke Newman, who allowed one pressure on 13 pass blocking snaps on Sunday. Saying he starts, it would be Newman’s first career start and worth noting that he only had 16 total pass blocking snaps during his rookie season last year.
“That was the difficult adjustment I was making last year,” Newman said, via Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune. “This year I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better at it. We’ll see how it goes here.”
For the Bears to be successful on offense, they can’t afford to have a major drop-off at that position. And it’s also sounding like the Bears will be without running back Kyle Monangai for the third straight game due to his turf toe injury.
The Patriots have multiple injury situations of its own on offense
On the other side of this matchup, the Patriots have some injury situations of its own that the Bears will need to pay close attention to. Wide receiver Romeo Doubs suffered a shoulder injury on Sunday while three of New England’s starting offensive linemen left the game as well with injuries in Morgan Moses (ankle), Alijah Vera-Tucker (hamstring), and Ben Brown (knee).
“I mean, again, listen, we are all smart people here, some smarter than others,” Mike Vrabel said on Monday. “But it’s a short week. So whether they can make it back or not, I don’t know. They don’t finish the game. We’ll have to see. But I don’t know any other thing other than that. And we’ll just have to figure out who we have available and find 48 to put out there. So it’s just hard to say, but it’s a short week. And if you don’t finish the game, that’s a quick turnaround.”
If those four are unable to play for the Patriots on Thursday, it will really test New England’s depth and be good news for Chicago’s defense. It’s worth noting that the Patriots got A.J. Brown back at wide receiver this weekend and added two new offensive linemen on Monday to elevate the depth up-front.
Even with all the losses, the Patriots still won 26-19 on Sunday with Drake Maye throwing for 235 yards and three touchdowns and wasn’t sacked a single time. So, it’s still going to be a big challenge on the road for Chicago.
