Kyler Gordon’s injury suffered ahead of Bears-Packers game has fans locked onto the wrong issue Chicago should be worried about
The Bears have a bigger issue to worry about with the defense.
The Chicago Bears had a late but impactful loss heading into last Sunday’s game against the Green Bay Packers when nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon was ruled out after inactives were released after suffering a groin injury prior to kickoff.
With that kind of injury situation, the Bears were left scrambling before the game to have a plan in place to make up for such a significant loss to the entire unit.
“Kyler’s a really good player and we’re better when he’s out on the field,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson said after the game. “You do miss that and when it happens in pregame like that, it also takes you down a man going into the game too. If you know that going into the game, at least you can have someone else up on the active roster for you to fill in and be another body.”
With Gordon out, the Bears turned back to C.J. Gardner-Johnson in a heavy role (100 percent of the defensive snaps) in the slot with Nick McCloud filling in mainly on the outside with Jaylon Johnson still on a pitch count in his second game back. It’s the best plan the Bears could think of on the fly, but it exposed a glaring weakness for the defense in the short-term.
Kyler Gordon injury exposed a more glaring concern with C.J. Gardner-Johnson
When Gordon was placed on the injured reserve earlier in the season with a groin/calf injury, the Bears went out and signed Gardner-Johnson to play in that role as a disruptive player on the line of scrimmage until Gordon was able to return.
When Gordon finally made it back to the field in Week 13 against the Philadelphia Eagles, defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was able to get creative with his dime looks using both Gordon and Gardner-Johnson to confuse the opposing offense.
The hidden weakness in that plan was the coverage ability of Gardner-Johnson, something the Packers looked to exploit on Sunday using some of their faster wide receivers with Gordon sidelined. Gardner-Johnson allowed 97 yards on a team-high nine targets on Sunday, most of which came on one play in which Gardner-Johnson was matched man-to-man with Christian Watson. It was an easy matchup for the Packers to go after, resulting in a 41-yard score.
“That third-down throw to Christian Watson, (QB Jordan Love) sees man coverage and he checks to that play, and that’s a hell of a job by him,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said of the touchdown.
At the same time, Gardner-Johnson allowed another 18-yard completion in coverage against wide receiver Jayden Reed. On that play, Gardner-Johnson matched up on Reed in the slot in press coverage, didn’t get a hand on him at the release, and lost the foot race across the field.
Gardner-Johnson is at his best disrupting at the line of scrimmage, which makes him a far better player when the Bears could add Gordon to equation. Without Gordon, Gardner-Johnson is forced into the coverage role and while he made a nice interception early in the game, his top-end speed was a glaring weakness in man coverage when he wasn’t able to disrupt the route.
Entering the week, Gardner-Johnson only allowed 8.7 yards per reception, which ranked 8th on the team from the time he joined the unit in Week 9. But, against faster and more savvy players like Watson and Reed, it was harder for Gardner-Johnson to disrupt them and latch on in coverage.
It’s something the Packers diagnosed and made a point to take advantage of and it was a successful game plan in Week 14 and something the team surely will look to exploit in two weeks if Gordon’s injury forces him to miss even more time. And that being said, let’s address the elephant in the room.
We shouldn’t be worried about long-term implications with Kyler Gordon
Immediately after the injury was reported on Sunday, Bears fans started losing their minds and it’s a justifiable reaction in the moment. Sunday’s game was the 10th game Gordon has missed due to injury and he’s only played 117 defensive snaps this season.
Gordon missed the first four games of the season with a hamstring injury. He played 39 snaps in his Week 5 return and 42 snaps the following week before suffering a groin/calf injury that forced him onto the injured reserve until Week 13. It’s been an all-around brutal season for the player the team handed a three-year, $40 million extension to back in April.
Overall, injuries have been a reoccurring problem for Gordon. Since being drafted in 2022, Gordon has now missed 19 games due to injury (counting 2025) and fans have every right to be frustrated with his lack of consistent availability, especially now on a big second contract. But, you really shouldn’t be.
Truth of the matter is, Gordon isn’t going anywhere. This defense is miles better when Gordon is on the field and it makes no sense to try and off-load a player like that you just paid top dollar to. The onus is on the coaching staff, Gordon, and the training staff to figure out what’s going on with his health and the proper way to manage it moving forward. Whether that’s in 2025, or 2026 at this point.
After the game, Johnson said he still is unsure about the extent of Gordon’s latest injury but considering it is his third soft tissue issue this season, it would be a surprise to see him get shut down at this point the in year. In the meantime, the Bears will need to find a proper way to make up for his absence because what the team did on Sunday wasn’t nearly a good enough plan.
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