Bears’ compounding secondary crisis could force Chicago turn back to external options and there’s two avenues to consider
The Chicago Bears keep having more and more injuries pile up in the secondary and it’s getting to the point where the team might have to consider making yet another addition.
The Chicago Bears have an injury crisis on their hands in the secondary and we need to start spending more time on what other options the team could consider before heading into the 2026 regular season.
The two big issues for Chicago’s secondary started with Kyler Gordon and Coby Bryant, two high-priced starters the team had big plans for. Gordon continues to be sidelined with a calf injury with no timetable for his return. Bryant suffered a significant knee injury that will force him to miss four-six months.
The replacement options seemed to be two veteran players in Cam Lewis, who signed back in free agency, and Xavier Woods, who was signed following Bryant’s injury. However, Lewis has been in and out of practice with injuries and on Saturday, Woods suffered a groin injury and the extent of it is still unknown. On top of that, outside cornerback Tyrique Stevenson has now been out as well for nearly a week. Not to mention safety Elijah Hicks remains on the PUP with a shin injury.
“We’re not in panic mode by any stretch with some guys going down,” Ben Johnson said last week. “That’s what happens in this league. It’s going to happen to every team throughout camp and throughout the season. We’re no different than that.”
We do need to pay more attention to the injury situation in the secondary for the Chicago Bears
This overall has been a rough go for the defensive coordinator Dennis Allen when it comes to the injuries he’s been forced to deal with at safety and cornerback.
For now, the Bears have managed to work with the options that are available such as rookie cornerback Malik Muhammad II and safeties Anthony Johnson Jr. and Skyler Thomas. However, the Bears could consider adding more external options between now and the start of the regular season.
One name to keep in mind at safety (depending on the extend of Woods’ injury) is Donovan Wilson. Similar to Woods, Wilson has plenty of starting experience and played for Al Harris in Dallas. If the Bears want to make sure they have an experienced veteran out there for Week 1 next to rookie Dillon Thieneman, he’s a name you should know.
The other thing the Bears could do is keep an eye on potential waiver wire opportunities after cut down day. One name to watch there is Reddy Steward, who originally signed with the Bears as an undrafted free agent and has experience playing at nickel.
Overall, the Bears would ideally like to get their players back on the field first. Getting Stevenson, Woods, and Hicks back sooner than later would be huge. The situation with Gordon is different as he’s clearly not a player the staff is depending on right now. But, with two more weeks of preseason ahead, it’ll be worth monitoring the health of Chicago’s secondary a little more closely at practice.
