NEWSLETTER
The NFL requires teams playing on Thursday Night Football to release some sort of mock injury report on Monday before their game. This week, the Chicago Bears are one of those teams as a trip to Lambeau Field to play the Green Bay Packers awaits in the distance.
So, if the Bears were to release an injury report that would reflect what they would normally release on a Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, this is what it would look like:
#Bears list S Quintin Demps (arm) & LB Nick Kwiatkoski (pec) as DNP. C Hroniss Grasu (hand) & G Josh Sitton (ribs) limited.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) September 25, 2017
The Bears didn’t practice on Monday, but safety Quintin Demps (broken arm) and linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski (recovering from a pectoral injury) were listed as players who would not have practiced. Center Hroniss Grasu (hand) and right guard Josh Sitton (ribs) would have been listed as limited participants. All things considered, it’s a pretty compact injury report by Bears’ standards.
Grasu played just 14 snaps on Sunday after injuring his hand early in the Week 3 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bears continued to play musical chairs with their offensive line, inserting reserve lineman Bradley Sowell into the lineup at left guard, and shifting Cody Whitehair back to center for 51 snaps.
It’s worth noting that Tom Compton started the first two games at left guard, but did not get the call to fill in at left guard when Whitehair slid back into his familiar role as the team’s center. If you’ll recall, Compton was on the injury report last week because of a hip injury suffered in Week 2 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Compton was on the active 46-man game day roster, but did not play.
With Sitton on the mend, Kyle Long – who opened the year as the No. 1 left guard on the depth chart – returned to a familiar place as the team’s starting right guard. Long earned an impressive 82.3 grade from Pro Football Focus in his 65-snap performance, which included a 78.9 run block grade as he helped spring big games from Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen.
The most notable name not included on the injury report was Howard, who left the game on two separate occasions due to what looked to be a shoulder injury. Not only did Howard get the game-winning score, he also led the team in rushing and receiving yards. It was an outstanding performance for a player who had spent the last two weeks on the injury report after landing awkwardly on his shoulder after scoring a touchdown.
But if he’s healthy and ready to roll, it will be a plus for a team that was more committed to the run in Week 3 than at any other time this season.
