NEWSLETTER
Kevin White’s return will have to wait until next year.
The Chicago Bears announced safety Quintin Demps will return to practice on Thursday, opening a 21-day practice window for him to return from injured reserve. Demps joined fellow safety Deiondre’ Hall as the team’s players designated to return from injured reserve.
A new rule passed this season increased the number from one to two in the offseason, but that means White – who was injured in Week 1 – is no longer eligible to return this season. White has played 238 snaps in five games since being drafted with the seventh overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft. That comes out to 8.6 percent of the offense’s total snaps since the start of the 2015 season. With the news of Demps and Hall earning the designation to return from IR, White will have missed 43 of 48 games since joining the Bears organization.
While it’s hard to think back on where this team was back in Week 3, but let’s do that for just a moment. If you’ll recall, Demps was a defensive captain and Week 1 starter when he suffered a significant arm injury in the Bears’ Week 3 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Demps was brought into the fold with an eye on adding skill and experience to a secondary that lacked both in 2016. Vic Fangio’s defense struggled to create turnovers in 2016, but Demps – even in his age 31 season – came up with six interceptions in his final season with the Houston Texans.
Demps came up with no interceptions in three games and earned a 43.4 grade from Pro Football Focus in the 177 snaps he played. And while he doesn’t have nearly enough snaps to qualify on PFF’s leaderboard, he would rank 82nd among the 90 qualifiers at the position.
But where there is crisis, there is opportunity. And even though Demps’ injury left the Bears without one of their starters, it opened the door for Adrian Amos’ return to the rotation and his subsequent breakout.
Unfortunately, Amos is now dealing with a hamstring injury – which might have led to the Bears bringing back safety Chris Prosinski as an insurance policy for a secondary that suddenly looked short-handed.
