Because the Chicago Bears’ game against the Detroit Lions has been moved up a day, the injury report comes to us a day earlier. Unfortunately, that means the bad news comes that much sooner.
Tight end Adam Shaheen was limited in practice with a chest injury. Head Coach John Fox told reporters Shaheen was injured on an incomplete pass in the end zone in second quarter. Not only did Shaheen play through the injury, he was in on 32 snaps (42%), and targeted five times in the 14 passing snaps he played. We’ll monitor his progress as the week goes on, especially after watching him re-emerge as a target who is earning the trust of rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky.
Also limited in practice were wide receiver Kendall Wright (shoulder), nose tackle Eddie Goldman (hip), outside linebacker/edge defender Pernell McPhee (shoulder), starting safety Adrian Amos (hamstring), and reserve safety/special teams contributor DeAndre Houston-Carson (ankle).
Wright was the Bears’ leading receiver in the win against the Bengals, hauling in 10 of 11 targets and gaining 107 receiving yards. The free agent has played on 66.2 percent of the team’s offensive snaps since the bye week. In the first half of the season, Wright was in on 51.6 percent of offensive plays. So losing a productive player whose usage is increasing would be a step back after last week’s offensive outburst.
Goldman, McPhee, and Amos did not practice at all leading up to Week 14, so to see that trio upgraded from the DNP list is somewhat encouraging.
Amos has missed each of the last two games, while Goldman and McPhee each missed their first games of the season last week. Chris Prosinski played 91 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in place of Amos, Christian Jones and Lamarr Houston spent some time at outside linebacker for McPhee, while John Jenkins (14 snaps) and rookie Rashaad Coward (10 snaps) manned the nose tackle position.