Well, the Jets may be banged up, but so are the Bears.
A changing of the (left) guard has arrived in Chicago, though the news comes thanks to some unfortunate circumstances. Starter Eric Kush has been ruled OUT for Sunday’s Bears game against the Jets. Kush has been on the injury report with a neck injury the last two weeks, but resumed his starting role in Week 7 after being limited in last Friday’s practice. Kush wasn’t as fortunate this week, as the neck injury kept him from practicing at all leading up to the Week 8 showdown. With Kush sidelined for Sunday, rookie James Daniels figures to get a full-share of the playing time at left guard.
Daniels and Kush had been splitting time at left guard since the Bears’ Week 4 win against the Buccaneers and Head Coach Matt Nagy suggested it was going to continue because things were working out just fine. But in the last two weeks, Daniels had seen an increasing amount of playing time and had out-snapped Kush in losses to the Dolphins and Patriots. The Bears drafted Daniels in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft with the intent to play him at guard and replace outgoing free agent Josh Sitton. And while Kush took control of the starting job in training camp and didn’t let go even though the summertime battle came down to the wire, Daniels’ steady progress meant that he wasn’t going to be sidelined for too long.
As for the rest of Friday’s updated injury report, here ya go:
#Bears Friday Injury Report:
DNP: Kush (neck)
Limited: Mack (ankle), Robinson II (groin)
Game Status: Kush (out); Mack, Robinson II (questionable)— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) October 26, 2018
The health status of star pass-rusher Khalil Mack and wide receiver Allen Robinson is similar to last week. Bob LeGere of Pro Football Weekly reports both players were limited in Friday’s practice and are listed as questionable on the injury report. Mack and Robinson started against the Patriots last week, but Robinson didn’t finish the game because the groin injury flared up and Mack simply wasn’t himself (even though he played a healthy amount of snaps).
As for specifics regarding Mack’s availability for Sunday, his status could come down to a game-time decision:
Matt Nagy says Khalil Mack was limited on Friday and they are going to take it "literally day-to-day." Mentioned the #Bears want to be smart with the situation.
— Zack Pearson (@Zack_Pearson) October 26, 2018
Whatever the Bears are doing this year as far as injury care tactics leading up to a game has worked to this point, as far as getting players up-to-speed and available for game action. But how effective they can be is still to be determined. Chicago’s decision-makers would be wise to continue to proceed cautiously.