NEWSLETTER
A clean slate and a healthy start was driving optimism in Bourbonnais (as recently as this morning!), but the injury bug that nibbled at the Chicago Bears in 2016 is at it again.
Rich Campbell of the Chicago Tribune reports that running back Jeremy Langford sprained his ankle during a Thursday night walkthrough, and, unfortunately, it’s the same ankle that gave him trouble in 2016.
The injury is believed to be minor, but Langford already had his work cut out for him this season, competing with Benny Cunningham and others for time in the backfield behind Pro Bowl starter Jordan Howard. And don’t forget that Langford had offseason ankle surgery, too, which could also complicate matters.
On the bright side, the Bears saw the return of three players who missed time on the practice field on Thursday.
Chris Emma of CBS Chicago tweets that nose tackle Eddie Goldman, cornerback Marcus Cooper, and safety Deon Bush were participants in Friday’s practice. If you’ll recall, Goldman was mentioned among head coach John Fox’s Day 1 injury concerns because he sat out of the team’s first practice. Goldman did not practice due to dehydration, which might have been caused by dropping too much weight too quickly. Both Cooper and Bush returned to the practice field after missing out in one way or another on Thursday. Cooper did leave practice early because of a hamstring issue, but it seemed like more of a precautionary move than anything else.
And in any case, any good news on the injury front is welcome, after learning that outside linebacker Pernell McPhee underwent knee surgery on Friday to clean up his troublesome knee. Fox downplayed the severity of the surgery, but Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune points out McPhee has had that knee operated on before in 2012 when he was a member of the Baltimore Ravens.
2017 … you’ve not been kind.
