Leonard Floyd’s name is among the last you’d want to see on the injury report, but here we are:
Bears OLB Leonard Floyd (back) was added to the injury report Friday. He's now listed as questionable for Sunday vs. the Buccaneers.
— Rich Campbell (@Rich_Campbell) September 15, 2017
Head coach John Fox referenced Floyd joining the injury report with a back issue during his Friday meeting with the media at Halas Hall.
Floyd played 55 snaps in the Chicago Bears’ Week 1 loss against the Atlanta Falcons, doing a little bit of everything as he split snaps as a pass rusher (24), run defender (22), and in coverage (9). He is currently listed as questionable to play in Sunday’s Week 2 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Floyd missed four games last season, including some missed time while battling neck and concussion issues that stemmed from an injury suffered in a loss against the New York Giants on November 20, 2016. For what it’s worth, the Bears and Floyd worked in the offseason to tweak his technical tackling technique, which was believe to cause some of the head/neck/concussion issues he dealt with as a rookie. Hopefully, old habits that caused him to be injured before aren’t popping up and putting him on the injury report again.
If Floyd misses Sunday’s game, it would continue to thin out the ranks at outside linebacker (to say nothing of inside linebacker, where they’re now without Jerrell Freeman). The team already parted ways with Lamarr Houston after his injury, while Pernell McPhee just played four snaps in Week 1 after missing the entire preseason while on the PUP list with what was termed as an irregularity in his knee. Willie Young starts opposite of Floyd, while Sam Acho serves in a reserve role.
Floyd’s 55 snaps were the most among members of the Bears’ front seven, and represented 93 percent of the team’s total defensive plays. If he can’t give it a go on Sunday, the Bears could have a tough time replacing his presence in the lineup.