NEWSLETTER
John Timu became the latest Chicago Bears linebacker to be bitten by the injury bug on Monday Night Football, but perhaps things aren’t as bad as first believed:
Good news for #Bears LB John Timu, who was carted off yesterday with a scary-looking injury. Just a high-ankle sprain, I’m told. 2-4 weeks.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 10, 2017
Timu left Monday’s loss against the Minnesota Vikings with what the Bears were calling a knee injury. If you saw the play, you’ll recall Timu on the ground in pain with what looked like another significant knee injury. Instead, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports Timu suffered a high-ankle sprain. And while still painful, Rapoport has been told it’s an injury that could cost Timu just 2-4 weeks on the sideline. All things considered, that could have been a worse injury.
The Vikings took advantage of an injured Timu to run through the middle of the Bears defense, which has already lost three linebackers to injury and has started five different players at inside linebacker. Timu joined Danny Trevathan, Jerrell Freeman, Nick Kwiatkoski, and Christian Jones as the fifth player to earn a start at inside linebacker. Freeman is on injured reserve and Kwiatkoski hasn’t played since suffering a pectoral injury in Week 2, but Trevathan is scheduled to return from his one-game suspension in Week 6 against the Baltimore Ravens.
The Bears can ill-afford to lose another player to a long-term injury. Chicago currently has nine players on injured reserve and have put 14 different players on IR at some point during the 2017 NFL calendar year.
With that being said, here’s an updated injury report from the Bears:
Wednesday Injury Report:
DNP: Timu (ankle/knee), Cooper (back)
Limited: Grasu (hand), Kwiatkoski (chest) #DaBears— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) October 11, 2017
Cornerback Marcus Cooper joins Timu as non-participants at Wednesday’s practice. Cooper was inactive Monday after being a late addition to last week’s injury report with back spasms.
And it seems as if Kwiatkoski is progressing and could be returning to action sooner, rather than later as he was limited on Wednesday.
