The Chicago Bears offensive line can’t afford another setback, especially with the Baltimore Ravens presenting the competition for a rookie quarterback in Week 6.
Unfortunately, it might be the case that Chicago goes into Baltimore without one of its best linemen.
Guard Kyle Long missed Thursday’s practice with an ankle injury, tweets Chris Emma of 670 The Score. However, head coach John Fox framed Long’s absence as a “maintenance day” of sorts, according to Adam Jahns of the Chicago Sun-Times. Long was not listed on Wednesday’s injury report, so to see him on the list Thursday isn’t the kind of news you want to see as we approach Sunday’s game day. If you’ll recall, Long missed a few plays in the Bears’ loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. He was slow to get up, looked to be nursing his right leg, and was replaced by Tom Compton at right guard. Long was back in action just two plays later and finished the game without much of a visible issue.
Long has played three games since returning from an ankle injury that took longer to recover from than originally expected. He has played well in his return, earning a 79.0 grade from Pro Football Focus, which lists him as the NFL’s 15th best guard. Hence, the last thing Mitch Trubisky needs is for a re-aggravated ankle injury to put his top lineman out of action.
Linebacker John Timu (knee/ankle) joined Long as non-participants in Thursday’s practice.
Wide receiver Markus Wheaton (groin) is a new addition to the injury report (which you can read in full here), but was a limited participant in practice. Joining Wheaton among those who were limited were cornerback Marcus Cooper (back), center Hroniss Grasu (hand), and linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski (chest).