NEWSLETTER
The Chicago Bears were without three defensive starters during Thursday’s practice, but two of them could still be in the mix to play on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Nose tackle Eddie Goldman (hip), outside linebacker/edge defender Pernell McPhee (shoulder), and safety Adrian Amos (hamstring) sat out practice and were listed on the team’s injury report for a second consecutive day.
However, Head Coach John Fox shared some news that could be taken as positive regarding the potential return of two of the three starters who were missing in action. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweets Fox called what has kept McPhee and Goldman out of action as “day-to-day” injuries, but added Amos’ hamstring “might be more than a day.”
If Amos misses game action for a second straight week, Chris Prosinski will likely earn his second start since rejoining the Bears in the middle of last week. Prosinski played on all 75 of the team’s defensive snaps and added five special teams snaps, to boot. No other safety took defensive snaps, though Deiondre’ Hall played on nine special teams snaps and could be a rotation player who fills in for Prosinski. Fellow safety DeAndre Houston-Carson (ankle) is still listed as limited in practice.
McPhee played just seven snaps, which helped push Sam Acho into playing on each of the team’s 75 defensive snaps. The other outside linebacker snaps were taken by Lamarr Houston, who was in on 68 plays (or 91% of snaps) in his first game back with the Bears. It will be interesting to see how the Bears fill in for McPhee if it is deemed necessary. Inside linebacker Christian Jones could be viewed as versatile enough to play outside. He was in on 69 percent of the defensive plays, while inside linebacker Nick Kwiatkowski played just 12 snaps.
Replacing Goldman on the front line could be the toughest task, if it comes down to it. John Jenkins is the Bears’ lone reserve nose tackle. But playing without Goldman would mean Akiem Hicks would be the only returning starter along the defensive line from Week 13.
Wide receiver Josh Bellamy, who started against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 13 and played on 81 percent of the team’s offensive snaps, sat out practice because of an illness. Only Dontrelle Inman (35 plays) was on the field more than Bellamy (30) in the team’s one-point loss to the 49ers.
