Kyle Long’s name showing up on Thursday’s injury report came as something of a surprise and some folks might’ve been worried about his status entering the Chicago Bears’ Week 2 match-up against the Seattle Seahawks.
Head Coach Matt Nagy put those issues to rest on Friday:
#Bears RG Kyle Long missed practice yesterday with ankle soreness, but HC Matt Nagy is not concerned about Long missing Monday night's game.
— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) September 14, 2018
The Bears successfully avoided major season-ending injuries during training camp and the preseason and looked to be in good shape on the injury after Week 1. That was until Long missed Thursday’s practice with an ankle injury. But with Nagy expressing no concern about Long’s status for Monday’s game after using Thursday as a rest day for the team’s starting right guard, there appears to be nothing to worry about. Ahhhhh, it’s really nice to have good news come out of an injury report … isn’t it?
Chicago’s coaching and training staff is right to be cautious with Long to start the season, especially when it comes to his surgically repaired right ankle. Long had season-ending surgery on the ankle in 2016, so it’s important that the team monitors his health situation moving forward. Between Long’s strong showing in Week 1 and the struggles the team had filling his position while he was out with injuries in 2017, it’s of the utmost importance to ensure the health of the team’s most accomplished offensive lineman.
It’s possible Long practices on Friday, which would ease all of our concerns about his playing status on Monday. Then again, knowing now that Thursday’s missed practice was nothing but an extra day of rest for the 29-year-old three-time Pro Bowl lineman is reassuring in its own right.