The Chicago Bears released their first injury report ahead of Sunday’s Week 13 matchup against the New York Giants and the news will be met with mixed emotions:
#Bears Wednesday Injury Report:
DNP: RB Benny Cunningham (ankle); DT Akiem Hicks (achilles); DB Sherrick McManis (hamstring)
Limited: QB Mitchell Trubisky (right shoulder)
Full: LB Aaron Lynch (concussion); TE Adam Shaheen (concussion)— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) November 28, 2018
Mitch Trubisky did practice on Wednesday, but was a limited participant. Trubisky, who wasn’t expected to practice, has been dealing with an injured throwing shoulder and did not play in the team’s Week 12 win against the Detroit Lions. Remember, the Bears said Trubisky would not have practiced when they released their estimated injury reports on the short week prior to their game on Thanksgiving. I suppose this means Trubisky is making some sort of progress compared to where he was last week. Progress is good. It still leaves a cloud of doubt regarding his playing status for Sunday’s game and we won’t know the extent of Trubisky’s practice efforts until Head Coach Matt Nagy meets the media on Thursday. But still … being a limited participant is better than the alternative.
OK, now for the news that makes us really uneasy … and that’s seeing defensive lineman Akiem Hicks listed as a non-participant in practice because of an Achilles injury. Hicks is one of the most important defenders on a top-5 defense, so his name being a new one on the injury report is a bit jarring. For what it’s worth, Hicks played 86.4 percent of the defensive snaps in Week 12 against the Lions and 79.1 percent of snaps in Week 11 against the Vikings. That’s a heck of a work load for the big defensive lineman in a five-day stretch and is a notably higher snap share than his 72.5 percent season average. With that being said, it’s possible the Bears could have kept Hicks off the practice field as a precautionary measure or to simply give a veteran who did a ton of heavy lifting an extra day off. We’ll stay tuned for any updates.
Defensive back/special teams ace Sherrick McManis (hamstring) and running back/kick returner Benny Cunningham (ankle) also missed practice while nursing their respective injuries. Cunningham missed a major chunk of the Lions win due to his injury. He usually plays on two-thirds of the special teams plays, but was in on just one-quarter last week. McManis played a normal snap load in the special teams department last week, so this is another situation where we’re hopeful the DNP is a rest day for the wily vet.
As expected, tight end Adam Shaheen and outside linebacker Aaron Lynch participated in practice with no restraints. Both players missed last week’s game against the Lions due to concussions suffered in Week 12 against the Vikings.