The latest Bears injury report includes designations for two key starters.
Check it out:
#Bears Wednesday Injury Report:
*Limited: TE Trey Burton (groin); OL Rashaad Coward (elbow); DT Bilal Nichols (knee)
Game Status: Burton, Coward, Nichols (questionable)*The Bears conducted a walk-through Wednesday; participation reports are estimates
— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) September 4, 2019
Tight end Trey Burton and defensive lineman Bilal Nichols are both listed as questionable to play in Thursday’s game against the Packers.
The uncertainty behind Burton’s status isn’t new. Burton didn’t practice Sunday, was limited in practices on Monday and Tuesday, then showed up as limited following Wednesday’s walk-through. The injury bug has been nagging Burton for a bit in the 2019 calendar year. A groin issue caused Burton to miss the Bears’ playoff game in January, which ultimately led to him to undergo sports hernia surgery to repair the issue. Burton practiced throughout training camp in Bourbonnais, but a separate groin issue popped up last week to put his playing status for the season opener in doubt. Mitch Trubisky posted a 112.0 passer rating when targeting Burton last year, so it isn’t going out on a limb when I suggest he is a key cog in the Bears’ offense. For what it’s worth, Nagy called Burton a game-time decision on Tuesday. That leaves a glimmer of hope that he will play, but not much else.
As for Nichols, it is his second consecutive day on the injury report with a knee issue. The Bears often listed Nichols as limited on the injury report when the team practices indoors, so his designation as limited could be a precautionary measure. If not, then that leaves Roy Robertson-Harris as the next-man-up on the depth chart.
With official injury reports returning to our lives, it is a good time to share a reminder that the NFL’s Competition Committee tweaked how teams were required to report injury designations, eliminating “probable” from the categories. So to use the Bears’ current situation as an example, “questionable” is the designation for a player who is uncertain to play. The other designations for the injury report are “doubtful” for players who are unlikely to play and “out” for players who will not play.
Everybody clear? Good. Let’s move on.