NEWSLETTER
It looks like a decision on whether or not defensive lineman Akiem Hicks will play on Sunday will come down to the wire.
Check it out:
Matt Nagy doesn't think Akiem Hicks will practice today but says:
"I think he's truly going to be a gametime decision."— JJ Stankevitz (@JJStankevitz) September 26, 2019
Hicks, who left Monday’s win at Washington early with what was labeled as a knee injury, is not expected to practice today and it is difficult to imagine him going through it on Friday on a short week.
This doesn’t mean that Hicks will not play. After all, Hicks has not missed a game since Week 17 of the 2014 season and has played in all 51 games since signing with the Bears in 2016. In fact, this is just the third time Hicks has appeared on a Bears injury report in 52 game weeks. Sure, he was questionable to play in Week 12 of the 2017 season in Philadelphia because of a knee issue, and an achilles problem had him questionable for Week 13 against the Giants last season, but that’s pretty much it. This is an iron-man streak of sorts for one of the baddest defensive linemen in the game.
So in short, I would not rule him out until the team does. And to that end …
… Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy told reporters at Halas Hall that Hicks’ availability for Sunday’s game against the Vikings will be a game-time decision in the truest meaning of the phrase, literally telling reporters: “I think he’s truly going to be a gametime decision.” And because each team’s list of inactive players is due 90 minutes before game time, we might not get word of a decision on Hicks until 1:55 p.m. CT.
As Tom Petty once suggested in a song I heard somewhere, the waiting truly is the hardest part.
