It was good to see a resolution come to Roquan Smith’s situation today.
Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy said Smith was expected to be a full participant in Wednesday’s practice, then the second-year linebacker confirmed he was going to play in Sunday’s upcoming game against the Raiders. Huge.
And even more importantly, I’m happy to hear that whatever Smith was working through is behind him. As long as the situation has been resolved for the better, the hope here is Smith will be in a good place, as he moves past whatever kept him off the field in the Bears’ Week 4 win over the Vikings.
As for his teammates on Wednesday’s injury report, there were some who weren’t as fortunate.
Wide receiver Taylor Gabriel (concussion), defensive lineman Akiem Hicks (knee), linebacker Joel Iyegbuniwe (hamstring), offensive lineman Ted Larsen (knee), defensive lineman Bilal Nichols (hand), and quarterback Mitch Trubisky (non-throwing shoulder) did not practice on Wednesday.
Trubisky is not expected to play on Sunday, while Nichols is going on three consecutive weeks without appearing in a game as he recovers from a broken hand he suffered in Week 2. The Bears moved defensive lineman Abdullah Anderson off the active roster and onto the practice squad, so it is possible that Hicks is being kept off the practice field in order to get him ready for the Raiders game.
And then there is Gabriel, whose status is a bit murkier:
Bears WR Taylor Gabriel remains in the NFL concussion protocol. Did not practice today. Team has to decide in 24 hours whether he’s making the trip to London.
— Jason Lieser (@JasonLieser) October 2, 2019
The injury report wasn’t completely full of troubling news regarding players who were unavailable for practice.
Place-kicker Eddy Piñeiro (knee) and tight end Trey Burton (groin) joined Smith among the full participants for Wednesday’s practice. Piñeiro has been gutting it out through a knee issue on his kicking leg, but has made four consecutive field goals since missing a 44-yarder against Washington on Monday Night Football while kicking with a limp.
And to tie things up with a neat bow, Long was listed as limited because of a hip issue. But at least Long insists he is healthy enough to play against the Raiders in London.
Here is the full injury report:
#Bears Wednesday injury report pic.twitter.com/0ULPJyFiyp
— Chicago Bears (@BearsPR) October 2, 2019