NEWSLETTER
Bears right tackle Bobby Massie suffered a back injury in the Bears’ Week 11 loss to the Rams, but was a full participant in each of the practices that followed that game and was able to start in yesterday’s win against the Giants.
But once again, Massie suffered an in-game injury. Though, this one doesn’t figure to come with a quick turnaround.
NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport was informed by a source that Massie suffered a high-ankle sprain. Rapoport adds Massie will miss the next few weeks, though didn’t offer specifics beyond that early appraisal of the situation. This comes a day after Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune tweeted that Massie was spotted wearing a walking boot on his right ankle when leaving Soldier Field after the Bears’ victory. Clearly, this injury is one that will keep the team’s starting right tackle off the field for a bit.
Massie was sidelined during the third quarter of the win after suffering an ankle injury, and didn’t return. Reserve swing tackle Cornelius Lucas replaced Massie down the stretch and played a total of 22 snaps.
With Massie out of the lineup for the foreseeable future, expect Lucas to continue to get reps at right tackle. But also keep an eye on Alex Bars, the undrafted offensive lineman who stuck it out on the practice squad and was called up when Kyle Long was placed on injured reserve. I’m not sure the Bears would throw Bars to the wolves and have him start in place of Massie right away, but the team could put him in the mix as an eligible extra lineman in certain packages within the offense (much like Lucas was a few weeks ago).
Elsewhere on the injury front, it doesn’t look good for defensive back/special teams contributor Sherrick McManis:
Fear is #Bears DB and special teams ace Sherrick McManis suffered a small tear in his groin muscle when he was injured Sunday in victory over Giants. That would almost certainly sideline the veteran for the remainder of the season.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) November 25, 2019
McManis suffered a groin injury while covering a punt in the game against the Giants, and was quickly ruled out for the rest of the contest. But as Biggs reports in the tweet above, the groin injury is reportedly a small tear. Small as it may be, the injury could put McManis out for the rest of the season. If that happens to be the case, the Bears will need to shuffle the deck on a special teams that ranked fifth by Football Outsiders’ DVOA metrics heading into Week 12.
With a quick turnaround from Week 12 to Week 13 coming because the Bears play on Thanksgiving, you can figure the team will be extra careful with players nursing injuries heading into game day.
