Roquan Smith’s second season with the Bears has come to an end.
#Bears HC Matt Nagy confirms that ILB Roquan Smith suffered a torn pec against the Cowboys and will be placed on injured reserve.
— Larry Mayer (@LarryMayer) December 9, 2019
Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy told reporters that Smith suffered a torn pectoral muscle in last Thursday’s win against the Cowboys. Nagy said the injury didn’t look good from the outset, and it has been determined that it’s serious enough for him to be placed on injured reserve. Bummer.
There is never a good time for a trip to IR, but the timing for this injury stinks.
A stint on IR ends Smith’s season, after snagging 100 tackles, two sacks, and five tackles-for-loss. Things were trending in a positive direction for Smith in his most recent games, averaging 10.4 tackles per game, collecting four of the five tackles-for-loss he has this season, both sacks, and his two QB Hits in his last five games. If you were to extrapolate Smith’s last five full games over a full 16-game season, we’re looking at a 166-tackle, 6-sack, 13 TFL, 6 QB-hit season. Heck, flesh out Smith’s 11 healthy games over the course of a 16-game season and we would be looking at a player who projects to come up with 143 tackles, 7 tackles-for-loss, 3 QB Hits, and 3 sacks. Those are solid numbers across the board, which is why Nagy is rightfully excited about Smith’s future with this team and in this defense.
Smith’s injury also stings from a team perspective. The Bears could use all the healthy, highly skilled bodies for their stretch run, but will go into the final three games of the season without both of their starting inside linebackers. Unless, of course, Danny Trevathan returns from an elbow injury that has kept him out since the early stages of Week 10. With that in mind, we’ll keep tabs on if Trevathan suits up for practice this week.