NEWSLETTER
Not to be lost in a word salad press conference (one with a focus on who’s calling plays and which quarterback will be executing them) is some good news from the injury front.
Roquan Smith’s tag team partner is on his way back:
The Bears will return Danny Trevathan off injured reserve today, Matt Nagy said. After three weeks sidelined, he's taking a step towards returning.
— Chris Emma (@CEmma670) September 29, 2021
The Bears are designating Danny Trevathan to return from injured reserve. Chicago’s other starting inside linebacker has been out of action since August. That’s when the Bears first put him on IR coming out of the preseason. Bringing Trevathan off IR today allows him to start practicing with the team again and opens a three-week window for the Bears to activate him and put him on the 53-player roster. But perhaps as important is how Trevathan’s pending return could impact the rest of the position group.
Chicago is currently rostering Roquan Smith, Alec Ogletree, Christian Jones, Joel Iyiegbuniwe, and Caleb Johnson as inside linebackers. In other words, Trevathan’s return mucks things up for at least four reserves on the depth chart. Does Ogletree get slid down the depth chart and into a depth role? We’ve seen previous Bears defensive coordinators deploy Nick Kwiatkoski and Kevin Pierre-Louis in spots as ILB3. Can Jones flex into a pass-rushing outside linebackers role? That is a role that isn’t unfamiliar to the veteran linebacker. What does this mean for Iyiegbuniwe? The Western Kentucky product is in the final year of his rookie deal. Does this mean anything for Caleb Johnson? The undrafted rookie free agent addition is a feel-good fun story. But he is also someone who could develop into a reserve linebacker role currently held by a veteran ahead of him on the depth chart.
In any case, it’ll be good to have Trevathan back in the lineup. The 31-year-old linebacker has started all 16 games twice in the last three years and has put up at least 100 total tackles in each of those seasons. A senior member of Chicago’s defense, Trevathan’s presence is a stabilizing one (assuming he is healthy). We’ll monitor his status in the days and weeks ahead.
