When schedules came out last spring, it was a easy to dream on a Bears-Cardinals matchup pitting Chicago’s rugged defense against Arizona’s top-flight offense.
But fast forward to the first Sunday in December, and only half of the equation will be in play.
And yet, Roquan Smith – despite limitations this week in practice – figures to give it his best as he is active and available for today’s game.
In what is a bit of a surprise, Smith isn’t inactive for today’s game against the Cardinals. The stud linebacker was a limited participant in Friday’s practice, but missed two previous sessions dealing with a hamstring issue. Generally, that’s enough to keep most players off the playing field. Then again, Smith isn’t most players.
The third-leading Pro Bowl vote-getter among linebackers, Smith leads the Bears in solo tackles and total tackles, while chipping in with 3 sacks, 8 tackles-for-loss, and a pick-six. Smith is seemingly everywhere on the field at all times. So, in other words, his presence would have been dearly missed. Instead, the leader of Chicago’s defense is back in the fold. Sure, Khalil Mack (IR – foot), Danny Trevathan (IR – knee), Akiem Hicks (OUT – ankle), and Mario Edwards Jr. (OUT – ribs) are impact defenders who are unavailable for Sunday’s game. But Smith being in the lineup is a pleasant surprise.
As for the rest of the Bears’ inactives:
Inactives for #AZvsCHI: pic.twitter.com/aLsQ2otU7L
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 5, 2021
No Justin Fields, who remains out while nursing injured ribs. Allen Robinson II remains out of the lineup while dealing with a hamstring injury. But at least we might get Teven Jenkins’ debut at some point today. Today feels like a day where it is all about the little things. We’ll have more in Pre-Gamin’ momentarily.