The list of names who are unavailable for the Bears tonight on Monday Night Football against the Vikings is comical.
Close your eyes and remember to the cartoons of your youth. Remember when a character would unfurl a list? Of course you do. Well, the list of Chicago players (and coaches) who aren’t in action tonight against Minnesota sure feels longer than one of those.
But it’s not all bad news, as the Bears will have two key cogs suiting up on the defense.
Defensive lineman Akiem Hicks and linebacker Roquan Smith are ACTIVE.
Hicks hasn’t played since Week 9 against the Steelers. Things were trending toward Hicks playing last week against the Packers, but there was a late-in-the-game setback that put him out of action. Unsurprisingly, Hicks makes his return against a NFC North rival. Few players take rivalry games as seriously as Hicks, who looks to improve on the 6.5 sacks, 18 QB Hits, and 12 tackles-for-loss in 8 games against the Vikings while with the Bears.
Joining Hicks on defense is Smith, who assumes his starting role at inside linebacker. Smith is the Bears’ leading tackler and the soul of the defense. Hamstring issues have limited his play in recent weeks, but it hasn’t caused him to miss any games to this point. Even still … the Bears would be wise to monitor Smith, especially since he put up a full snap share in just one of his last three games.
As for who isn’t playing:
Inactives for #MINvsCHI: pic.twitter.com/x0H3mWUeKk
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) December 20, 2021
We’ll have more for you in Pre-Gamin’ coming up in a few.
