The NFL doesn’t force teams to issue injury reports in the preseason.
And that is good news for the Chicago Bears. Because if the NFL made it necessary for teams to put out an injury report (as will be the case every Wednesday during the regular season), we would be in shambles.
Just look at this mess:
Sheesh.
I’d be beside myself if all of those names popped up on the first injury report of the week. Imagine an injury report featuring three rookie draft picks (S Jaquan Brisker, WR Velus Jones Jr., RB Trestan Ebner), a starting offensive lineman (center Lucas Patrick), three depth options at receiver (Byron Pringle, Tajae Sharpe, N’Keal Harry), two players battling for top nickel corner positioning (Tavon Young, Thomas Graham Jr.), and a pair of rotational defensive linemen (Angelo Blackson, Mario Edwards Jr.). On second thought, don’t. It’ll only cause you pain.
What is more frustrating about this is that the injuries are mostly unknown. We’re privy to what’s up with Brisker, Harry, and Patrick due to their timing during training camp and the preseason. Otherwise, we’re mostly in the dark.
Now, to be clear, I’m not asking for the Bears to clue us in on every detail. But what is even the point of treating the on-site beat reporters this way? What is the value of keeping things under wrap like they were nuclear codes to the franchise? This isn’t a new policy for the Bears. And yet, it’s a policy that coincides with the team having won no Super Bowls and made just six postseason appearances since the year 2000. Keeping everything like it’s a state secret hasn’t helped the team win anything. Would the teeniest amount of transparency hurt?
At the end of the day, I don’t want to make too much of this situation. And I certainly don’t want to blow out of proportion a hypothetical injury report that doesn’t even exist. But still … I don’t like seeing all these non-participants in practice because of injuries. No one wants to see the Bears at less-than-full-strength when the season kicks off in 18 days. So, we’ll be patient. Even if we’ll be gritting our teeth while doing so.