There weren’t any shocking or unforeseen developments on the first injury report for Week 4.
Especially not with Bears Head Coach Matt Eberflus delivering optimistic injury news updates regarding David Montgomery, Velus Jones Jr., and N’Keal Harry earlier today.
So while the Bears injury report has a list of names on it, the good news from earlier softens the blow a bit. Here’s the report:
Let’s run down the most notable developments briefly:
We told you this was one to watch for … but CB Jaylon Johnson didn’t practice, making it back-to-back injury reports in which a DNP was next to his name. Johnson’s quad injury put him as limited last Thursday and put him out of practice altogether on Friday. He didn’t play on Sunday against the Texans, and being a non-participant to start the week puts his status in doubt for the upcoming game against the Giants. We’ll keep our eyes open for any and all updates regarding CB1’s health.
WR Velus Jones Jr. did practice again, albeit with limitations. That’s another practice in which Jones was listed as a limited participant in practice. Considering the practices he had been missing, this counts as being on the up-swing. Can you catch him in this video shared by NBC Sports Chicago’s Josh Schrock?
Earlier today, Eberflus seemed optimistic about the chances of Jones making his regular-season debut against the Giants. I’d like to see Jones get a full participation in before we get to that point. But that Jones is (1) participating in any capacity and (2) being seen as possibly available from the coach’s perspective can only be a a good thing.
It was a bit odd to see Roquan Smith was listed as a limited participant due to a quad injury. It was a bothersome hip injury keeping Smith out of last week’s practice. The hip bone isn’t necessarily connected to the quad muscle, but I’m no medical expert and don’t know if one can impact the other in some way that I wouldn’t know about off the top of my head. Hopefully, it isn’t a serious quad injury for Smith, who just played his best game against the Texans last week. (He got robbed of NFC Defensive Player of the Week honors, by the way!)
Not that I was expecting anything else, but David Montgomery (knee/ankle) didn’t practice.
All in all, the Bears’ health to its key players is either holding up or pointing in the right direction. Here’s hoping for more good news tomorrow.