The final Bears injury report of Week 11 is OUT and there is all sorts of good news rolling in.
Quarterback Justin Fields is back. Fields is so back that he doesn’t even have a game-day designation on the injury report. In other words, Fields is off the injury report and deemed good to go for Sunday’s game against the Lions. I don’t have great expectations for Fields in his first game back. There figures to be some rust that needs to be knocked off. But I’m intrigued by the potential and it could be worth tuning in on Sunday just to see what clicks.
Meanwhile, Rap Sheet also mentions the team’s plans to bring Khalil Herbert off injured reserve. Chicago’s Week 1 starting running back has been on IR since suffering an ankle injury against the Washington Commanders during the team’s win out east. D’Onta Foreman and the rest of the gang have held it down in Herbert’s absence. Still, it’ll be nice to have an RB1-worthy back returning to the mix.
Alright, let’s get to the rest of the injury report:
NFL Week 11 Preview: Chicago Bears at Detroit Lions — November 19, 2023
Friday’s Bears injury report updates
Let’s bang through these in the most efficient way possible.
In addition to Fields and Herbert returning return, the Bears are slated to get full back Khari Blasingame (concussion), right guard Nate Davis (ankle), and cornerback Terell Smith (illness) back in Week 11. None of those players have game-day designations. Hence, it is safe to presume they’ll be on Sunday’s active roster.
UPGRADE ALERT: Linebacker Tremaine Edmunds was upgraded to limited participation for Friday’s practice. I’d still bet against him playing on Sunday in Detroit, but he does have a questionable designation attached to his status for the game. That makes it a coin flip whether or not Edmunds will return from a knee injury that has kept him on the sidelines.
The Bears might want to keep some linebackers on speed dial this weekend. Because if Edmunds can’t go, there are now questions about Jack Sanborn‘s status. Sanborn, who has taken Edmunds’ spot in the starting lineup, has an illness that kept him out of Friday’s practice. That makes him questionable. What’s up with the Bears getting sick like this? I guess it’s that time of year for everyone — which means NFL players aren’t exempt from colds, flus, and other illnesses.
As someone who loves the game-within-the-game stuff, I’m bummed that we won’t get to see a battle of brothers on Sunday. Bears rookie linebacker Noah Sewell is OUT for Sunday’s game against the Lions because of a knee injury. Sewell didn’t practice on Friday after being limited in Thursday’s practice. He’ll have to wait to face his brother Penei, who is the Lions’ starting right tackle.
On the one hand, I want to see what a three-headed running back monster of Herbert, D’Onta Foreman, and Roschon Johnson can do when deployed properly. But on the other hand, D’Onta Foreman was limited in practice all week. So maybe the Bears sit him out of this one and let the Herbert-Roschon tag team go to work.
We’ll have more for you later this weekend. In the meantime, I’d encourage you to check out the latest installment of the BN Bears Show featuring Patrick Flowers and me:
We’ll be back to having Matt back in the mix on Sunday for the postgame show. Hopefully, the Bears will give us something to talk about. More often than not, they do. Unfortunately, more often than not, they do and it is tremendously frustrating. But the Bears are coming off a win and should have an upset on their minds. Stay tuned.
NEWSLETTER
