How the Bears can keep their winning streak alive
There wasn't a lot of good news on Friday for the Chicago Bears.
Friday's injury report revealed the defense would be short-handed on Sunday vs. Baltimore, as two starting defensive backs would miss the afternoon game against the Ravens.
To make matters more difficult, the Ravens might be getting their former MVP back into the lineup.
What we know:
The Bears' defense will be short-handed vs. the Ravens.
Tyrique Stevenson and Kyler Gordon were ruled out Friday for Sunday's game vs. Baltimore. Stevenson was injured Sunday during the win over the Saints; Gordon popped up on the injury report midweek and is now out. Gordon missed the first five games of the season due to an injury he suffered just days before the Bears' season-opener.
This means Josh Blackwell, Nick McCloud and Jaylon Jones are in line for more playing time this Sunday.
Cole Kmet was also ruled out Sunday, which is the first game he'll miss in his NFL career since getting drafted by the Bears in 2020. Kmet had played 90 games without missing due to an injury. That streak comes to a close.
Expect Colston Loveland and Durham Smythe to lead the tight end room this weekend.
On Friday, Bears head coach Ben Johnson said there would not be any consideration of putting either Stevenson or Kmet on injured reserve.
"No," he said. "They'd still be day-to-day, week to week."
The other side:
With Stevenson and Gordon out Sunday, that's a brutal blow for the Bears' defense now down their top two cornerbacks and their swiss-army-knife nickel back defender.
Getting Grady Jarrett back is a boon, as would potentially getting Austin Booker back into the fold. But, defending the Ravens without Stevenson and Gordon will be a challenge for defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.
Allen will have to prepare for the Ravens running back Derrick Henry and quarterback Lamar Jackson. The Ravens are expecting to get Jackson back after he missed two games with a hamstring injury and the Baltimore offense only scored 13 points while he was sidelined.
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh wasn't committal to Jackson playing, but the offs have been trending in his favor. Jackson was a full participant in Friday's practice after being limited on Wednesday and Thursday. He was officially listed as "Questionable."
"We’ll see where it’s at going forward," Harbaugh said.
However, Harbaugh did say Friday if Jackson can't play on Sunday, then backup Tyler Huntley would start.
The Bears have been preparing like Jackson would be starting, all week.
But, the Bears' defense wants to see Jackson. The unit has carried a lot of pride in how they've played the last three weeks, and Sunday would be a test of how good they actually are against two of the best offensive players in the NFL.
"I hope that he plays just because of the simple fact that you want to be able to go up against guys like him," Byard said. "Measure ourselves as a defense when you're going to get the top offense with him and Derrick back there."
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