The Bears’ secondary took an immediate hit with Coby Bryant officially landing on injured reserve, and the ripple effect reaches well beyond one missing safety.
Chicago also placed undrafted rookie tight end Hayden Large on IR to begin the season. The encouraging part for both players is that this is not season-ending injured reserve, so there’s still a chance they return later in the year. Bryant’s expected recovery window is four to six months.
To fill the openings, the Bears added defensive tackle James Lynch and linebacker Jack Sanborn to the 53-man roster. They also signed 14 players to the practice squad, leaving the roster nearly settled as the season gets underway.
Even with the roster mostly in place, the big concern is what happens in the back end of the defense. Bryant’s absence makes an already shaky group thinner, and Chicago’s pass defense already struggled last season, finishing 22nd in the league and allowing 227.2 yards per game. The Bears also lost five key players from the original mix of starters and backups in the secondary.
At safety, Xavier Woods and Cam Lewis now look like the most likely options to absorb Bryant’s snaps. Both bring starting experience, which gives Chicago at least some stability, but neither is viewed as matching Bryant’s level of play.
The situation gets even trickier because Lewis could also be needed at nickel. Starting corner Kyler Gordon is hurt, and there still isn’t much clarity around his soft-tissue injury. That opens the door for rookie Malik Muhammad to begin the season at nickel, and he may wind up there for the long haul.
So the Bears are staring at another season with real uncertainty in the secondary. Two starters are hurt, the timeline on their returns remains murky, and the team may have to lean on veterans and rookies to cover for players who were supposed to be core pieces. The hope is that Bryant gets back before the season ends, but for now, Chicago is left waiting.
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Chicago is now waiting for more information ahead of its opener against the Carolina Panthers, with the status of both players suddenly part of the conversation. Any preseason injury is worth watching, but this one lands with a little more weight because of where it hits and when it happened. The Bears had enough to sort out already, and now they are hoping the latest update does not turn into a bigger problem. [Read more 🡒]