Kyler Gordon’s latest update is only making the Bears’ situation with him feel more combustible.
The Chicago cornerback is one game into a minimum four-game stay on injured reserve to open the season, with a calf issue dragging on longer than anyone around the team would like. That frustration starts with head coach Ben Johnson and runs straight through general manager Ryan Poles.
Gordon has chosen to handle his rehab away from Halas Hall, which is his right if he wants to work with his own people. But he also used NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport to pass along the news and some optimism about his return, a move that came off like a shot at the Bears for putting him on IR when he has not looked close to playing.
He has also been posting workout clips on social media, showing himself moving well. That may be true in a training setting, but there is still a big gap between running around on grass and being ready to suit up in pads for an actual game. The timing of those videos makes it hard not to read them as a little trolling aimed at the team.
That tension only gets sharper when you remember the contract. Johnson and Poles are not exactly likely to shrug off a player they made the highest-paid slot corner in the league about 17 months ago. Since getting that payday, Gordon has played just five games, including last year’s playoffs.
The latest wrinkle came from Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune in a notes column after the Bears’ Week 1 win over the Carolina Panthers. Biggs said he spoke with Gordon’s trainer, Montel Fleming.
"I reached out to Montel Fleming", Biggs wrote, "who is working with Gordon on body alignment and injury prevention in order for the cornerback to be activated from the physically unable to perform list so he can get on the field after missing the offseason program, training camp and preseason."
"Fleming answers the phone saying, “Dr. Moe,” and he goes by Foot Doctor Moe.
He was introduced to Gordon by Jaylon Johnson, with whom Fleming has worked since the 2021 season. It was Fleming who reached out to Johnson after viewing his Instagram account."
From there, Dan Bernstein of 312 Sports raised questions about “Dr. Moe” after Biggs’ reporting.
Bernstein said there are questions surrounding Fleming, then laid out a background check that included where Fleming has lived, a list of aliases he has used, and the fact that there is no evidence he has a college degree - let alone one in kinesiology, physiology, or a related field. Bernstein also noted Fleming has a criminal record.
All of that, Bernstein said, came from a background check that the Bears could have done themselves.
Biggs also suggested the Bears are giving Gordon some room here because they want him back on the field, with Fleming apparently working alongside a chiropractor in an effort to get him cleared.
But then Gordon posted another workout video just days before the Bears face the Minnesota Vikings in Week 2, and the whole thing looked familiar all over again.
That noise you hear is the head-shaking from just about everyone attached to the Bears - team personnel, fans, and people who cover the team. Herb Howard of The Bigs Media suggested on 104.3 The Score that teammates may still love Gordon, but outside that locker room, the patience seems about gone.
The team still holds the cards. Johnson and Poles will decide how this ends. But with Gordon using the freedom to rehab on his own to work with a trainer whose background has become a talking point, while also dropping what look like regular social-media jabs, it’s fair to wonder whether he even wants to be here anymore.
If that is the case, and he says it outright, Johnson and Poles will presumably be ready to move on when the time comes.
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