Bears Injury Report: Mack Out, Quinn In, Nagy Questionable
Unfortunately for the Bears, OLB Khalil Mack, who is nursing a nagging foot injury, has been officially ruled out for Sunday’s game against the 49ers and will miss his first game since 2018. Thankfully, OLB Robert Quinn was taken off the reserve/COVID-19 list, and DT Akiem Hicks looks to be at full speed after missing last week’s game.
I know the rest of the headline may be a little misleading, but we are talking about the status of Head Coach Matt Nagy for Sunday’s tilt, not his abilities to run a team or an offense. Nagy was absent from practice again today and must return two negative COVID-19 tests 24 hours apart to be eligible to resume team activities. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will man the sidelines if Nagy can’t.
The Bears submitted their final injury report to the league today, and there were really no surprises other than Quinn. As mentioned, Mack has been officially ruled out for Sunday’s game. He’s been battling his foot injury since Week 3, and though he hasn’t practiced much he has been able to gut it out once the whistle blows. Chicago could still place the All-Pro OLB on injured reserve, but the coaching staff has yet to make a decision on that.
Your official #Bears injury report: pic.twitter.com/ZJMe3MXyHD
— Bryan Perez (@BryanPerezNFL) October 29, 2021
Hicks, Tashaun Gipson, Jakeem Grant, Sam Kamara, and Jesper Horsted are all listed as questionable. Of those, it appears Hicks will resume his role at defensive tackle and Gipson will play safety on Sunday. They’ll help a great deal against the 49ers with Mack out.
Grant, a special teams player, was limited on Wednesday but participated in full practices yesterday and today, so he should be good to go, too. Kamara, who plays outside linebacker and could see significant playing time in Mack’s absence, also participated in full workouts the last two days. Horsted was a late addition to today’s injury report and his status is unknown.
The Bears have a pretty long list of players who are still on injured reserve, the physically unable to perform list, or on the reserve/COVID-19 list, including right tackle Germain Ifedi, who was a late afternoon addition and quarantined today. Running backs David Montgomery and Tarik Cohen remain sidelined, and tight end Jimmy Graham is still out, too. Rookie LT Teven Jenkins remains on injured reserve as he recovers from preseason back surgery, and linebacker Jeremiah Attaochu is done for the season.
Ifedi is the ninth member of the organization to go into COVID-19 protocol in the last two weeks.