The Chicago Bears will be dealing with potentially significant injury issues while preparing to play the Green Bay Packers at Soldier Field on Sunday.
Per Kevin Fishbain of The Athletic, Bears coach Matt Eberflus said starting left guard Teven Jenkins and edge rusher Montez Sweat both won’t practice on Wednesday, and starting safety Jaquan Brisker is expected to miss another game Sunday.
Jenkins, who left last week’s loss to the Patriots with an ankle injury, is currently the Bears’ highest-graded offensive lineman. He’s allowed only 11 pressures this season and is the team’s second-highest graded run-blocker.
Sweat, who also has an ankle injury, leads the Bears defense with 27 pressures. His pass-rush win rate is 16.0 percent, which also leads pass-rushers in Chicago with at least 50 pass-rush snaps this season. Primarily a left defensive end, Sweat would have a matchup with Packers right tackle Zach Tom awaiting him Sunday.
If Jenkins can’t go, Doug Kramer — who replaced him at left guard last week — would be expected to start. Kramer allowed a sack and three total pressures over 41 snaps last week against the Patriots.
If Sweat can’t go, rookie Austin Booker could get more snaps as a primary defensive end. Dominique Robinson and Jacob Martin also gets snaps as rotational edge rushers for the Bears.
Brisker has missed four straight games and will miss a fifth Sunday while recovering from a concussion. Elijah Hicks is the starter next to Kevin Byard with Brisker out.
Eberflus’ team did get some good injury news: offensive tackles Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright, who missed last week’s loss, are expected to return to practice on Wednesday. So while Jenkins could be in danger of missing Sunday’s visit from the Packers, the Bears might be returning the two bookend tackles for rookie quarterback Caleb Williams.
The Bears have lost three straight games and are transitioning to a new playcaller on offense after firing offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Not having one of the top offensive linemen and one of their top edge rushers could complicate the task of snapping the Packers’ 10-game win streak in the rivalry.
Chicago will also be without defensive lineman Andrew Billings and defensive back Jaylon Jones, who are both on injured reserve.
The Packers and Bears will release the first injury report of the week later on Wednesday. The final injury report with playing status designations arrives Friday afternoon.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Packers Wire…