Last night’s season opening loss could be much more painfull than the final score. Bears‘ middle linebacker and defensive captain Brian Urlacher dislocated his wrist and is set to have surgery to repair it. A timetable for his return is unknown.
The Bears had already lost outside linebacker Pisa Tinoisamoa early in the first half with a knee injury, so this leaves the once deep linebacking corp extremely thin.
It is especially difficult to replace Urlacher because of the ground he is expected to cover in the Bears’ Cover 2 defense, where the middle linebacker is expected to cover the deep middle of the field.
For a defense with multiple questions marks in the secondary, this adds another hurdle that they must overcome. As more details emerge, we’ll get an update out.