Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports
The Chicago Bears will head to Seattle extremely shorthanded for their matchup with the Seahawks with starters Jay Cutler and Alshon Jeffery have been rule OUT on Friday’s injury report. It’s bad news for the 0-2 Bears who already had a difficult task ahead of them against a desperate 0-2 Seahawks team anxious to right the ship and get into the Win column and make a push to return to the postseason.
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Cutler suffered a hamstring injury in the Bears’ 48-23 Week 2 loss to the Arizona Cardinals. Oddly enough, he was injured while chasing down his interception that turned into a pick-6. It’s not the first time Cutler was injured while trying to make a tackle on one of his interceptions. In 2011 Cutler broke his thumb while chasing down an interception against the San Diego Chargers in Week 11. The 7-4 Bears went on to lose five of their final six games and finish the season 8-8 and miss the postseason.
Jimmy Clausen will be called upon to spell Cutler. He was underwhelming in relief of Cutler in the second half last week to say the least. Clausen had two short fields late in the first half thanks to Bears takeaways, yet the Bears could only cash in a pair of field goals. The Bears could only muster another field goal in the second half as the Cardinals turned the game into a laugher.
Jeffery has been hampered with a calf injury throughout training camp. He gutted it out in Week 1 against the Packer, but suffered a setback that translated into his hamstring and will see him miss his second game. The injury couldn’t come at a worse time for Jeffery, who’s in the final year of his rookie contract and hoping to cash in as many of his contemporaries have cashed some big checks.
Wide Eddie Royal is also in jeopardy to miss the game, listed as questionable with back and hip injuries. That severely depletes an already thin Bears receiving corps. Marquess Wilson, Josh Bellamy and Cameron Meredith will see more snaps to fill the void left by Jeffery.
You can expect to see a lot of Martellus Bennett if the Bears do manage to get into the red zone. The Bears will also lean on running backs Matt Forte and Jeremy Langford on the ground and through the air to try to move the ball.
Other Bears injuries include Jon Bostic, doubtful with an ankle injury. Pernell McPhee (knee), Ego Ferguson (knee) and Tracy Porter (hamstring) are listed as questionable while Matt Forte (knee), Marquess Wilson (shoulder) and Matt Slauson (thigh and toe) are all listed as probably. Besides all of that, nose tackle Jeremiah Ratliff will serve the last of his three game suspension.
It’s not looking good for the Bears, who opened the week as 14 point underdogs. In fact, it looks downright ugly. Brace yourselves for a rough ride on Sunday, Bears fans!