The Changing Chicago Bears Roster: How Injuries Have Impacted the Season

Quite frankly, this unit hasn’t had the injury issues that the quarterbacks, offensive line and the secondary have had which is good.  But they have had one critical injury to a starter that has hurt their performance in the games this player has missed.

Eddie Goldman injured his ankle in the game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week Two.  He came back for Chicago’s game against the Buccaneers but left near the end of that one after tweaking the same ankle.  He also wasn’t 100% for that game.  He was scratched from the Giants game last Sunday.  On the injury report this week, Goldman has been listed as questionable with limited participation in practice.

Goldman is a very important part of the Bears’ defense.  He is a big bodied, gap filling tackle that helps secure the middle of the defense against opponent’s rushing attacks.  He can also get to the quarterback and this is huge for a defensive lineman.  While Goldman is valuable, however, he has struggled with health issues staying since coming to the Bears via last year’s draft.  Hopefully he will be able to remain healthy and active for the Bears in the future.

Another notable injury here is the back issue that end Mitch Unrein is suffering from.  He missed the game against the Giants and is listed as questionable this week.  His practice time was limited.  Unrein is a steady player and helps a lot especially against the run.

Hopefully he will be back to add depth to the position and get the Bears line back to stopping the run better.  In last week’s game against New York, several of the Giants’ rushing plays got past the defensive line and to the second level.  Having Unrein back will help alleviate that problem a little bit.

There are two additional injuries of note.  Backup Will Sutton was lost for the year after suffering an ankle injury.  Sutton was a nice depth guy and the Bears will miss that depth.   Ego Ferguson was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.  He had been waived at the start of the season but Chicago brought him back and stuck him on the injured list.