The Chicago Bears Injured Reserve Review: Who’s Who on IR

When you hear that the Bears have several players on injured reserve, you might automatically think that 2016 is happening all over again. Who do the Bears have on injured reserve so far this season? How did they get there and will they come back this season?

Last season, the Chicago Bears had a whopping 22 players on injured reserve at one time or another. That amounts to a lot of talent and a lot of money that was not on the field.

We don’t know why so many players ended up on the injured reserve list. Whether it’s a matter of the training staff and how they handled the player’s injuries or how they practiced bad things can happen. And quite a few bad things happened to the Bears last season.

All we know is that a big injury bug hit the Bears and fans are praying it doesn’t happen again.But it looks like the horror is starting up for the second year in a row.

Teams usually stick players on injured reserve at the start of the season because they don’t want to cut them and let them get away. These players may have minor injuries but can still be eligible for injured reserve.

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This year, the injured reserve list has one key difference over previous years. NFL teams can bring two players to return from injured reserve following the eighth week of the season.  They do not have to designate these players when they add them the injured reserve list either. That is different as, since 2012, teams could only bring back just one player.

The Bears will surely use this new rule to their advantage to bring someone back a couple of guys they want to have back in the lineup. That’s only if they can return after Week Eight.

Let’s look at the players that the Bears currently have on injured reserve as of Week Two. We will also cover the four players who were released from injured reserve with monetary settlements. Will Chicago miss these guys or are they better off without them?