The Chicago Bears might be a healthier team when they welcome in the high-powered Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Chicago Bears have not been able to stay healthy the last couple seasons. After the first two games of this year, it seemed that it was much of the same story with injuries to Cameron Meredith, Kevin White and Jerrell Freeman; injuries that put all of them on season-ending IR.
Things might be improving for the Bears this week as they prepare for the Pittsburgh Steelers. John Fox met with the media today and gave some hopeful news about some of his key players:
#Bears coach John Fox said team is “hopeful” that Kyle Long, Markus Wheaton and Prince Amukamara will play vs Pittsburgh.
— Adam Jahns (@adamjahns) September 20, 2017
The Bears offensive line could use a boost. While the line play has been decent the first couple games, getting a body like Kyle Long back in the mix could really help get Jordan Howard going who has been largely ineffective the first two games of the season.
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It’s no secret how depleted the wide receiver group is in Chicago. The return of Wheaton could really help a struggling passing game. Wheaton could be the Bears WR1 when he’s on the field. While it certainly won’t help that Mike Glennon is still throwing the football, Wheaton is the type of player that can make something happen if he gets the ball with a little room to make defenders miss.
Prince Amukamara could help strengthen a secondary that has already performed pretty well the first two weeks. Amukamara would presumably start, which means Kyle Fuller or Marcus Cooper would get their snap counts reduced. Depth is never a bad thing to have.
There may also be some other positive news:
Sounds like Josh Sitton’s ribs injury isn’t too bad. John Fox says he’s “doing well.” Injury report later today will tell more.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) September 20, 2017
#Bears coach John Fox says ILB Nick Kwiatkoski (chest) is still being evaluated, as far as recovery and "severity of injury."
— Bob LeGere (@BobLeGere) September 20, 2017
While both those tweets are vague regarding the status of Josh Sitton and Nick Kwiatkoski. It’s obviously a good thing that Sitton is “doing well” and the fact that Kwiatkoski hasn’t been put on IR yet means there is obviously hope that this injury isn’t as severe as Freeman’s and he might be able to get back on the field pretty soon.
If the Bears want to compete and win some football games, they are going to need all five of these guys on the field and contributing. Hopefully, the Bears will get some of these players back this week. Based on the results last week vs Tampa, they certainly could use all the help they can get.