Chicago Bears: Final injury report, who is at risk to not play?

The Chicago Bears are set to kick off the 2021 NFL season against a very formidable opponent — the Los Angeles Rams. This matchup will be the fourth consecutive year that these two teams have met. Matt Nagy and Sean McVay have been the head coach each time, however this year, both teams will have a new quarterback under center.

Sean McVay will now have Matthew Stafford as his quarterback. The good news here is that the Chicago Bears are very familiar with Stafford and his tendencies. The bad news is that this might be the most well-rounded team that Stafford has played on. It is hard to even compare him to years past seeing this team is better coached, has a much better defense and the talent on offense is just as good, if not better than what he’s had in a while.

I am not feeling confident in the outcome of this game. I think the Bears keep it closer than most believe they will, but I don’t see how the team finds a way to win — at least not with Andy Dalton playing quarterback. Matt Nagy must use the tight end position in an efficient way that makes the Rams have to adjust their playing style on defense or keep allowing the tight ends to dominate.

Matt Nagy also has to not abandon the run. Even if the Bears go down early in the first quarter, the team has to keep pounding the football to some degree to keep the Rams defense honest. Allowing the offense to get too one-sided is a guarantee for disaster.

The Chicago Bears have these players who are at risk to not play on Sunday

Let’s take a look to see who is at risk of not playing on Sunday. Could the Chicago Bears find themselves at an advantage due to injury or will this also go in the Rams’ favor?

Yesterday, the Chicago Bears released their final injury report for Week 1 and a key player is now doubtful for the first game of the season.

That’s right, Eddie Goldman is doubtful for the first game of the year versus the Los Angeles Rams. Goldman has not practiced all week as he is dealing with a knee/ankle injury. This is not good seeing he was a missing piece to the Bears run defense in 2020 due to opting out for COVID-19 reasons.

The Chicago Bears had 14 players on their injury report throughout the week. Although, Goldman is the only one listed as doubtful. Five were full participants despite nagging injuries and look to be good to go for the game:

• Damien Williams, RB (oblique)
• Khyiris Tonga, DT (Ankle)
• J.P. Holtz, TE (Quad)
• Xavier Crawford, CB (Groin)
• Jimmy Graham, TE (Veteran Rest)

On top of that, the team also had three others who were full participants all week but are listed as questionable for Sunday.

• Eddie Jackson, S (wrist)
• Patrick Scales, LS (ankle)
• Deon Bush, S (shoulder)

Finally, the team has a few players who were limited participants at least one day this week who are also listed as questionable. They include:

• Tashaun Gipson, S (back)
• Robert Quinn, OLB (back)
• Darnell Mooney, WR (back)
• Khalil Mack, OLB (groin)
• Joel Iyiegbuniwe, ILB (shoulder)

The Rams on the other hand only had five total players on their injury list and three of them were literally just for rest and will play on Sunday. A’Shawn Robinson (DT) is dealing with a knee injury but he was a full participant on Friday and slotted to play. Rookie wide receiver, Ben Skowronek is the only player who has a game status that could indicate he may not play. Skowronek is currently the WR5 on the roster. If he doesn’t play, we might see fellow rookie, TuTu Atwell get some action.