This breakout Chicago Bears player may be seeing increased playing time

It is never fortunate when a player gets injured, but if you are in the NFL, you know the next-man-up mentality. When a player gets injured it only means another person gets a chance to make the most of the moment. This can be applied to the Chicago Bears’ injury to Jeremiah Attaochu.

The injury hurts depth, and you never want to see season-ender this early into the year. It speaks to the severity of the injury. Still, while Jeremiah Attaochu will head to the sidelines, this means that an edge rusher needs to step up for him.

Fans have noticed that Trevis Gipson has made the most of his limited snaps. Still, he has been rushing behind Attaochu in the pecking order.

Comparing Jeremiah Attaochu to Trevis Gipson in 2021

So far this season Attaochu has played 129 snaps while Gipson has played 69 snaps. Fans have likely wanted the two to flip roles, and while they will need a fourth edge rusher to step up, it could be on a much more limited basis if Gipson gets his normal work, plus a few more.

It is fair to note that in two of the past three weeks, the split has been much closer. After two games, Gipson played just seven snaps to the 48 of Attaochu.

In Week Three, the split was 29-26 in favor of Attaochu, and in Week four it was 31-24 in favor of Attaochu. Then last week, even with the injury occurring, it was 21-12 in favor of Attaochu. So, even in the past three games, Attaochu has played 19 more snaps. Despite the snaps favoring Attaochu, Gipson leads in pressures and sacks. Gipson has eight pressures and two sacks while Attaochu has six and zero.

The Chicago Bears need to play Trevis Gipson more

Robert Quinn is at an age where you do not want to overuse him. So far, they have gotten the perfect mix with Quinn playing about 70%. Beyond that, Khalil Mack is down to a 67% snap rate after being at 83% and 86% the past two years. They have leaned on a rotation more.

Gipson may not take on 55 snaps, which is the sum of him and Attaochu in some of these games. However, 40 is more realistic for a player who was in on 26 for a career-high. At the very least he will jump from his current 21% rate to 39% that Attaochu has played.

Overall, neither Gipson nor Attaochu had much of a specialist role, rather they just subbed in to keep their rushers fresh. With that in mind, an uptick for Gipson is possible, and it would mean less reliance on their fourth edge rusher. That could mean that Gipson is over 40% and even closer to a 50% player as he takes on the role of backup for both Mack and Quinn.